Heeeellllllllooooo!!!!
Whew! I'm recovering from a GREAT week in the field. I couldn't be happier. Missionary work is very satisfying! It can also be very upsetting, but from what I've observed so far there are extreme highs and lows due to the sacredness of the call. Faith is at the center of knowing everything will be alright! Miracles will happen! Heavenly Father will help!
Last preparation day, our zone went up to Goldsboro for an activity at one of the Elder's houses they are staying in. The house is a MANSION! A super rich member family owns it and lets the missionaries stay there. They had a super nice clubhouse looking patio and a pool (that was pointless because we couldn't swim). But everyone played some volleyball and soccer while I wrote out some letters. Lame, I know, but preparation day is the only day I can send out handwritten letters! It was nice to go out and relax for a little while. You don't get to do that too often on the mission!
So, this week we took the car in to get repaired (Elder Knott accidentally hit a wooden post making a wide U-turn in the middle of July). So we rode on bikes! It was super exhausting!! It was really hot and humid this week, and being in church clothes on a bike with a slightly flat front tire doesn't help at all. Hahaha! It was really good though. It takes forever to get to people's houses out here in the country, but it makes it all worth it when they let you in and you get to share the gospel! We got the car back on Thursday and I kind of miss biking a little bit. Funny, huh?
On Friday, I had to be in charge of the area when Elder Knott went on an exchange with one of the zone leaders in Goldsboro. I was with Elder Jensen, the other zone leader. It was a very good exchange! Elder Jensen is a super obedient and inspired missionary, and I learned a lot of really wonderful things from him. We were teaching a less-active member a lesson on meaningful prayer and I invited him to start coming back to church. I was filled with love as I extended that invitation and he said that he knows he needs to start coming back. The Spirit was the teacher of that lesson. He said it was exactly what he needed to hear.
After that, Elder Jensen and I taught Sergio! He is so ready to be baptized! We are getting really excited for him. This was the first lesson I had had with him since the beginning of August. We taught him about the Word of Wisdom and he said he already has been living it. He said that when he learned about it, he had been drinking a lot of tea, and then he said when he stopped drinking it, he noticed he could start running faster than before. So he already lives it and has a testimony of it! He wants to go on a mission in a couple of years. These things are just so exciting to hear! We changed his baptismal date to October 12th so that he can continue to have opportunities to go to church and learn everything he needs to in a timely manner! I don't know if I'll be here in October, but the thing that matters is that he is learning and following Christ's example!
The members have been so great to us the past couple weeks. So willing to come out with us, so willing to feed us! We have had a dinner appointment every night for the past two weeks! Yesterday, we went to a member's home for lunch, and her daughter was in the same district in the MTC as Nicole Barnes from Herriman. So her daughter and Nicole are both serving in Japan! She talks to Nicole's mom quite often, so it's crazy to think that a member from the ward I'm serving in is friends with a member in my stake back home! Only this could happen in the Church!
Well, time is starting to run out, but I want to share with you how grateful I am for the wonderful spirit of missionary work! I am so glad the Spirit is here to strengthen me and testify to me in all the hard times! This gospel is true and I am so grateful for it.
Mucho amor,
Elder Remund
Southern Country Spunk
Let the Spirit do the Heavy Lifting
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| Howdy, friends! |
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| View from our study room - lots of soybeans! |
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| Deep cleaning day! |
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| Albertson sunset |
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| A super good Mexican meal made by Sister Hernandez for her dad, Jaime Espino's birthday. |
