Hey y'all, this has been another great week and another great transfer in Attalla and on the mission. We got the call last night that Elder Lyons and I will be staying here for another 6 weeks! (The main reason I was excited to hear that news was because we have been invited to watch the Iron Bowl with some people. I'm not sure if I would have been able to in a different area.) Haha that's not the real reason. I do love the people here in Attalla, especially the members. They are all so awesome. I'm so glad we moved near many of them so we can see them often.
Two Sundays ago we were asked to come into Relief Society and go over the Branch Mission Plan with the sisters in there. The Attalla Branch Mission Plan includes how each of the members can and should go about inviting those that they know to learn about the Restored Gospel. It talks about how, as a family council, we should prayerfully identify some individuals and families that we think we could invite to church or to a church activity or to dinner with the missionaries or something like that. Then we should take time on a fast Sunday, or anytime really, to fast and pray for these individuals to be open to your invitation, and then to invite. Most of the people in the branch were not very familiar with it, so it was good to review it with them, discuss it with them, and invite them to participate. We have been reviewing and following up on this with each of the members that we have visited recently, and we are seeing their enthusiasm to share the gospel build.
In fact, we received a call this week from one of the sisters in the branch named Savannah. She is preparing to leave on her mission to Virginia next month. She called us and said, "Hey! I've got this friend who is going to be coming to church this Sunday, and she wants you to teach her." Okay! That is one of my favorite calls ever! Savannah's friend is named Katelyn, and so we taught her the Restoration during Sunday school. It was a great lesson, and I look forward to continuing to teach Katelyn in the future. She accepted the invitation to read from the Book of Mormon and to pray about it to know that it is true. She said it was a little bit odd to think about, just because it was unfamiliar, but she told us she would definitely read it.
This week we also received another referral by the name of Tim. A member who lives in another state sent us Tim's info and asked us to go visit him. We called Tim first and told him what was up, and he seemed happy to meet with us. The unfortunate thing is that he works in Huntsville, and I'm not sure what exactly he does, but he told us he is "on call 24/7." So we haven't been able to see him yet, but we look forward to the day that we do. Tim seemed like a nice guy on the phone and seemed genuinely interested in what we have to say.
Haha cool story this week, Daniel spoke in church! One of the guys in the branch presidency was in charge of assigning speakers, and he asked Daniel to speak. I could tell that our branch president was thinking, "Why the heck would you ask him to speak? He's only been a member for like 3 weeks!" It was pretty funny. But Daniel actually did a great job, and so it was awesome. He also got to talk to President Sickles about receiving a temple recommend, and he's almost all set. Daniel hasn't paid his tithing since being baptized, but that's kind of our fault because we didn't explain in great detail about how to do so. So as soon as that gets done, Daniel will receive the priesthood and a temple recommend. And then we can go to the temple with him! I'm so excited! Ruby is also working on that. We tried to explain to her that she doesn't need to wait a year to go to the baptistry in the temple, but I'm not sure if she understood haha. She is also pretty scared of being dunked again, and so maybe she'll just have to go and do confirmations if she does decide to go soon. However, she is very proud of the family history work that she has done so far, and is eager to get their names into the temple.
One other really cool thing about Daniel is that our YW president saw his wife and daughter at Walmart the other day. She told us that they talked for a long time, and she also said that Daniel's wife, Sandra, said that she wanted to come to church sometime. That was huge! Now, neither Sandra nor their daughter, Gabi, came to church on Sunday, but just knowing that there is a chance that they will come in the future is so much more than I thought we would get anytime soon. I know that Daniel is working hard on them, and we are trying to help the members of the branch to do so as well. I know they have been invited to dinner at different members' homes, and everyone is doing a great job of trying to work with them. Time will tell, but I think if the effort is sustained, the results will follow. It just goes to show that the Lord puts people in the situations that they need to be in to further His work. I have seen that so many times.
As a final spiritual thought for the week, I thought I'd just share a scripture. This one comes from Mosiah, and is about the Sons of Mosiah. As we know, they were some of the most wicked people in all of the scriptures, but then after seeing an angel, learning the joy that comes from repentance, and having a change of heart, they became some of the greatest missionaries ever. Mosiah 28:3 describes them - "Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble." They could not even endure the thought that someone should suffer without the peace of forgiveness that they had experienced. The sons of Mosiah had felt the peace that repentance, forgiveness, and the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ bring into our lives. When we feel that same power, the result that takes place comes naturally: we want to do everything we can to help others experience the same. I know that the Savior's power to forgive is real, and that he wants to forgive. He only asks that we come unto Him, and to help others do the same.
I love y'all! Thanks for the prayers, the letters, the random funny emails that find their way to my inbox. I love those! Y'all have a great week. Talk to you later.
Love,
Elder Beach
#RollTide
Our newest investigator...
I took Elder Lyons to see this panda, and we were shining our phone lights on it so it looked like a disco bear. Someone called the cops on us because they thought we were doing graffiti...
Random picture of "The Celestial District". President Sainsbury called us that last month because we had so many baptisms. :)
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