WEEK 9 IN BAY CITY

Another great week here in Bay City!!

We had a baptism yesterday for Joseph! it was such a cool experience. after the baptism and stuff he just kept talking about how good he felt and how happy he was. he kept talking about how far he had come and things. his catch phrase is, "yeah, if it werent for these two young gentlemen." its so cool being able to see him change his life the way he has, and see how happy he has been since we started teaching him. he also thought we were never going to see him again now that he was baptized, so that was sad. but we fixed that! haha anwyays i will send pictures.

joseph lost his arm when he was struck by lightning

we have a few investigators who cant really progress because their spouse/fiance/boyfriend wont let them. it has been really frustrating. one of them was our top investigator, and she was trying to come to church this week. she texted us yesterday and said it probably isnt safe for us to meet with her anymore, which totally sucks. i couldnt believe that. but we picked up 3 new investigators last week and are on pace to pick up about 4 more this week. we have met some really awesome people lately. also, justin has been progressing again! he and chanielle have started reading and praying together. it has been amazing to see.

2 more things. first of all, you know how i love coming up with metaphors and things. whenever someone teaches something, i find myself trying to think of a better way to explain it. and something that people really struggle with here is thinking that living the gospel will make all their trials in life disappear, so when that doesnt happen they get frustrated. so here is something i have been thinking about a lot. this life is like a road. and before we start out on that road, it is already determined how bumpy the ride will be, and when the bumps will be. when we are going through life without the gospel, it is like riding along that tough road in a 40 year old station wagon. we can feel every bump and it is not a comfortable ride. the gospel is an upgrade to a brand new car. it doesnt change the road, but it sure makes the journey a lot smoother. we still hit the same bumps, but because of our new knowledge, we see things differently. i wish i had more time to describe the analogy more but i will leave that to you i guess haha

thought id send a pic for dad of me with my blue suit (todd made him get the blue suite cuz he felt it was very traditional) and "general authority" tie, haha
my mission president complimented me on my tie, haha

last thing. we had a crazy lady approach us the other day. she was saying THE most bonkers stuff. she talked for like 10 minutes without us saying a word. she came up and asked if we were christian, then said, "i used to be christian, but now im drunk." she told us that if we wanted to journey into hell, we had to drive down alvin street towards mcdonalds, with our flood lights on, and we would, "go right in." she was just going off and it was pretty strange! i wrote down the entire conversation and may share it at a later point haha. 

have a good week! love you all!