This last week was full of meetings meetings meetings. Tuesday was my first zone leader council which was pretty sweet. Basically all the zone leaders hop in a room and discuss the needs of the mission. It was good to see some old longview out east buddies. Wednesday we had a zone council where the zone got together and Elder Hall and I trained on Revelation through Church Attendance. Thursday we had to wait for an exchange back from Greenville then weekly planning and Friday we had a specialized training from President Smith.

Our week was a bit rough in some ways that proved to be a bit humbling. Our tire went flat on the way home from Dallas on Tuesday so our afternoon was eaten up with a trip to pep boys for a repair. Later in the week after we got the mail at the end of the day the steering went when our alternator died which translates to having our car towed away and now were on bikes! No complaints (other than the cold) because our area is 7 square miles compared to Nac's 1500. Saturday we were good to go without a car until my companion's tire decided to complain and we had to walk around to get a new one. Oh, and the golden family we found and committed last week announced that they were offended by the Book of Mormon and for the strength of youth pamphlet. Odd.

Now on to the good news!

President Smith gave an awesome training on Friday which was very centered on the true meaning of Christmas. He went on to say that as we go out preaching the Gospel that we would see windows with trees, presents and families and we would yearn to be a part of that. Sharing the Gospel is the greatest gift anyone could give and this sacred time that we have here in the mission will no doubt be some of the most precious. At the beginning of the meeting we all practiced singing called to serve the same way the motabs do which was awesome considering there were 168 of us belting it out.

We had a couple exchanges this week. The first was with Elder Haslem from a little town called St George Utah who lives by desert hills high school. He is about to die in the mission so it was fun to be with him. We tracted in an apartment complex and the first guy to answer the door was actually a less active member who invited us to come back. The 2nd person to answer the door almost immediately brought up baptism as something she would like to do but didnt feel ready for it at this time. We did offer our help of course to make that a reality which she accepted.

The 2nd exchange was with Elder Harris up in Bonham. Man, that place was a lot like out east minus all the pine trees. It was kind of crazy how similar we were. He left on his mission late, came from a family of 4, etc etc... It was a great exchange. We were talking to one of his investigators on the porch before he let us into his home. I asked him 2 very direct questions "Dwayne, do you believe Joseph Smith was a prophet?" he answered in the affirmative. Then "Do you believe the Book of Mormon is true?" Yes he answered. He was then committed to baptism. We also met with a former investigator in a heart breaking situation, she wants to be baptized but her staunch catholic husband is opposed. She was awesome and very happy. She attributed it to her reading of the Book of Mormon.

Yesterday we met with a long time investigator who allowed us to come in and teach unannounced. Elder Hall taught the Atonement very well, then I taught more towards how the Atonement relates to Life's eternal purpose. He was pretty stoked on that and for a few seconds I actually forgot he wasn't a member. The Spirit was pretty strong.

Sunday we also had a miracle call in which one of our members had stopped by the family who said they were offended but come to find out they were just a bit nervous with the whole sudden baptism thing. That is what happens when you don't read the Book of Mormon! Faith declines, fears increase.

Love Y'all

Elder Metcalf