We had kind of a mixed week this week. A lot of stuff fell through, and there was a lot of wasted time (which we are repenting of this week!), but we also had some really good and exciting stuff happen. I'll focus on that stuff. :)
To start with, this upcoming week is transfers. We found out Elder Hoyt will be leaving, which is a little sad but not unexpected. Elder Bateman and I are both staying. And we also found out we'll be getting a third companion! That's crazy!! Haha we're pretty excited for that.
We had a bit of an adventure on Wednesday. We were invited by one of the young men in the ward to come with him to play dodgeball at a Baptist church in town (which a friend of his had invited him to). We were all for it. We figured it'd be maybe a couple dozen people in a little church gym and a great opportunity for us to meet some people, get some good exposure, and have some fun. No sir. We pulled up to this absolutely massive church (it was seriously bigger than my high school) and saw easily over a thousand people there. This was no mere Mutual activity, this was a full blown high school party. Loud music, dancing, immodestly dressed girls... Definitely not a good place for missionaries to be. Not to mention the looks we were getting in our white shirts and ties... Hahaha it's hilarious now but at the time we were pretty freaked out. Needless to say, we didn't play dodgeball that night.
We also went on exchanges this week, which was fun. We had our last district meeting too. And on Halloween all the missionaries got to call it a day at 4pm and basically take the night off. We played tennis with the other elders and had a great time.
Mayetta made it a whole week without smoking!! That's a huge accomplishment for her! Thank you for your prayers, and please continue praying for her. She's making huge progress. :)
We got another new investigator this week! She's a Venezuelan lady named Brissa. She just randomly showed up at the West Hills ward one week. She told the missionaries there that she'd driven past our building for years on her way to work and kept feeling like she should go sometime. She lives in our area, so one of the missionaries there went on an exchange with us to teach her the Restoration and hand her off to us. The lesson went really well. She felt the Spirit and understood. And she came to church again and had a great time. She told Elder Harris (the missionary who came with us) on Sunday that whenever she's learned more and feels like she's ready, she would like to be baptized, and she wants him to do it. Which is awesome, except he goes home this week... Haha we're going to have to try to change her mind about having him do it, but we're super excited that she's showing a desire to be baptized! We're pretty excited about her in general, actually. She is pretty awesome.
So. Message for the week. I wanted to share Elder Uchtdorf's Conference message about simplifying our discipleship, but I'm short on time and he says it better than I could. So I challenge all of you to study it with me this week (it's called "It Works Wonderfully!") and apply the following counsel from President Thomas S Monson:
"It is not enough to want to make the effort... It's in the doing, not just the thinking, that we accomplish our goals."
I love you all! The Gospel is true and the Savior lives!! Please turn to Him! I promise He will help you and heal you. Remember to simplify your discipleship and start where you are.
Make yourselves a great week!
Love,
Elder Swindler
Pictures:
1-4) Our last district meeting of the transfer. We all wore ugly ties. :)
(Featuring [from left to right]: Lengthy Lizard, Bouncing Panda, Mormon Meerkat, Wailing Walrus, Rockin' Robin, Zippy Zebra, Rolling Armadillo, and Squatting Gorilla.)
5) I wish my iPad had a better camera, this was gorgeous. The fall colors here are amazing. :)
6. Car selfie with a recent convert named John
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