So Dan (he actually prefers Daniel, so I'm going to use that from now on) came to church again on Sunday. It was great! He's so awesome. The only thing that is a bummer is we can hardly ever catch him at home. He tells us work has been slow (meaning he should be home more often), but when we stop by he is never there. Also, we called him earlier in the week and the phone said that his number had either been changed or disconnected. We called the referral sisters who have been working with Daniel and they were like, "Well we have been texting him recently and he texts back," so we were just confused what was going on. However, on Saturday we called him again and the call went through and we talked to him for like 15 minutes. He told us he would be at church (which he was) and also that he had downloaded the Gospel Library app. Now, I always get nervous when people find that because there is a LOT of info on there that they might not be ready for. He said that he had been reading the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church books haha. We told him that was awesome, but for now probably just stick with the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, and maybe like the Bible Videos if he wants to watch those. It was pretty funny.
Church this week was way better than last time he came. We made him sit in the front with us instead of in the back in order to minimize distractions, and testimony meeting was awesome. I get nervous for those too sometimes, for various reasons, but it was great. Gospel Principles class was not very good (remember my story from the Capitol Ward?) haha it was kind of like that except people weren't yelling at each other. There was just lots of deep doctrine that was brought up and not really explained very well so it gets really confusing really quick. But afterwards Daniel said to us, "Well, I've only been here a couple times, so I kinda figure that there are things I just won't understand yet." That was a relief to hear. There were also like 5 members that were able to chat with Daniel during and after church, so he felt much more at home and comfortable than last time, which was super awesome. I'm excited for Daniel, he's an awesome guy, I just wish we could catch him at home. We're supposed to go to lunch with him and a member on Wednesday, so hopefully that all goes to plan.
Soon after church yesterday we had a teamup with a guy named Dan Browning, and we went to go see William. We actually hadn't seen him since he came to church, but we were able to talk with him and it was really good. Dan and William really connected, and we just talked about a few things as well as got some feedback from him about how church was a couple weeks ago when he came. He basically told us, "Well, I sat in the back, hardly anyone talked to me, and nobody asked me to introduce myself or anything..." At this point, I just thought, "Oh crap, he hated it," but then he finished with "...It was great!" Haha that was so good to hear. He doesn't really like being around people, so I guess it was a good thing that no one really took the chance to come up and say hello. Go figure. William has some problems with his balance, and so he thinks that people will look at him and think he's a drunk and belittle him because of it. (He just has that little shuffle that people get when they get older. It's nothing major). He's embarrassed about it, but I guess he actually enjoyed church a lot which was great. I was very surprised to hear that, and was very happy.
We also got to have exchanges this week with Elder Featherstone and Elder Quayle in Gadsden. We had lots of fun biking in the rain and eating lots of food.
On Thursday we had interviews with President Sainsbury. They went well as always. It's always good to talk with him and Sister Sainsbury for a while.
Today, Pday, we went on a hike with the district at Noccalula falls in Gadsden. It's a big waterfall with a giant cave behind it that you can go back into. There are also lots of running trails and hiking trails that we went on for a couple hours. It was pretty cool, though it was unfortunate that we are not able to swim as missionaries. There were some spots in the river that would have been so nice to jump in and cool off. That's alright I guess.
Well, this was a great week. We did have one unfortunate incident in which we got locked out of our apartment, basically had to break in, and later had to have our deadbolt replaced, but that's okay. Our blender also stopped working, so that was wonderful. We also sweat lots as always, and I think today is the hottest day of the year so far. In the words of Ham from The Sandlot, "I'm baking like a toasted cheeser!" It is what it is, I guess.
Well, I'm thankful for the chance to be here in Bama and preach the Good Word. I was very nervous that Daniel and William had negative experiences at church, but I can now testify that the Lord definitely had His hand in that. In my mind, they hated it. But in reality, they both had wonderful experiences. God is good, and He definitely has a big role in the work we do as missionaries. His influence is always there. Love y'all, have a great week!
Elder Beach
#RollTide
Fun p-day hike to Noccolula Falls in Gadsden, Alabama.
In the cave behind the falls.
Our dead bolt broke on our door, so we patched the hole with the plastic off of our Ensign magazine, cardboard from a pizza we cooked, and a picture of the First Vision. :) Elder V drew a picture of a handicapped sticker because our door was definitely handicapped until we got it fixed! It is now fixed, and we are able to get in and out of our apartment once again! (Whew!)
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