I Think We Were Busy?

So, on the way over to the library to email today I was talking with my companion, Elder Hansen, and we were trying to figure out what we did this past week. It felt like we were super busy, which I guess we were, but at the same time it doesn't seem like much happened. Everything just seems to be blending together and I'm having a heck of a time remembering when we did stuff and what it was we did. It's kind of weird.

I guess I'll start at the beginning of the week and go through the events that took place. Monday night, we went to see Paul. It was bad news when we showed up. We got there and he asked us if we could go for a walk. We started walking and he started telling us all about his day. If you remember, last Sunday was when he got up in fast and testimony meeting and bore his testimony. He was on fire Sunday! We were so excited for him. Monday was a different story. He told us that he had found out that day that his ex-girlfriend had got the cops involved with stuff back in St. George and that when he got back to Utah he was going to have to go to jail for a while because of the charges that were against him. The cops had actually already been at Paul's parents' house looking for him. More bad news kept coming, most of which I don't have the time to tell you about nor can I fully explain all that happened. After all this happened, Paul's buddy grabbed him and took him to a bar where Paul had a few drinks. We could still smell the alcohol on his breath while we were talking to him. He wasn't totally drunk, but you could tell that he was struggling. We spent about two hours sitting with him on the sidewalk while he told us all that had happened and how crappy he felt at being so stupid and letting his guard down that day. He told us about how right before we had showed up he had been on the phone with one of his best friends talking to him for almost 3 hours trying to get some help and that the phone had died. Five minutes after the phone died, Paul was sitting out on the front step with his roommate talking about things when we showed up. He told us how every time we had come to his house, just to "check on him" it was at the exact moment when he felt like he really needed some help. He told us how grateful he was to us for being there and how his roommate had been asking him why the heck he let us come over. He told us that we would never know what kind of influence and help we had been in the few short weeks we had known him. Mostly we just listened to him, but that was what he needed.

The following day we went back over to see him again. He was much better. He'd taken some time to think things through and he'd come up with a plan for what to do. He told us that he is determined to not get beaten down. He still plans on attending church in Utah, he is working on becoming worthy to partake of the sacrament, he's working with his parents and their lawyer to fight against what his ex is doing, he's reading and praying each day, and he's got a positive attitude about the future. That was the last time I saw Paul. He was scheduled to go back to St. George on Thursday. I don't know what he is doing right now. He said he'd add me on his Facebook page so we can keep in contact more after my mission. Hopefully he has already. If so, Mom, could you send him a message and let him know I'm still thinking about him and I'll be sending him and his family a letter shortly? That would be awesome. Paul is a brother to me now and I hope that things are working out for him.

There were a couple of other things that happened this past week. We had Zone Conference which, as always, was amazing. We've been focusing on getting our investigators to kneel and pray about the Book of Mormon in a lesson. Elder Hansen and I have seen some success with that lately. We picked up a new investigator this week named Carrie. She has some friends that are members and she's wondering why members of our church seem to be happy all the time. She's done some study on her own and she asks great questions. In our first visit with her, we were able to get her to say a kneeling prayer to know if the Book of Mormon was true. The whole experience was great. We taught her another lesson earlier today and once again, it was awesome! She is genuinely seeking for truth. I love the way that investigators pray! She just says things as they are and how she really feels. I feel really good about teaching her. She has some concerns that are a pretty big deal (her family will probably disown her if she joins the church), but she is okay with that if it's really what she needs to be doing. That is epic! I'll keep you posted on how things go.

We were also able to go to the Temple on Saturday. We went with a couple in the North Highlands Ward, the Xiongs. They are a young married couple and are blessed enough to be temple workers (I'm totally jealous : ) We did two endowment sessions and some initiatories in-between. I haven't done any initiatories since I had my own and it was really cool to have that experience again. The temple is such a wonderful place! There is no way I will ever let myself not have going to the temple be a priority in my life. The blessings that come from temple attendance are incredible! It's worth any sacrifice to get there.

Once again, time is running out. I guess our week was pretty packed, huh? Let me know how things are going back home. Mason, I'm sorry that I forgot to tell you happy birthday last week in my email. I remembered as soon as I got back to our apartment! Happy Birthday buddy! Congrats on the new calling, Mom. You're going to do a great job helping the YW in the ward.
Kurtis and Kasey, tell me about the trek! I'm anxious to hear from you. Thanks to Rick and Tina for the package as well. I really appreciated it. A letter will be coming eventually. : )

I love you all. Thanks for everything. Being a missionary is the best thing I've ever done and I am so grateful for all that has been done to help me be out here. I can't say thank you enough. Have a great week. You are always in my prayers. BE MIGHTY!

Elder J Hammer