week 8, 11-20-2017


Hey my dudes,

Last week I was very happy to receive an email from Olivia, one of my best friends from middle school. Even though it doesn't feel like it, it's been almost four years since I was in Pennsylvania. But that being said, I've been eating a lot of pierogies of late, and some of the other missionaries have told me that the word is "slippery" not "slippy." So I think that my heart is still in the great state of steel.

Earlier this week after Elder Nielsen and I finished a dinner appointment we made a quick pit stop at our apartment. Immediately after we got everything and closed the door Nielsen realized that he'd left the keys locked in the apartment. So we went to the leasing office, but it was closed. We then went back to the apartment and decided to try and get in through the balcony. Elder Nielsen is the smaller of the two of us, so I gave him a boost up, but the glass door was locked...

From there we didn't know what to do so we called Elders Foland and Shakespeare. (I think I've talked about them before) after much laughter from Foland, he told us that there are extra keys for every apartment in the mission office. So then we called the office Elders (Missionaries who work in the mission office.)

So after helping Nielsen get down from the balcony and about 30 minutes of waiting, the office Elders arrived with a key. We were saved! The key was outdated and didn't work. 

The office Elders offered to let us spend the night at their apartment. Seeing as there wasn't much else to do, we accepted. Even though we weren't able to get into our apartment till 10:30 the next morning we were able to spend a lot of time with some really cool guys. Nielsen and I had a ton of fun with the office Elders that night and morning. But that being said we've started being very careful with our keys.

OK, story time.

SY

S was born into a Muslim family of 9 in Iran. As S and the rest of her family got older they all left to different parts of the world. S went to the capital of the United States of America. She quickly learned that most Americans had difficulty pronouncing her name. So from that day on she would introduce herself by her middle name S. 

It didn't take long for S to discover Christianity. Soon after that, she was baptized into the Catholic Church. She always loved helping people because she knew that God loved all of his children. 

S ended up living in a rented room. An American named J was also renting a room in the same house. The two neighbors began to spend a lot of time together, and soon became best friends. The two of them would eventually become Mr. And Mrs. Y.

After many years J felt he needed something more in his life. He was on his balcony one day when he prayed, asking God to give him something to make him happier. When he opened his eyes he saw two Mormon missionaries walking down the street. He called out to them and asked if they would come and talk to him. The missionaries met with J and S a few times after that. They made J feel better and he loved to see their dedication. S was interested in the Church that they were representing so she decided to give it a try. She enjoyed the LDS church and felt a strong spirit there. 

For many years after, S tried going to many different Christian churches. She eventually found one that she enjoyed going to, but she didn't feel the spirit as strong as in the LDS church.

Many years later J got sick. S was worried about him and didn't know what to do. She remembered the Mormon missionaries and how much she loved the prayers that they gave. She called the number that the missionaries left with her years ago. 

An Elder named Brown and his companion Elder Nielsen came to her door and prayed with her for J's health. At J's next doctor's appointment, the specialist said that things were not as bad as initially diagnosed and with time and work he would recover.

S and J saw this as a miracle from prayer. From that day forward S started going back to the LDS church. She and J would go on walks with and bake pies for Elder Nielsen and his new companion Elder LaFond.

On November the 18th SY was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  

"Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely." Alma 5:34




Stay safe and keep on keeping on!
From ya boy- Eli

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