Elder Austin's Journal Letters from December 30th - January 5, 2014

Monday, December 30, 2013

Today didn't go as we planned to.  We had four appointments today and only one went through.  If I wasn't out as long as I have been, I probably wouldn't be too happy, but I'm grateful for the missionary and the person that the Lord has helped me become.  I don't think my companion has learned what I have because he wasn't too happy.  He was getting discouraged, so I tried to be an example of diligence and positivity.  After, we taught two great lessons on the street so that lifted his spirits!  Mission complete!

Tuesday, December 31. 2013

Well we're doing a lot of finding today to try and re-establish a teaching pool so that's always interesting.  One guy answered the door in his underwear …..gross!  We taught a nice old man named John the plan of salvation.  It's hard teaching that sometimes because not everyone understands it, but it needs to be done!  It was a relatively short day because we are required to be in our flats by 6 p.m.  We've got to avoid those drunk people!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Happy Hogmanay!  (Hog-moan-ay)  Only in Scotland do they say that instead of New Year.  Well we weren't allowed to proselyte today so we spent the whole day with members.  We went and had lunch with members.  We went and had lunch with a Nigerian family named the Obasuyi's.  They're less-active because they go to the Catholic Church.  The only reason they got baptized was because the Elders kind of forced them to.  They're still really nice to us and feed us all the time.  They made chicken and rice, it was so good!  We spent the rest of the day at the McLeans.  They fed us dinner and we had a good time.  We were allowed to watch movies/T.V. today, so guess what we watched?   COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!  The McLeans get ESPN all the way over here, so we watched a couple of bowl games.  It was awesome.  We had a pretty good Hogmanay.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Today was an example of not teaching any lessons, but still making progress.  We've been doing a lot of finding, so we're knocking on a lot of doors.  We didn't teach any lessons, but we got a few potential investigators out of it. The McRobb's fed us tonight and it was really good.  They have a 27 year old son who's not married yet so I told them about Erin.  Hey, you never know what will happen!  Other than that nothing really happened but it wasn't a bad day at all!!

Friday, January 3, 2014

We had zone interview training today in Irvine.  That's where our leaders give us instruction while we have individual interviews with the President.  I love President Brown!!  He's so loving and all he wants to do is help.  We had a good conversation and he told me I was doing good!  I was happy to hear that.  It was good to catch up with other missionaries too.  I got to see Elder Benesch!!  We always laugh and share inside jokes when we see each other.  I can tell he's changed a lot.  We both tell each other how weird it is seeing how we were back in college to where we are now.  We both have changed for the better!  I saw my other mission friends and receive some good training from my leaders.  Today was a great day!

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Holy cow, so many things happened today, it was crazy!  We were tracting today and I talked to a young mother of a beautiful family.  We talked for a little bit about families and I bore one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever given about how families come together through the gospel.  I watched her facial expressions and she felt the Spirit, I knew it!  It was so thick, you could almost feel it with your hands.  But then, she said she didn't want to change her ways.  My heart dropped and she closed the door.  I was so distraught for the rest of the day.  I don't know why it bugged me so much, but I couldn't wrap my head around it.  She felt the Spirit and I know that for a fact, but she turned away from it.  Are people THAT stubborn nowadays?  Ugh, it's still bothering me.  We also found out that one of our investigators is pregnant out of wedlock and another investigator has dementia.  So many things are happening at once and I am physically, emotionally and more importantly spiritually drained of all my energy.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Unfortunately, we only had 9 people at church today.  I can tell that the branch morale is getting low.  People are dropping left and right and they know we don't have solid investigators.  The branch is on the verge of closing down and the members know it.  They're depending on us to build up the branch.  My companion is having trouble with homesickness, so it's almost as if the fate of this branch is in my hands.  I'm working harder than I ever had and my stress level is through the roof.  I'm trying my best to help this branch live.  I will do it Mom, I just need a lot of help from the Lord.