There were several things contributing to the title this week. The week had a lot of bad turns at first, but turned out great. First of all, we have been trying to get into contact with N, a potential investigator, for a couple weeks now. This last Monday, when we visited her house, her mom told us now wasn't a good time. We asked if there would be a better time, and she basically told us that N needed some space for a while. It is really sad, because when we first talked to her, it made her happy to hear our message, and we KNOW that the message we bring can change her and her family's life, but we cannot force this knowledge upon her, so we are going to wait a few weeks before returning. I'm very anxious to go back so that she can come to know of the joy and hope this gospel brings.
The next thing is that when we were visiting a less-active member, we discovered that her husband had died 3 weeks ago. She wasn't too sad, though, and she told us that it was because she has a firm knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the eternal nature of marriage, truths restored in these latter-days. As we drove to the next less-active member, we basically said to each other that we hope that they haven't lost anyone either. As we were walking up to them, they said they didn't want to talk to missionaries right then, that they had just lost a daughter the night before. It made us sad. I know that the Lord placed us there, though, so that we could inform other members of the ward about these members that hadn't been to church in over 15 years that probably needed comfort. Ward members and leaders quickly found time to visit and ask them if they need anything. Hopefully they will see that we truly do care and are there for them.
After that, the week went pretty well. We met with a new investigator, V, and taught her the message of the Restoration. We were able to help out two member households through service, found two new investigators, saw the ward put on an excellent community event about Emergency Preparedness, and saw ward council really start to shift into gear toward helping less-active members.
I also received a care package from home with my iPod with lots of church music downloaded to it, my temple dedication handkerchief, and a large bag of my mom's homemade caramels (DELICIOUS!)!
I am so very grateful to be out here on my mission, bringing the happiness of the restored gospel to the lives of those who need it.
Till next week, stay strong and trust in the Lord!
--
The Lord's Soldier,
Elder Tibbitts
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