Week 32
Monday September 13, 2021
Good Morning everyone!
I had a really fun week here in Bay City! I had exchanges, and saw many miracles. Let me tell you some of the cool things that happened this week! For starters, Elder Clouse and I found four new people to teach this week! We were incredibly blessed.
On Tuesday, all of our lessons fell through and Elder Clouse spent most of the day trying to find people to teach. That evening we decided to go out and "Preach By the Way" as we call it. I really wanted where we are going to be inspired by the Spirit. Elder Clouse and I prayed about where we were supposed to go, and felt strongly that we should go visit a less-active ward member. When we got there, her husband let us in and we spoke with them briefly. She said we could come back the next day! They also led us to one of their neighbors who may be interested in hearing our message. So we walked over there and we started teaching her neighbor!
Wednesday was one of the coolest days of my mission, not even going to lie. I led our District council on being led by the spirit. Then, we had exchanges. Elder Clouse went to Saginaw (my stomping grounds where I was trained!) and I stayed in Bay City with my good friend Elder Zacher.
That day, Elder Zacher and I went to Sister Ramos's house and had the coolest lesson of my mission. We talked with Sister Ramos and she shared some really cool spiritual things that have happened in her life lately and that she knows the Lord wants her back. Her husband Robert started balling and for the whole lesson, he kept having to get up and get tissues. The spirit was SO strong. Robert declared that he did not know how to describe the way he was feeling, but that he wanted to learn more about the church. They both want to learn about the church so they can make their home a place where the spirit can reside. It is going to take great effort, but it was a very cool moment for me to see how much the Lord loves his children. He has blessed us tremendously and even though I am imperfect, I can testify that he leads this work.
That entire exchange (when we switch companions for the day) was incredible. Elder Zacher and I both want to be companions some day haha. When I went back to pick up Elder Clouse, it was such a cool moment the Lord allowed me to have. I was back in the Zone Leader's apartment, which brought back so many fond memories. And, as we were driving I realized I was in the same position as my trainer just 7 months prior. It was very cool. The Lord knows I am a nostalgic person and he consistently blesses me with small moments that help me take all the fast-paced missionary life, and slow it down and take it all in for just a moment. He is very good to me.
The other Elders are thriving lately. As the leader of our District, I try to uphold High-expectations for everyone as we strive to hit our goals. The other Elder have started to put forth a little effort, and they have been blessed for it. It is fun to watch their area grow slowly.
There were a lot of cool things that happened but I think what I have shared so far is good. I will share a funny story
This week it has been raining a lot lately. One day, it started pouring so we went outside and ran in the rain and we got SOAKING wet in literally just 10 seconds. The tornado siren also went off. Instead of going for cover as most people probably did we went on the roof to see if we could see the tornado from our apartment. We aren't sure why the warning came on because we couldn't see the tornado anywhere. But it was pretty funny. One time when the tornado warning went off with my previous companion, we all went outside and one lady who has an outside patio was shoving all her stuff in her house and "battening down the hatches". She was yelling at us "the tornado is coming!!!!!" It was so dramatic haha because the tornado is never even there. I am starting to think the siren is crying wolf
I love you all! I want you to know that the Lord lives. President Russel M. Nelson is truly a prophet of God.
Have a good week!
Elder Elliott
