Living A Simple Life

Alrighty! So it sounds like things have been good for you mother! That's a good story about your rings! I knew something would have had to be going on for you to be itching to cook dinner! ;) But no, that is really cool how things work out. Yes, I got the call from Sister Naatjes, she is really nice! I haven't gotten a chance to pick up my prescription yet, but I will as soon as I can. That's awesome you got your braces off! I'm exited for you! Do your teeth feel really bare and just weird?? AWESOME! I'm so glad that you are finding missionary moments! Keep working with Lana and Skye, and they'll come along. Tell Maddie I say hi back!

Yes, it's true, I miss the dry heat, and the desert; however, there has got to be a happy medium for weather somewhere with lots of pretty trees, where it gets hot, not too hot, and not humid and where it isn't dangerous to go outside in the winter! Arizona isn't perfect, but I realized that Arizona is where I am comfortable.

You know, that's a good name for all the ipods and stuff. Clutter. Unnecessary. Extras. Being on my mission has sure opened up my eyes on things like that, and you know what? As much as I really miss music and the phone and whatnot, I survive quite alright without it, and I am actually grateful that it's not a distraction in my life at this point! Living a simple life, that's very important! That's a good point that you made paps!

Alright... So about Elder Wardle and I and the work. It is easier to get lessons here in the city, the trouble we've been having lately is getting a hold of these potential investigators!! We've had terrible luck with people not being home, not answering the phone, or whatever. Maybe it's time to change up our procedure or something. So yeah, we haven't really picked up anyone new to teach...  Diana is kind of slowly dropping us... Sad, but there isn't anything we can do. She keeps canceling appointments and won't keep commitments.

We did get an opportunity to talk/teach Joy! She was really nice lady in her 40's and she knew two members out in Utah and they were really good friends. She gets a lot of things religion-wise. The Lord is preparing her for the gospel, she may not be ready just yet, but she is close, very close. She said to call her in about a month, but Elder Wardle and I plan on calling before then. ;)

We did have an incredible experience with a former investigator though!! Her name is Brandy. She is living with Andy, who has been a member of the church since he was 8, but he fell off the deep end and was not doing the right things. He is slowly coming around, and he even makes it to church fairly often too! But anyways, Brandy had been taught for a long time before. She even had a baptismal date! But then something happened and she got in trouble with the law and so the date had to get pushed back and there was all this stuff going on that she would have to wait, get all these approvals and so she got really discouraged. Well, we go teach them this week, and Elder Wardle, bless his heart, he is so awesome! He said, let’s read 3 Nephi 11 with them. And so we did, and we talked to them about baptism. It was hard to keep the Spirit there cause Andy kept making sarcastic comments, and then he left the room for a minute. We asked Brandy about how she felt about being baptized and about her previous date set. We asked her if she still wanted to work towards baptism, and she started to cry. As we talked we just knew that she still wanted to be baptized, and she believed what the missionaries had taught her. I told her that we were there to help her progress towards that, and we would do everything we could to help her. So all she has to do is keep the commandments for a month and then Pres. Howell can ask the 1st presidency if she can be baptized, and I'm pretty sure that it will be approved!!! I'm so exited for Brandy!

Well, we also had a good talk with this guy from Cuba, so I got to practice my Spanish a little. He spoke pretty good English, but to try and befriend him a little, I threw in Spanish phrases I knew. Hopefully we get to see him soon.

Other than that, I think we need to work even harder than we are, cause I still feel like something is missing in my work, that I'm forgetting to do something. I know there are people out there that need to hear the Gospel, and I need to work harder to find them.

Another thing we are doing in the mission is reading a scripture about faith everyday. My faith has grown so much from doing this, and I am beginning to see miracles everyday. I'm so thankful for the Lord and how he sees fit to bless me and try my faith that I might grow. I feel so blessed to be here on a mission.

I love you all!
ELDER LOGAN BROOKS