RAINY DAYS IN SEATTLE

It's been raining so much lately I busted my umbrella--so I was stuck with this polka dot one that a member loaned us.  Elder Cook forgot his umbrella so I let him have the umbrella because I have that awesome trench coat.  But even THAT got soaked it was raining so much.  Anyway, we knocked on this door and the house didn't have a porch so we were getting rained on.  The lady opens the door and she feels terrible because we were soaking wet so she lets us in.  We were able to dry off and give her a soggy copy of the Book of Mormon.  (Ha! Ha!)  She seemed really interested, but we'll see. 

We recently went and checked out a media referral.  It seemed a little shady at first because it was at a Motel room, and the room was on the backside of the Inn away from the traffic and public eye.  I was thinking "this could be very, very, very bad."  But we knocked on the door and Robert answered the door.  He is in his 50's or so and he was here in Seattle out of a job and had nowhere to turn so his doctor referred him to the church.  What is interesting is that he was living in Alaska and he was married and had three kids and an awesome job.  One night he had a drink of alcohol and he came home late at night and got in a fight with his wife.  The neighbors called the police and Alaska law states that if cops are called someone goes to jail--end of story.  So Robert was taken to jail because he had alcohol on his breath.  Because he was taken to jail, he violated his job contract and was fired.  Also, to make it worse, because he was living on company property and they pretty much deported him from the state and sent him to Seattle on his own money.  

So after all that, we set up appointments to teach him and he's pretty much the most humble man I've ever met.  Ever since his fight with his wife, he's been sober.  It's been a really cool experience to see him make such an awesome turn around in his life.  So he's getting baptized April 17th.  That will be my first official baptism. 

A day spent in Sea Tac, Washington

March 8, 2010

This past Thursday, On March 4th, we had a companion exchange.  This is where we trade companions for a day.  I got to leave my area and serve in a different part of the town of Sea Tac.

The ward I served in that day was the Samoan Ward and they thought I was the skinniest guy on the planet.  Everybody fed me.  It was INSANE!  If you poked me with a needle, I might have popped like a balloon--I was so full of fish and chicken and hot dogs and spaghetti and this root thing that they coat fruit in.  That's how they get their calicum because I guess they don't have milk or cows on the islands.

On Friday I went back to my original companion, Elder Cook, and we went tracting that morning.  We asked this lady if she had heard the message of Christ, and she said, "Yes, I have...and here's your message." Then she slams the door.  Not nearly as demoralizing as I thought it would be.

Sunday was great.  What made it FANTASMIC is that I was able to lead into a lesson finally and be able to feel like I was teaching something worthwhile.

I gotta go--today we're going to buy more ties.  Love you all!

FIRST P-DAY IN SEATTLE

Monday, March 1, 2010

My first P-day in Seattle...we have a car and it's a Mazda. Too fun.
My companion's name is Elder Cook (with me, Elder Baker) everyone here thinks that's the funniest thing.  The ward that I am serving in is really small, but it's way cool.  I'm having so much fun.

We are teaching a couple named Kati and Leo and they are getting baptized on the 20th of this month.  I was able to teach them a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and just about passed out--I was so nervous.  It's so great serving the Lord.  I can't stop smiling.

 

Our entire MTC District:  From left to right:  Elder Hurdlick, Elder Saunders, Elder Deines, Elder Jardine, Elder Allen, Elder Dixon, Elder Cook and me!

                    Here's a photo of me with my MTC companion Elder Jardin