This past week has brought us so much joy in working hard and being able to experience the blessings of the Lord. He has been amazing to us and has brought us into a greater Unity and strength in his service.
Monday we started the day off by visiting a less active members we don't get to visit very often. We visited with the Presley's and stopped to see how there son was doing after being in the hospital. Brother Presley isn't a member and we are trying to establish a more solid relationship with him so he feels more comfortable around us. We visited with the Worthington's and invited them to church. Brother Worthington has been very busy with work and we are hoping that he will get some Sundays off soon. We decided we would try our hand at tracting which went really well and we were able to find Will. He is a really great guy and is open about learning about the gospel. After lunch we headed up into the Eight Mile area and visited with a few less active members. We were able to talk with them and find out where some of their children had moved to so we could get the records up there. We also spent sometime tracting and found a few potential investigators that we are following up with. We stopped and visited with the Colvin's and found out that Sister Colvin's mother hasn't been doing to well and her cancer has spread very quickly. We also talked with Tyler and Chelsa Colvin which was really great and we were able to discuss a lot of great things with them and invite them to church. We had dinner with Kimberly Evan's and her husband which went relay well. He is still not open about the Gospel but at some point he will be.
Tuesday we had a really great p-day and were able to accomplish quite a bit of things. We were able to get through a lot of our shopping and emails quickly which allowed me to be able to spend some more time studying and marking within the Book Of Mormon which is always a great experience. We were also able to stop by the Parkes home and talk with Bishop and the family for a bit which was really great. We had dinner with the Fairchild's which went really well and we invited them all to church. We then went to the church and FHE with Sister Byrd and had a great lesson on family history that she shared with us.
Wednesday we started off the day trying to visit a few of our investigators that haven't been progressing. We weren't able to see them so we went tracting and found Brian. He has a very large background within the scriptures and has a lot of family who is Jehovah Witness. When we came back to our car we found that it has been egged so we quickly went and got the car washed and luckily we got it all of with no damage done to the car. After lunch we traveled into the Prichard area to deliver a few referrals. Neither were interested in hearing more but as we were there we talked with Tasha which went really well and we left her with a Book of Mormon and Alma 32 to read in preparation to teach her the next week. We had a great lesson with Kimberly Evans after and read Alma 5 with her. She shared with us that she hadn't been able to read during the week and we rec omitted her to it. We traveled to Semmes and had a Baptismal Interview with Gus Navarro. He is a really great guy and his testimony was very strong as I was able to talk with him. We had a little Bar-b-cue with the Young Men and Young Women which went really well and we visited with a few less active members of the youth that showed up. We visited with Heather Hall quickly and she is doing pretty good. Afterwards we visited with Joe Hickman and had a really great lesson with him. We left him with Mosiah 1-4 to read and also Alma 5.
Thursday we started out and did a lot of great planning. As I was updating the progress record Elder Mackay was updating the teaching records and Elder Bawden was updating the referrals. As we worked together we were able to accomplish a lot of things quicker and planning went very well. We were able to set goals that will stretch us and we were able to make all of the phone calls that we needed to make. We visited with the Campbell's afterwards and have now set up a time that we will be visiting with them and we will be following up to confirm that it will still work for them. Brother Campbell isn't a member but we are really focusing on his grandson to try and get him back to church, hoping that it will trigger something within Brother Campbell as well. We visited with the Millers after which went really well and found out that Sister Miller has been feeling a lot better but she is still having her day to day battle with MS. Brother Miller has continued to stay busy with the Core of Engineers and luckily has this next week off. We had dinner with the Parkes which went well and we were able to have some time with Bishop Parkes and we were able to help them with their garden. We then traveled to the Johnny's and helped them fill out some paperwork so they could receive some help with food stamps and things. Brother Johnny has been working hard and has been a little bit down because of the lack of hours at work he has been receiving.
Friday we had a really great Zone Conference. His Spirit was very strong and it allowed me to reflect, ponder, and write down many promptings of which I am striving to apply. It really allowed me to reflect on a lot of important things that I have been striving to do and also re-focused myself on how I could better accomplish those goals and be more effective throughout the whole process. It was sad that this was President and Sister Summerhays last Zone Conference in Mobile before they leave. I know that the of which President Summerhays has received and applied within our mission will carry me forever. I have truly felt the Power of our Mission Culture and I will strive with all my might, mind, and strength to continue the Pattern of Excellence that has been established within my life forever. I love the examples they have been and will always be within my life. After we traveled and visited the Johnny's and helped the children prepare for their assignments for Primary. I was able to help Ailleen with her talk on the Holy Ghost. I really do love the Johnny family, especially the children. We had dinner with the Curtis's that night which was really great and we were able to talk with him about the split we would be going on with him on Saturday. We went to see Sister Jett after and she is in bright spirits even while being in the hospital. She is having to have surgery on Monday and the cancer has really now caused her problems recently. We followed up with having activity night at the church which went really well and we were able to have a lot of different people show up and they have now began to invite their non-member friends to come.
Saturday we started the day with Bishop's Storehouse which went really well. We have been able to recently get done quicker and quicker because of the system that Sister Jett instituted has helped so much. It was unfortunate to not have her there. We came back and got cleaned up and had lunch then traveled down to the flea market for about and hour to visit a less active member. We talked with Sister Bross which went really well and found out her new address and that her daughter who is a member is coming into town this next week. Her daughter is a member and we are hoping to get them to church. We traveled to Semmes for Gus's baptism which went really well. We didn't have anyone show up but it looked like the Semmes elders had a few non-members there. We traveled back and visited with the Baylors which went really well and we had a great talk with her and her husband. He doesn't open up to much but this time we were able to talk with him a lot. We came back and had a quick dinner before Brother Curtis picked us up. We traveled up to visit a media referral that we had who wasn't home and we then visited Sister Bexley who we have never met. She is really great Sister and is going to be moving to Grove Hill soon. She has been attending church up there because her parents live there. We then came back and made some phone calls and updated a few more records.
Sunday we didn't have any investigators to church but we had a few less actives that we had been inviting and our attendance was over 100 people this week which is awesome. We had a great lesson with some of our recent converts and the less active members on Honesty. It went really well and the Spirit was very strong, especially as we were able to hear other bear their testimony. We helped do a few things at the church after which went well and we then traveled to see Sister Jett in the hospital. We found out that she is no longer going to be able to eat anything again. The cancer has gotten so back that she is not able to digest food anymore. She is having surgery so she can have a drainage tube because she is only going to be able to have liquids and it is needed because he won't be able to digest things. The doctors have given her 3 - 4 weeks of life left and it is really sad. She has been a Sister dedicated to service and whenever I see her I feel the Spirit of the Lord. She has been a great example for me and I hope that she will always standout to everyone as she has to me. We then visited with a few less active member and did some tracting. We had dinner with the Martyn's which went really well and we discussed with him some things that we can do to help with some of his home teaching families.
This week has been really amazing with the Lord's hand in it every step of the way I feel. I know that because of the Enabling power of the Atonement and the great leadership that we have, that our desires to serve Him with all of our Might, Mind, and Strength will increase daily.
Love You
Elder Regan Hansen
No comments:
Post a Comment