Contacting and Getting Fired . . .

October 13, 2014

Dear Family,

Thank you for your email this week!!  I was so happy to hear that Dylan won his game and made it to the play offs, and that Parker was able to have a good time at Homecoming!!  I’m glad you are both doing well in school. Remember, it’s super important to stay caught up on everything. Also, Mom, congrats on all of the good work at the Junior High, and I hope you had fun at your girls nights!  Dad, that must be a lot of fun being able to take days off and work in the yard!!  It is a little bit strange to say, but I miss it!!  Any way, good luck with your Halloween party this week, I hope you have a great time!!

It is crazy that Craig is going home soon, and that Tyrell is home now!!  This time is going to start flying by...  Next are sean and derek, then dakota, then me and Zac!!

It is going to be weird because Holly’s and Ronel’s baby will have like 4 or 5 months when I get home!! Hopefully she recognizes me from the cardboard me when I get home!

So anyway, this week was full of contacting and getting fired!!  It was a little bit of a tough week!!  We put lessons with people, and the next day when we went by, the people were not there!!  It was a little bit funny, and I could not help but think of Alma or the Sons of Mosiah....  Did they ever get fired in their lessons?  Just happened to be passing by a random tent in the wilderness and put a lesson, then the next day when they pass by, the tent is just gone??  How many times did they yell into a little hut, and here the words that no one was home??  What do you mean no one is home, we can see you?  Nope no one is home....  A little bit funny to think about!!

Well, as I was saying, we are in the process of trying to find new people to teach, and I have been praying and fasting hard to be able to find them!!  I thought that the answer would come as we found new INVESTIGATORS, but I was wrong...  The "New People"  that we have been finding are actually OLD people, and by old people I mean less active and inactive members.  Some of these people have YEARS with out going to church, and they have forgotten basically everything!!  It was a little sad in one lesson, because the man was talking about how "No one was ever going to take him out of his church, because he loves his church and he will never go to another one".  So, I asked him what church he was talking about...  A baptized Latter Day Saint...  And he responded "Im Catholic."  What?!?!  He continued on by saying that the missionaries in the 1990s tricked him to get baptized??  Haha I dont know how they tricked him into 3 months of church attendance, marriage with his wife, and a confirmation, but he swears that they did!!  Also found another woman that stopped going to church about 3 years ago, and guess where she goes now...?  The church literally across the street from ours!! 

However, we have found some interesting new people.  One of them is named Leonardo, a single father of 3 children.  He is very smart, and likes to read.  He read the whole pamphlet in the first visit, and he is really focused on his family.  It was really interesting to get to know him a little bit this week, and to be able to hear all of his different opinions.  He already believes lots of stuff that we believe and that we are teaching him, so that is nice!!  WE are going to focus on him really hard this week so that hopefully he will go to church!!

Next we found a young mother named Vanesa.  She is 23 and has a 4 year old, as well as a little girl on the way!  She really liked talking to us, and her husband works a lot, so that kind of sucks!!  Hopefully we can get a lesson with him as well so that we can teach their whole family!

Lastly, we found a woman named Evelyn.  She is the daughter of a member, and she is like 24 years old"!  We were just passing by to visit her mother, and her mom wasnt home.  She started asking us some questions, so I invited her to church.  She said that she couldnt go because of her job, and i told her that if she truly had faith in Christ she would at least talk to her boss to try to get the hours changed to be able to go to church... So what happens?  She does it, and goes to church yesterday!!  What a huge blessing!!  We are going to have our first actual lesson on WEdnesday with her.

Speaking of Wednesday, we have a birthday party for Milagros, the woman who threw my birthday party back in July, in the night, and the Zone Leader will be there on an Intercambio with me!!  Wish us luck!!

I love you so much too mom, I cant wait to see you again!!  I will be home before you know it!!  I have to get going now, but I love you!!

I love you all so much!!  Castillo is doing well, the area is doing well, and all of the people as well!!  I LOVE YOU ALL!!

Elder Garrett McEwan