Hello family and friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow another week that just flew by!!! Can't believe it's PDAY. Well I had a great week- a lot of miracles. We were trying to get in and see one of our investigators on Tuesday and we had several members ready to go and an hour before he cancelled!!! So we had an extra 2 hours and we went to try a few people. Well the first miracle that occurred: we got back in contact with one of our investigators we had dropped- Don. We tried his trailer which looked inhabitable and knocked on his door twice. Then Sister H, a member, was at that trailer park dropping off one of her friends and to our surprise she knew the person we were trying to see. She told us he usually sleeps around this time and we just need to knock pretty loud. So what did. We went back and Elder Butikofer basically broke down the door with his rampant knocking! Guess what happened!?!?!?! Don came to the door!!!!! We were able to teach him a lesson and invited him again to read the B.O.M. so hopefully he will do that! He was going through a difficult time (he had just gotten out of jail) So we shared with him the story of Nephi when he was on the boat with his brothers and they tied him up and for 3 days. For those who don't know the story, Nephi was tied up by his brothers but instead of complaining or blaming others, he turned to God for strength and the Lord gave him the strength to break the bonds that held him. We were able to apply that to Don by explaining to him that if he turns to God, God can help him not only get through the trial but after the trial as well. It seems like when I teach others, while I am teaching them, I am learning things as well. I love that! I forgot to mention we had this teaching opportunity with Don outside in the rain hahaha!!!! I was pretty wet cause I didn't have my rain jacket. Luckily, Elder Butikofer had his. I just enjoyed the rain. It wasn't cold thank goodness!
Then we saw a friend of ours, Nate, that night. When we arrived at his house, he was heading out the door to go vote with his friend and his mom. At first he wasn't going to go vote but we told him to go! He went inside the house to grab his hoodie and his mom left without him. Everyone else was just in shock but then my instincts kicked in and I took off in a sprint! The car is driving down the road and I'm running right behind it on the sidewalk yelling, trying to get their attention. She takes a left and I kept on running and yelling. Thank goodness there was a stop sign 'cause she stopped just long enough for me to reach her window. I scared her to death!! She jumped in her seat and her face was absolutely terrified!!!!! I felt bad. As I was going back to Nate's house, I thought about the time when I ran and snagged the iPad off of the roof of the truck. Needless to say, I felt like a boss!!!! I still got it! The good news is we were able to teach Nate after he voted. We began teaching him about member missionary work as that seemed like the lesson he needed to hear but I could tell he wasn't engaged- just giving me the answers we wanted me to hear. So then I changed topics and began to talk about his Book of Mormon reading. Then the coolest thing happened. Elder Butikofer immediately started testifying of the Book of Mormon and Nate became engaged as well. We talked about why it's so important that he reads from his scriptures and keeps his testimony strong. So we will see if he read in the Book of Mormon.
Another miracle happened when we got to see Robert. He is a member that is always hard to catch. We actually got to sit down and talk to him this week. He's not too interested in talking with us and he usually tells us how he won't read or pray about the B.O.M. However, this time was different. Elder Butikofer invited him to read the BOM and he told us he would! He has never committed to doing something before so hopefully he follows through.
We also got to help out our good friend, Diana, (the one with all the Stark Trek stuff) unpack what we helped her pack because she was not going to move to Ohio any more. We had pizza and the Sisters joined us so it was all a ton of fun!!! We helped her move her couches and chairs around and I felt like I was back at Mayflower working for them.
Hard to believe this week could get any better but it did! We got to go to the Philadelphia Temple again! Remember me taking our investigator Stephen to the Open House? The Baptistery is my favorite part of the temple because he brought back many memories of Stephen because he felt the Spirit so strongly there. Stephen is such a close friend and I love him so dearly!!! He is one of my favorite people out here and I love his personality- always so nice to others. But back to the trip this time. lol The road trip there was good (we were with the H's). I absolutely love and adore that family. It was great to be able to have a full day with them and laugh and share stories and joke together. I was grateful for the time that we spent with them. While I was in the celestial room, I was trying to think about areas where I needed to improve. I was reading in 1 Corinthians 13 and I got the impression that I need to put off the natural man if I wanted to change. Living higher standards will help me focus on my main goals and my purpose in this life and the next life as well. That was some nice insight and revelation for me. :) After the temple, we took pictures and toured Philadelphia for a little bit. I can't remember everything we saw but we I did see the Liberty Bell and the museum we also saw the building that was in National Treasure.
The day after the Temple trip, we had the opportunity to visit with Elder Stevenson, one the the 12 Apostles of the Church!! We drove to Altoona because he actually spoke at the mission conference. Because the whole mission got together, I was able to see my MTC companion, Elder Richens, as well as a ton of other missionaries that I came out with! President Johnson & Elder Stevenson were childhood friends- how crazy is that!?!? Elder Stevenson kept referring to Pres. Johnson as "Brad" and to Sis. Johnson as "Rosie." It was really cool. He was laid back and I really liked that! He made fun of President by saying how he never thought Brad would be able to catch a wonderful, beautiful woman like Rosie. hahaha He talked about the attributes and qualities they both have and how us Elders need to marry a Rosie Miller and the Sisters need to marry a Brad Johnson. So mom don't worry, Rosie Johnson is basically you (just with black hair)!!!!😂😂😂 Dad, you and President are the exact same- even your hairline is the same!😉😏 hahaha!!!! Then Elder Stevenson proceeded to train us missionaries. He talked a lot about teaching repentance and baptizing converts and how we are trying to help people make that next step forward in faith. He talked a lot about promised blessings. God gives us commandments but he also attaches blessings to those commandments. As missionaries, we need to do the same with our commitments. Our wonderful and amazing Sister Johnson has been giving this training since I've gotten here on my mission so she's wayyyy ahead of the game. It was a good reminder though. I really like how we center the lesson on the commitment because it centers it on the individual and not a lesson. I also received more impressions and insights on ways I can improve so that was wonderful.
I love you guys. I hope you have a great week and are doing well. Thanks for your thoughts and lessons you teach me. My family is the best. Love you guys. Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
Elder Cahoon the Baboon
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