Last Monday night we went to have dinner with a lady named Desi. She was found a few months ago while Elder Porter and Elder Vanderhoff were trying to locate a less-active on our roster. Desi saw their name tags, read the name of the Church, and said, "Hey, I'm a Latter-day Saint!" She's not actually a member, but she has several member friends that she talks with regularly, and she has read a little bit from the Book of Mormon. She came to church once a few weeks ago, but hasn't since then. When we went up to have dinner with her, we talked about her religious background, and her understanding of the teachings and core doctrine of the Church. She said that she has never really had a home church, but that she would like one, which is great news! We also talked a little bit about the Church organization in the New Testament, and how that same organization exists in the Church of Jesus Christ today, specifically that we have a foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the cornerstone. She asked if there were ever meetings when we got to hear from the prophet, and when we told her about Genera Conference she got super excited. She even said, "I'm going to have to fly out to Utah and watch that!" Haha, she's pretty awesome. She told us she would be at church this week, but unfortunately she was unable to attend. We are definitely excited to keep working with her though. She is pretty promising. One thing that is also awesome about her - she raises/herds cattle, and she somehow is in the business of selling Wagyu beef. Wagyu is like the absolute best meat that you can get anywhere, and I guess it's only available in Japan. Somehow she is able to get a hold of it and sell it and eat it, and she is going to share some with us. I'm so pumped. For dinner on Monday we had probably the best ribs I've ever had in my life, and she said that those ribs pale in comparison to Wagyu steaks. It's something I am very much looking forward to.
There is a lady named Maxine in our branch that lives in a nursing home, and we take her the sacrament each Sunday. She is so awesome. She might be the only person that I have visited in a nursing home who isn't just sad and depressed all the time. She has lived there for 4 years, and she is in such good spirits. It made me happy. She said that she gets lots of visitors, and I know that that is very beneficial. She also has a roommate in the facility that has dementia and just kind of yells and moans all day and night, but Maxine has said that she has learned to tune her out. That in itself is a very impressive talent. Anyway, Maxine is just someone that makes me happy, and it's great to go visit her each week.
I was asked on Saturday if I would be able to speak on Sunday (a regular occurrence in the life of a missionary serving in a small branch), and so I did so. I actually wrote a talk that I had kind of been putting together ideas for for quite some time, and so it was good to be able to finally put those scriptures and ideas into a talk. I'll send a copy of it home and so you can all see how Holland-esque I am at talk writing. Haha, I thought it went well.
Unfortunately, that is most of the major stuff that we got to this week due to our illness quarantine, so hopefully next week I'll have some more adventures for y'all that I can share. Just know that I love you, pray for you, and hope that everything is going well for you.
Scripture for the week is Alma 33:14 - "I would ask if ye have read the scriptures? If ye have, how can ye disbelieve on the Son of God?" I know that the scriptures testify over and over again of the Savior - of His life, His divinity, His atoning sacrifice. I love the scriptures, and I love the Lord of whom they testify. And I love y'all too!
Love,
Elder Beach
#RollTide
Hiking on p-day. Front to back - Elders Blackwell, me, Moffat, Porter
A dam we attempted to build without much success.
There was a lot of water!
Random pic from Natural Bridge state Park. I assume this is how it got its name.
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