Seth: 22.11.21 Happy Early Thanksgiving

 Howdy yalls! Another fantastic week has gone down into the books. Forgive me for this email I dont have very much time to write this email! Anyways this week has been awesome. We invited 3 of our friends to be baptized and continue to work with them! I will tell yall about them closer to their baptismal date because the time is ticking! This marks the last email of this transfer and the "end" (more like the beginning) of my training as a missionary. To be honest you never really figure out how to be a missionary, if you get comfortable then you are doing something wrong, haha! But It has caused me to look back on all the experiences that I have had so far in such a brief time out here on the mission! 3 stories have come to mind that have been testimony builders for me in one way or another. Here they are:

1. Every now and again, every mission contemplates the insane idea of leaving everyone and everything they love to serve people for 2 years/18 mo. For me, that cycle hit me for the first time 2 or so weeks ago. It was after a long spill of rejections and people who showed very little interest. Many of our friends were flaking on us last minute. Overall not a pleasant experience. So we go to visit a guy named Walter. Nice guy but not essential to the story. Right after we get done visiting walter a man in a truck pulls up in his truck. He is a little crazy but he asks me, ME. "Why are you here?!" He is laughing historically. 

 why are you here in Texas?! I answer him " I am a missionary for my church, and I was called to come here. He laughed and asked me again, Why are you here?! I say the same thing and add that I am going to Norway some day. He countered with"i know where norway is i traveled once upon a time."  Why are you here in texas?  He doesnt ask elder fromm this question he asks me. Me! Over and over again! 

We write our phone number in the book of mormon and give it to him. He kept saying why are you here in texas?! I dont know why this crazy guy named Harry Cooper got me thinking about "why am I here?" it wasn't until a couple days later where I got my answer.  The people out here in Houston Texas who choose to not follow Jesus Christ does not effect how successful you are as a missionary. You are out here to serve Heavenly Father's children. Now go and do. 

2. My second story has to do with the power of prayer. Last transfer, we were all out putting in the grind. We had no idea where to go and no one was out. Elder Belnap said to us that we should pray. After we prayed to be guided by the Lord to someone who needed to hear about Jesus Christ, he asked me where do I feel impressed to go. Unsure of where to go, i gave it a moment for the spirit to speak to me. After a minute, i decide to take us down this one street where there was one person out. Well this man was not interested so we pressed forward. Elder Belnap had the most distinct impression. 2 lefts 1 right then the 3rd house on the right. We all go to that house and as we walk up this man named Jacob was taking out the trash. It could have been a 20 second trip outside and the Lord put us in his way at the exact moment we needed to be there to share the message of Jesus Christ. This and similar stories testify that holy spirit can guide us in the most simple way possible. In our own voices and subtle feelings. Many of us ask i dont know if i feel the spirit or if it is just me? The simple answer is, if the thought invites you to do good, does it matter? If it is good then it comes from god - Alma 5:40

3. The third experience that has been way cool on the mission has to do with obedience. More specifically obeying the spiritual promptings that we recieve. we are in the most dangerous area in our mission. We in the hood. The law is broken around us all of the time and we barely even know. We are on the Lords errand and if we follow the commandments that we are given, we can expect the lord to deliver us from danger. There have been many times where we walk past wacko people at night and nothing happens. Because we follow the spiritual promptings from God exactly, we have been delivered from danger too many times to count. The prompting could be as simple as don't go down that street. We follow it and we are protected. God delivered his missionaries in the book of mormon from death, prison, wild beasts, etc. If God is the same yesterday today and forever, then why would he not protect us now? This can apply to everyone here. Follow the commandments and you will be protected from physical danger, spiritual danger, and emotional danger.

Okay nevermind this email was kinda long but I felt like I needed to say some of these things. I hope yall have a great week!