This week was pretty darn awesome!
First off, we decided to go out to an outlying town called Fort Kipp. It's tiny. We took the bus early Wednesday morning, which meant that we were going to be there till 1 when the bus came back. when we stepped out of the apartment to start walking to the bus stop, we all immediately regretted choosing Wednesday to go to Ft. Kipp. The whole way out there you could feel the bus swaying in the wind. The walls of the bus were pulsing!! It was crazy! So, we get off the bus and watch it leave, than decide to go visit some people. While walking, we practicaly leaned at a 70 degree angle. I'm not joking. I almost got blown over multiple times. Elder Payne was just laughing as he watched me stumble through the streets trying to keep my feet underneath myself! It was absolutely crazy! So, we tried some people with little success, tried finding other people with even less success, than decided to just start knocking doors. On our 3rd door, a guy answered, and looked a little uncomfortable with 3 guys dressed up in poofy jackets and scarves blowing in the wind trying to talk to him but their words are getting blown all the way to Canada. So, after trying to introduce ourselves, we asked if we could step in. He jumped and said "Of course! Sorry, I should have done that earlier!" So, we came in and talked with him for a bit. He is very curious about what the heck we were doing out on a windy day like that (as were we haha!). We were able to sit down and give him a quick introduction to the message of the Restoration, gave him a Book of Mormon, and we're gonna see him again on Wednesday! He was super nice and we are pumped to go and get to know him more.
Now, to make that trip that much better! First off, we were all thinking, for the hours we just kinda walked around trying to figure out what to do, why the heck are we here? We felt like our time was being wasted out here, till we met James. That was a moment to celebrate. But, I have a firm testimony that God loves me, so he decided to prove to me that we were exactly where He wanted us to be. As we huddled behind a big box that was the only wind break waiting for the bus (which was now 30 minutes late) a car pulls up and a woman yells out the window to us. We walk over and she asked us "are you guys okay?" "Yeah, we're just waiting for the bus." She laughed and said they are always late. "Where are you headed?" "Poplar." "Hop in, I'm headed that way too!" We all look at each other, cause we aren't supposed to be in a car without a 3rd male there. And then, it hit us. We did have a 3rd male! Perks of being in a trio! "Sure!! Thank you so much!" Her name was Vonya. She is probably in her late 20's. She told us she is a Non-Denominational Christian, and she pretty much bore testimony for the next 45 minutes of how much she loved her Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, but not the way that most of us might think. She didn't do it by stating "I love God and Jesus". She did it by being herself, and showing us that she truly was a disciple of Jesus Christ, trying to be like Him in all that she did. We talked that whole trip, than when she dropped us off at the Post Office, we asked if we could say a prayer before we go. Of course, who is going to say no to that! We asked her who she would like to say it. She looked at the 3 of us and then asked me to. When I finished, I looked up and saw that she was crying. And not just the single tear, but it was practically rivers. It was all I could do to not do the same! She had such faith and love for her Savior and it just radiated! It reminded me of the time that the Jerusalem Visitor center was built, and they told the Church that there could be no proselyting there, and the comment one of the men there made fits her to the T. To paraphrase "Okay, they can't talk about it, but what can we do about the light in their eyes?" She had that light in her eyes. It was so great to meet her, and I hope and pray we meet again!
So, this weekend we went up to Plentywood and spent 2 nights in the Elders old apartment up there (Plentywood was covered by missionaries till this last transfer when they closed the area down and we inherited it. Yay!) The water here is very irony, and it looks like someone was murdered here due to all the rust. When we take showers it smells like rotten eggs! Woopie! Saturday night we were able to try one of the potential investigators and it was one of the best lessons I have had my whole mission. His name is S. He is on a search for truth and as we taught he was just soaking it all in! He was Southern Baptist as a boy, but now, he sure ain't in the South no more! When we taught him about the first vision and told him what Joseph was told, we asked him what he thought about that, he said "well, I think that if I heard someone making that claim I would be asking him tons of questions, like what they looked like." Than we asked what he thought of what Josephs answer was he said "well, it seems to me like They told him that all these churches were close but no cigar, so chill out till I give you more instructions." We laughed so hard! He was totally prepared for us to come see him! He is who Alma 13:24 was talking about! He was super excited about the Book of Mormon, and when Elder Payne extended a baptismal invitation, he looks at the three of us and says "Of course I would! Why wouldn't I? If God is gonna tell me to do something, I better do it, right?" All in all, it was a good night.
On a less spiritual note, I finally know what weed smells like. We knocked on someones door, and he opens it, than shuts it just far enough for us to his head and says "Oh, hey guys, what's up?" We asked if his wife was around and he looks back and says "uh, she's sleepin". Than we heard "No I'm not quit lying to the Elders! You let them in now, you hear?!" He started to open it, than closes it to a sliver again and says "Well, we're busy doing something." "No we're not! You get them in here now!" So, he lets us in, apologized for smoking, then we talked for a while. So, once we set up a return appointment, we leave, and immediately I get a headache. Elder Larsen says "Elders, they were totally smoking weed. And not just a little. We better go home, cause we all smell like weed now." Man, my head was throbbing the rest of the night. But, not I know what it smells like so I can avoid it next time!
Well! What a week! Super good and exciting and I am stoked for this next week. Love you all dearly, hope all is well, and I can't wait to hear from you!
Elder Carter V
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