Mormons Are Christians

Hey hey hey!

Yeah everything is going good! We have only been able to meet with Brandy briefly this week, but we're trying to get in touch with her! Ugh! Frustrating, but people do have schedules, and I'm not too worried about Brandy. She's pretty solid!

The weather is FINALLY cooling down a bit, it was raining last night, and I was way upset because I lost my nice rain coat!!! It was an 80 dollar coat that I found for half price and I lost it. Oh man was I ticked... I also discovered that I lost one of my winter gloves... Great.

Conference is going to be awesome! I have never loved conference more until I've been on my mission! I got so much out of conference, and I'm so exited for this weekend!

Transfers are on Thursday, and I'm pretty sure that Elder Wardle is taking off, which makes me sad. It's very uncommon for an Elder to stay in the area he was trained for three transfers. There is a possibility that he could stay, but most likely not.

I'll send pictures when I can. I don't think these computers really let me... I'll try though.

Definitely tell the Algers that I said hi! They are easily my favorite family in Virginia. I was supposed to call them, but decided against it since it was against the rules! Ha-ha ;)

Well it sounds like everything is going great at the brooks home! I'm always glad to hear that! Hey Maddie, keep playing the hymns! Believe me, you WILL NOT regret it! I've found a lot of comfort and very much enjoyment in music! Try new things and you'll get even better when you branch out!

That’s a good story from the Munden’s! I'm glad to hear that Brandt is having a good time despite the difficulties. He's a really good guy; it was fun getting to know him at least a little bit before he took off!

So this week I had a really cool experience! Elder Wardle and I went to a house with a Laos member, Bunti (boon-tie) and were going to teach another Laos lady, who’s name is Day, with Bunti translating for us. When we showed up, there was an older couple dressed up sitting down on the couch, and we shook their hands, and they looked at us for a second, and the lady had a light bulb moment and asked, "Are you Mormons?" to which I replied "yes." Then she stood up and said, "Oh, well, we're leaving." Then she turned to Day and said "Goodbye Day. Don't listen, it's not good. Don't listen to them." Then they left with Bunti saying, "How you know? How you know?" (I was laughing very hard at that point to myself.) When they were gone, Bunti explained to us in his heavy accented English that they were Baptist pastors and they were talking to him about how Mormons weren't Christians. Bunti asked them if they had read the Book of Mormon, and when they said they hadn't he said, "Then how you know?" They wouldn't answer him. So at this point I was really frustrated, because it's really quite unfair for other people to determine who has a faith in Jesus Christ or who does not, and their claim was totally biased and unfounded, just hear-say, and out of complete and total ignorance, which I can't tolerate very well. So after thinking this over for a second, I was fuming. But my attitude quickly changed as I tried not to think about it. I thought about it a few minutes later, and I just wanted to cry. I knew how Nephi felt at that moment when he talks about how his tears water his pillow at night for his people. It's not necessarily that these Baptist preachers were evil, cause they are good Christian people I'm sure. I felt so sad because they had hardened their hearts, and would not give place to the message we share, which is the greatest message a 20 year old boy could share, that Christ lives, that through His Atonement and Gospel, we can live, and he has a plan for each and every one of us. They wouldn't listen to our side of the story, but instead took the wisdom of “wise men,” and the rumors that float around. I wished dearly that for a moment, I could just testify to them of what I knew, that perhaps their hearts would be softened, and that they would someday partake of the endless joy and peace that this Gospel provides.

So we proceeded to talk with Day, and she didn't really listen to the preachers, let alone understand them. She has been in severe pain and asked for a blessing, which I had the privilege to perform and afterward left me slightly drained. She is a wonderful lady and we are going to get her a Thai Book of Mormon so she can read and come to know for herself. It is incredible that even though I could not understand one word of what she said, I understood it completely, and I could feel the Spirit in that room as she told us of her struggles in her native tongue. It was incredible!

That was my experience! Love you all,
ELDER LOGAN BROOKS