Adios to January

Family,

I am going to have to agree with you, Mom, that time seems to keep on getting faster and faster.  So did Jaclyn and Zach sell their old house or are they going to own two?  Are they still going to be living in Phoenix?  Sounds like it was a week of partying with several birthdays.  I wish I was there for it.  Last year was great when everyone was free to meet together. We will have to see if that is possible in the next couple of years. I was a bit surprised at how old the silverware that we had been using was.  I had thought it was something that you and dad had got new and not 55 years old.  I guess that was a pretty good gift.    It was cool to hear that Daniel was up here in Washington to run.  What city is WSU in?  It is crazy how many colleges are up here.  In my mission alone, there are like 15 colleges. The biggest being the University of Washington, which I have driven by several times.

This week we have had the great opportunity to start teaching several more people.  One of them has been coming to church with his friend that is in the branch for about a month now, but we just started teaching him.  First lesson was amazing! He told us how he met his friend in the branch and how he then came in contact with the church.  He had been looking for a church to attend, but everything that he finds just isn't right for him.  He had had a lot of stressful situations in his life recently, but as he has attended the church with his friend he says he has felt more peace in his life and has felt the spirit more.  When we read to him from the Bible of what the spirit could feel like, he said that he had felt them all while attending the church and getting to know the members. When we asked him if he would work towards getting baptized, he said that he was actually going to ask us if he could in the lesson.  That is a first in my mission where someone was going to ask us if they could be baptized--and that was all him just going to church and feeling the spirit more in his life, we hadn't even finished a lesson with him.  He does have a challenge to overcome with smoking, but he has a lot of strength to quit and has the support of the branch behind him.

We have been teaching a family and they came to church last week.  We were able to meet with them again this week, and every time I love it.  This is the most sincere family.  They are really searching for the truth in their lives and want to find it. They are very knowledgeable about the Bible and have attended many churches in the past looking for something that they like.  Usually, when we go over to teach we teach them, they teach us...and I love it!  We have only taught them several times, but we have bonded really well.

Mmmmm, well I was planning of writing more, but seem to be out of time.  Sorry, got to go.

Love you family! :)

Elder Ben