Wear a smile and your face value will go way up!

Hey guys! This has been a really wonderful week. This past Sunday we had 2 investigators at church - E and T! T brought her 2 daughters (S and Se, who is a week old now). They both had a really good experience from what we could tell. That was T's 3rd week at church now, and so she is looking pretty solid! Sister W and M are doing amazing as well =] I have seen her completely change her life while I have been blessed to be in this area. It is so awesome! The branch is really pulling together and starting to watch out for each other and help out more. Dad, Elder Stock and I used your advice from your letter in testimony meeting (about phrasing certain things ;) - thanks!

By the way, I loved all of your letters! I also got some really nice letters/cards this week from people outside of our family. People are so nice to me. Those spiritual experiences you shared made my day. That was also such a neat story about Taylor! Wow, I am continually amazed more and more at how generous and kind and good people can be. It really makes me marvel when I remember the scripture that says, "If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father in Heaven give good things unto them that ask Him?" That's probably not exactly what it says, but that's how I remember it be - something like that lol. We are truly so blessed.

We had a really neat experience tracting on Tuesday. We knocked on a door and a man opened it up (he was on a cell phone talking) and quickly asked us if we were Jehovah's Witnesses. Typical. We told him no, and explained that we were representatives from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He said, "Oh, ok, come on in." Wow!

He told the person on the phone that he would have to call them back in a minute. This man's name is D. We sat down, had a prayer, and started talking to him about Jesus Christ. We asked D about what role He has had in his life. D has been through some pretty rough times, starting out when he was a little kid. He told us he had been on different drugs several times, been to prison, and said that that was just the beginning. He told us how the Savior was always there for him and helped him get through the hardest times. "In prison you have no one else to go to but Him," he said.

As we continued to talk about the Savior, he got a little teary eyed. Elder Stock and I both shared our testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit filled the room. We paused for a moment, just enjoying the peaceful feeling that was there. After a minute, we taught D about the Holy Ghost and how he can know if he is feeling the Holy Ghost. He said, "Oh, I know what it is, I felt it just now as I have been talking to you. I can feel and see in your faces that you are representatives of the Lord."

We continued to teach him about the message of the Restoration of the gospel, and started teaching him about the Book of Mormon. At this point he got a somewhat disturbed look on his face, stood up, said, "No.. no.. no," and just walked out of the room. We had no idea why he just stood up and left, but he came back in a minute later holding the Bible and told us, "This is the only book there is. My grandma warned me about people like you." We testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, explained a little bit more about it, and told him how it could bless his life. We let him know that it was from God, and that he can ask God for himself if this book is true. We asked him, "If you knew that God had revealed more scripture, would it be important to you?" He thought about it for a minute, then still told us that he didn't believe it was true.

At this point, we just invited him to kneel down right then and there and pray to ask God if the Book of Mormon is true. D agreed and knelt down. We knelt as well. He was kind of praying to himself quietly, but Elder Stock and I just stayed there with him praying ourselves that he would receive a strong and sure answer from the Spirit right then. We prayed for a few minutes, and then he got up and sat down on the couch again. We didn't say anything, but waited for him to talk first. After a moment he told us he needed to go outside into the fresh air. We walked outside of his house and waited for five minutes or so while he just stood there breathing and thinking. He walked back onto the porch and we decided to ask him how he felt. He told us that after he prayed about the Book of Mormon, he felt like he was going to pass out. Now that he came outside, he told us he felt an emptiness. That kind of threw us for a loop for a second, but I suppose the Lord works in mysterious ways.

We testified that the peaceful feeling he felt earlier as we were talking about the Savior was the Lord letting him know that we were His representatives, and that the message we had to share was true. We promised him that by learning more about the gospel of Jesus Christ and applying it to his life, he would have that emptiness inside of him filled. He agreed that that would be a good thing, and said that we could come back and bring him a copy of the Book of Mormon to read for himself. We asked when would be a good time for him, but he said he wasn't quite sure with his work schedule and so he gave us his cell phone number to call instead. As we were leaving he gave us each a big hug and thanked us for coming.

We were so happy! As we were walking away we were just asking ourselves, "Wow, did that really just happen?" I have never really had an experience with investigators like that before. Especially when I have been out tracting. It was a huge testimony to me of how vital the Spirit is in this work. We really can't do anything without His guidance, and when we do have Him with us, we are 100% more effective. We will be following up with D to help him progress. We called him later in the week, had a good conversation (he is still interested in learning), and he told us if we ever need haircuts we can come to him for free - even if it's once a week ha ha. How cool is that? We are definitely going to be going to him for haircuts, just so that we can have good contact with him if nothing else =]

Wow, that was one of the longer stories I have shared! Cool. I sure am proud of you guys, and so thankful to be in the family that I am. I am incredibly blessed. I know that the Lord does put us in the circumstances we are for a reason, and it is important that we do all we can to help those around us. I am finding that I really was a pretty selfish person back home (and still am), but I'm doing my best to overcome that and do better! You are all constantly in my prayers. I know that the Lord does hear and answer our prayers! It makes a huge difference in my life when I am having sincere, thoughtful, and heartfelt prayers. I still have a lot to improve, but the Lord is there to help me. I bore my testimony about that on Sunday - just when I reach the point when I feel I am not good enough, or make too many mistakes, or other negative thoughts like that - as I pray to Heavenly Father to help me I just feel one thing: love. His love! He does love us, so much! We are his children and He cares and is there for us, never giving up. We can have our weaknesses become strengths and become better through our trials as we turn to the Lord each day.

Well, my time is up now but I love all of you so much! Have a great week, keep smiling and laughing, and keep the Lord first in your life. That way no matter what happens or comes your way, you will be able to keep going and be happy again!

love,

Elder Andrew Beckett