Elder Scott Austin's Journal Letter from April 7 - April 13, 2014

Monday, April 7, 2014

Alright, we're back to the normal routine of journal letters.  P-day wasn't that exciting today.  I got to download a lot of talks from General Conference, so that was good.  You emailed me about Erin and Ashley, I hope you found my advice helpful.  Keep being that example to them!  Tonight we had dinner at a less-active family named the McGillvery's.  Sister McGillvery was the victim of anti-mormon stuff, remember?  Her Husband made curry and it was VERY SPICY.  Let's just say when I got home, it burned ….. A LOT!  Enough said ….

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

As usual, our Tuesday started off with appointment with a guy named Eric that we were very excited for, but he dropped us when we got there.  He's an athiest, so I can see where he's coming from, but it just kinda stinks.  While tracking today, I got told by this old man that I wouldn't live past age 76.  Crazy old people!  The day ended on a really good note though.  We went by a potential and he let us in to teach him.  He's a father of two, so we talked to him about how reading and praying could impact his family.  He said he would talk to them about having us teach them as a family.  Ahh that would be so cool if we could baptize them all together!  So today was a good day.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

So today, we hit the streets and the houses hard!  When the day as over, we counted 7 hours of solid finding.  Our efforts were successful as we got 4 potential investigators.  Al of them set a return appointment for tomorrow.  So there's a chance that we can get 4 new investigators tomorrow!  How great would that be?  I'm so excited to teach them all tomorrow!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

We scheduled to have 4 lessons with 4 new investigators today but all of them fell through…. Absolutely no one came to the door out of the 4 of them.  So that didn't make me happy.  Since they all cancelled, we were forced to knock on more doors.  We ran into some of the weirdest people.  We talked to this guy who said that Adam and Eve were Irish … Crazy right?  Then we ran into this lady that called us false prophets.  She basically told us that we're going to hell for what we're doing.  She said she was "Christian", but she showed no Christlike love whatsoever.  Oh well, just another normal day in Stranraer.

Friday, April 11, 2014

This morning we got to roll up our sleeves and do some physical work.  A less-active family was taking off the dry wall and concrete around their fireplace, so we did it for them.  We had to chisel away all of the stuff.  It was hard work!!  I enjoyed getting down and dirty though.  Tonight we had dinner at the Corrigans.  They have a brand new black lab puppy named Bentley.  He's so cute!!  He's still in the stage of biting everything so I have a few scars.  After that, we had a good lesson with the Campbell's.  We're trying to get Bethany's older sister interested.  We gave her a challenge to read and pray about the Book of Mormon every night.  We're hoping and praying for a miracle.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

So the day started off with some good 'ole tracting in the rain.  There was one woman who felt bad for us, so she let us in and gave us a glass of water.  She as really nice, but when we tried to teach, she kinda wanted us out.  We then had lunch at a small restaurant with Sister McGillvery.  Even tough she's less-active, she loves us so she loves to feed us.  Of course, my favorite was Peter at his rest home.  Have you ever heard of a book called "Tuesday's with Mory"?  I think I"m gonna write a book called "Saturday's with Peter".  We went back to Stranraer and started knocking on more doors.  It was like the whole housing estate hated us.  They laughed, made fun and shooed us away.  It didn't feel good at all.  The phrase from "Missionary work and the Atonement" keeps sticking in my head.  "Why would we ever think it would be easy for us when it was never easy for him."  I got your package today!  Thank you so much.  I love it!!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Church was very good this morning.  We got to teach the priesthood lesson about Joseph and Hyrum Smith.  Testimony meeting was good as always.  The McLean's fed us to end our fasting and it was great!!  She made steak pie with steamed vegetables.

So I got a call tonight saying that I am staying in Stranraer for another six weeks.  I have no idea why the Lord is keeping me here for so long, but I know there is a reason.  All I'm focusing on now is enduring faithfully with a smile.

Love You!!