Golden Investigator

Hey everybody,

We had a surprisingly cold week! It got down to forty something one of the nights. It was really rough tracting in 49 degree weather. We had an awesome miracle with tracting the other day. We knocked on a trailer and this guy answered and said it was about time he manned up and went to church with his family. He’s disable in his thirties and he's home all the time. He also has a mode of transportation. Golden investigator!

We also had a dinner at a member's home and we were able to invite a part member family that they hometeach. The wife finally set a date after working with missionaries for almost 3 years. We are super excited for her! The humidity is back and it's pretty warm now which was a bummer because we played ultimate Frisbee today and it was pretty toasty.

Hope everyone is doing well, have a nice thanksgiving!

Elder Willard

I had to use my blanket!

Well we have been having some cooler weather down her as well, one night it got down to 61 degrees and I had to use my blanket. But I'm appreciating the cold, it's easier to walk around and talk with people when you aren't covered in sweat.

The work progresses here in Belleview. We had a woman refer herself to the missionaries on Mormon.org and she had already read the Book of Mormon and found a bunch of answers to question she had that weren't found in the Presbyterian Church. We are super excited to meet her!

This next week is going to be packed with stuff to do which is awesome! Elder Langston and I have a bunch of candles that we use because we are weird like that.

I drive this white Chevy Cruze everywhere and there are a lot of dirt roads so I'm getting really good at drifting around corners. Haven’t hit anything yet

I hope you're all doing well and living the gospel, see you in a little bit

Elder Willard

Now in Belleview

Well, it's spelled Belleview here for some reason. This area is huge! We have car full-time here but it's still not really enough for us. We don't have a lot of investigators at the moment but we have so many potentials. This is easily 3 times the size of my last ward and I can see it becoming a bunch of different wards soon. The concentration of old people is a little higher here than elsewhere so I am getting road rage on a regular basis. Just kidding, I am a great driver... the ward is super supportive of us and there are a lot of programs that help focus the ward members. So many of the members, especially the leadership are converts to the church and that makes all the difference. Such a great place!

We’ve already had some interesting experiences with finding. There was a couple that preached to us on their doorstep for probably close to an hour. They are "ministers." One went on a mission trip to Russia to share the gospel and found his wife who is Russian and she talks with a thick accent but we offered to help them paint and they accepted. We came back a few days later and used all their paint and then sat down with them for probably another hour and a half after the painting asking and answering questions. They say they're saved by accepting Jesus in their lives and it was difficult for the husband to accept anything else but the Russian wife was more than happy to read and pray about the book of Mormon. We’ll see.

There is a recent convert in the ward who mentioned in elders quorum about trying to join the police at which point my companion started laughing. Apparently he knows many members of the mob very well and has worked with them intimately. He’s a super funny guy and he takes the missionaries out to eat all the time. He gave an elders quorum lesson that was just a list of questions to foster discussion and personal experiences. It was great.

We had a lot of adventures on Sunday I don't think I can write them all down but we did get to visit a woman who has an 18-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old daughter who both have children of their own. It was a little awkward but the husband was a member and she had studied with the missionaries a lot and almost got baptized. She had had a miniature stoke and a ward missionary invited her to church and she accepted. We gave her a blessing and she said she couldn't help smiling all the way through it. Great lady. 

My new companion is Elder Langston and he is amazing! Super obedient and motivated to work. He’s only been out for 3 months but he is a great teacher and probably better than me at contacting people. We have seen miracles together and I love the guy I'll send you a picture of us. He’s just a little short but that's okay right Marnie?

Anyway, I love you guys, have a great week!

Elder Willard

Last week in Palm Bay

Picture: There's the district playing volleyball.

Well I'm finally being transferred. It was nice to stay for a while in Palm Bay and I think I might want to come back and visit for a little while. It's a nice place and the weather is great. Saturday night we had a cold front roll in and everyone was losing theirs mind about 65 degrees. I biked around in a short-sleeve shirt while my companion used a sweater. It was marvelous. We are at a low point in our teaching unfortunately but it will pick
up I'm sure. The sisters in our ward are leaving and are being replaced with elders so there will be four elders and the whole ward will be disappointed.
We went to the beach today and it was so perfect! The weather was amazing and we got our feet just a little wet. We played ultimate Frisbee and won and I am fulfilled. I had my camera in my pocket however and it fell out as we were playing and got all wet and sandy. Oh well I paid for it with mission funds I think while I was in Brazil. I'm excited to see a new area and get to know a new ward.
Have a great week!
Elder Willard

Picture: spur of the moment kind of thing

Picture: These Smith's actually are descendants from Hyrum Smith through Joseph F Smith.

So, I broke my camera today unfortunately so I guess I’ll need a new one of those. That poor Amazonian gerrero. Ties are always nice but please don't send candy. We get tons from the members and everyone else. If you could search for steel bike pedals that would be great.