Elder Withers in his Christmas blanket

Hiya!                                                                                                                                

Yet another P-Day! Amazing how fast the time goes. 

On Tuesday we had a great lesson with Mark! We taught him with Sister Bridge. Julia didn't come out because she was ill. We taught about the Plan of Salvation, using the diagram mom sent me. After we finished, we had Mark teach us the Plan of Salvation and he did amazing. He understood it really well. We taught him Sabbath Day, too. 

On Wednesday we watched a worldwide missionary broadcast! It was great. After the broadcast, we had a wonderful lesson with a woman named Abby. She was someone we met on 4 December... She was in the Area Book. Because she was busy, and she is a single mum, we set up a return appointment for 10 Jan that ended up getting cancelled... #missionaryLife. We were finally able to meet with her on Wednesday night! We taught her the Restoration and the Sabbath Day with Jacob Fagg, and it went really well. She originally accepted the invitation to be baptised, but then when I extended a date she said "I'll think about it". We hope to see her this week!

On Thursday I went on an exchange with Elder McAvoy and I went to their area. We had a lesson with his investigator named Michael. Michael has a brother named Gordon who speaks some Spanish, and he said "mi espanol es (insert Spanish swear word here)". I didn't recognise the word he said at first, so I repeated him, trying to understand what he said, after which I realised I said a Spanish swear word. Ha!

We had a great lesson with Mark and Julia on Friday! We taught the Plan of Salvation (because Julia was ill before when we taught Mark) and the Word of Wisdom. Brother Bridge and Dan Bridge were there. Mark accepted the invitation to keep the word of Wisdom, and then we looked at Julia, and she didn't. :') She explained that when she was younger she used to smoke. Her father told her to stop, and she said she would, but the next morning she smoked anyways. She eventually gave up smoking (gratefully for us and for her). She just doesn't want to break her word to us, so she said she'd try. Brother Bridge was great- he shared a great testimony of the Word of Wisdom (as a convert).

The next day, we had a miracle! We texted Julia on Saturday about how the Word of Wisdom was going, and she sent us a text saying "I skipped coffee!". So cool and so happy for her. 

On Saturday, I bought 2 cans of tomato soup, 2 packs of mini tissues, chocolate, cough drops, and a bag to give to bishop because he was sick! I wrote a little card, too. It's nice to be nice! And fun to do things out of the normal routine. 

Sunday came around, and we were expecting 4 people for church; Julie, Averall, Mark and Julia. Julie and Averall came, and then we were waiting for Mark and Julia (they said they'd drive themselves). We waited for them until a little after 9:10am (church started at 9). Tim Boon (a great guy) walked in, and then we went with him to sit down in the back on a row of chairs. We were disappointed that Mark and Julia weren't there. Then, lo and behold, at about 9:35am Mark and Julia walked in. They're wonderful! I was so happy that they came. They left after Gospel Principles, but they had a good experience. 

I love reading the Book of Mormon! I'm reading it from cover to cover with the mission; I finished 2 Nephi this morning. I've really grown spiritually as I've read, and I feel more power and clarity in my life. Hold to the rod! It works 

 

Love you all! Have a great week.

Love, Elder Withers