This Week

Hawaii is lame compared to Nacogdoches....!

Well the first half of the week started super high then sort of went a little downhill, sadly.

We made sure we got all of our contacts in this week so we could reap the blessings of a full teaching pool. Interesting how I can use my 'no care' attitude to talk to anyone now. Makes for some interesting stories.

We went to the University campus to contact during lunch on Tuesday which turned out to be a fantastic decision. I did find out on our zone leader exchange later in the week that apparently this University is famous for temptation. (I have yet to experience any). We started by talking to any 'potential priesthood' holders but for some reason they are satisfied with the way life is and didn't make much headway. We were there for about an hour talking to about 50 students usually in groups that didn't take much interest. That's about when I started to go a bit crazy because no one was interested! I gotta admit it is quite fun approaching a couple, who is clearly dating, about eternal marriage. Sometimes it works out well. We were on our way out to leave when we noticed a member who is going to the school. She was with her friend. "Elder Braford, is her friend a member?"

"not yet"

So of course we approached her and she knew exactly what was up. Not too much interest was taken until I pulled out the ultimate University student contacting tool...

Mom's Book of Mormon version of Green Eggs and Ham!

Yes! She said she would try it out. Ahhh if only I listened to my parents more.

To continue this awesome teaching experience I would have to mention how hard Elder Braford and I have been working on improving our teaching skills and the payoff is huge. Last week we were blubbering fools compared to this week (the Spirit makes up our meager difference for trying). We role play something everyday and it is drastically helping. We are determined to make every lesson the best lesson we have had.

So cue in the girl we found on campus. She explained how unfair after the Restoration lesson how simple the Gospel really is and that it makes complete sense. She has deep Methodist roots but that can be recognized as a good thing. We committed her to a soft baptismal commitment (more on that later), to read all of 1st Nephi, pray about it, and come to Church. Well she initially said that she wouldn't be able to make it because she sings in a church choir each Sunday to which our reaction was "....green eggs and ham..." and she ditched choir yesterday to go to church. sweet.

We had a awesome zone meeting on Wednesday at which they drilled it into our heads to make sure to commit to baptism on every 1st lesson. Low and behold when you do what an Apostle asks, it works... imagine that. The very first lesson after that meeting, we went to a lady whom Elder Bradford has taught a little bit once, and I have never met. She accepted baptism on the 31st. Interesting how that works. Once again another person who reads the Book of Mormon and hears the Joseph Smith story and says "it makes sense and the light is turning on."

Elder Braford and I went to teach a family who had just gone through the temple for the first time not too long ago. (18 month old convert). It was pretty close by an investigator's home and when we pulled in for the lesson and investigator's husband said "come on over!" So I sent Elder Braford over because he is a fantastic missionary to commit them while I took care of the simple active lesson. Elder Braford came back so excited. He set the room on fire with the spirit and 2 baptismal dates. Pretty cool experience. (sadly they did not come to Church so the 2 will have to be postponed)

We were determined to get 20 contacts through tracting in 1.5 hours on Saturday which proved to be a slight challenge. The first door we knocked said to come back another time and slowly but surely most everyone we met declined after that. We had 19 contacts with 5 minutes left and tried the first house again that told us to come back. Well the husband was finally home but said to come back at 7. Which we did.

We taught the Restoration lesson and he was way stoked on the Book of Mormon and was easily committed to read and pray about it. Really sincere people that we look forward to teaching this week.

How did we approach them? Something I had read in Grandpa Metcalf's letter he had sent to me that I had received when we left the apartment to go over there to tract. It was about approaching men and families about how they can hold and be blessed by the priesthood in their homes. Its nice to know how resilient the Gospel is on an approach that was printed off in 1983 for Grandpa's missionaries when he was a President. Pretty cool to put the 'same Gospel today, yesterday, and forever' truth to the test,

Last night we ended on a high note. Just as we finished up our contacts for the week (it was getting dark) a member called and asked for a blessing for her non-member husband. Zoom and we were there. I can not begin to explain the sacred events I have seen on this mission thing completed by the priesthood power. So I wont. But what an awesome joy it is to be an instrument in Heavenly Father's Gospel to be able to use the priesthood. In a way it is a bit heart sickening to understand the amount of homes that are without. Bigger drive to find more potential priesthood holders!

Ughh how I hate rejection though (I thought that was done away with in high school) but here on the mission I take it very personally.

"Don't you know the magnitude of this message!?"

"Just please, I beg of you, to try the Green Eggs and Ham, you will like it like it you will see!"

Love you all so much

Uncle Elder Metcalf

congrats on the fun trip to Hawaii. However out of all the places in the world to miss its gotta be Lake Powell... Good thing its freezing there!