He Was Sniffing His Watch

This was the craziest week of my life! We met so many awesome people and are seeing incredible work! Let me tell you about my companion Elder Caldwell first:

Elder Caldwell is 19, came from Georgia, is the youngest of 8 children, is wayyyy into war history and wants to join the Rangers when he's home from his mission. After High School he worked for a year to save up money for the mission and to stay busy. He's a solid missionary. Earlier this week he was sniffing his watch and said, "I've determined my watch smells like our mission: cigarettes, dirt, and hand soap."

I'm SO HAPPY. I'm just happy. This area is really starting to pick up. Elder Caldwell and myself get along super great, we're accomplishing our goals, we're having spiritual experiences, we're working hard....! I'm happy because I'm confident the Lord is pleased with my efforts. The Lord's hand is evident in this area. When Elder Wilcox and myself finished the last transfer we had 3 investigators. Two weeks into this transfer, Elder Caldwell and I have 14 investigators. We got 8 new investigators this week. The Lord is DUMPING blessings on us. Peoples hearts are softening and their looking for the gospel. We taught 18 lessons this week which is more than this area has ever taught to my knowledge. I attribute this to the faith and diligence we are putting in. The Lord has truly blessed us.

Yesterday we biked all over Chandler inviting our investigators to come to church. One of the investigators we met with was B. B is from ST. Louis Missouri, is about 6 foot 7 and weighs close to 350 pounds. BIG MAN. He's also one of the funniest people I've met in my life. When we walked in he started interrogating us. First he asked if we celebrate any holidays. "uhhh.... Yeah.." Next he asked what bible we use. "King James....". He then admitted he thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses in disguise and so did his wife. We ended up having a super good lesson with him about faith and repentance and he committed to come to church even though his wife said she'd divorce him if he came. He told us not to tell. We're thinking we should though cause if they got a divorce she wouldn't be holding him back :D Just kidding! We're trying to bring families together, not tear them apart!

Earlier this week we had a funny day in this one apartment. First there was this guy who came up to us and said, "Your church was started by a guy who was talking to a lizard!" I told him that was foolish and if he thought about what he had said he would realize it was foolish. He kept saying it over and over again, "Your church was started by a lizard! Your church was started by a lizard!" As a lady was walking by I asked her, "Do you think our religion was started by a lizard?" She replied, "No, I'm a mormon!" 3 against 1! Anyways, none of us won because we were being contentious and that NEVER works! Right after this guy left there was an old lady throwing a bag of trash away. I asked if I could help her with the trash and she denied me very rudely. I asked if she was having a good day and she said she was having a horrible day. I asked her why! She replied she was dealing with back problems and started walking away. Wanting to help but not really knowing how I followed her and asked if I could pray for her. She said sure but kept walking. I stopped my bike, took my helmet off and prayed saying, "Please bless the old lady with back problems who won't tell me her name and is walking away from me that her back will feel better." I promise I was being sincere! It just came out different than I wanted it to!

I'm out of time but there's more I want to write! I have a type writer in my apartment so I'll finish my letter there.

Love Elder Janis :D