Atheists and Teens in WA

Family,

I have also noticed the fall in the air.  Elder Wilkins and I have woken up every morning and gone to the high school that is just in our back yard to run on the track.  I have noticed a drop in temperature here as well.  We are still running in shorts so it can't be that cold yet though.

Sounds like Jaclyn and Zach are doing well.  I am not sure how I would feel about 5 minutes to decide about a job position though.  It seems like a heavy responsibility, but one that he can take on.

What?!  You might be moving again!  You just got to that house a month ago.  If the house sells, will you be looking for a house in the same town/ area? 

 

This week we continued to see miracles. The man that showed up to church last week was able to come to a dinner at a member's house and was instantly fellowshipped really well.  We taught him two times last week and he accepted a Book of Mormon and said he would read and pray about it. That is a miracle in itself.  He also said he loves reading which is also another miracle.  We find that reading in a dying hobby/ past time and that hardly anyone picks up a book anymore -- let alone a religious book.  We are very excited to continue working with him and we think that he has a lot of potential.

This week we also started to teach a young 13 year old.  He has some member friends that live close to him and has been to church several times.  The member mom says that this young man is usually at her house or just wandering the streets because both his parents work all day until late, and so he has nobody at home to watch him.  He is basically growing up by himself with his 11 year old brother.  He is a smart kid though and told us that he had liked the church the two times he has gone.  He said he likes when they split up into classes, and he likes learning things that can help him with life's challenges.  I thought that was a good answer from a 13 year old.

We had an interesting experience where we taught an atheist that the Hermanas referred us to.  He is only 19 and has lived a hard life.  In his early years his dad left them, his grandpa died, and he got addicted to some heavy illegal drugs.  Although we couldn't really relate to any of that in our own lives, the spirit was strong in that lesson, and both Elder Wilkins and I felt like we knew what questions to ask to this man and how to respond to him.  We got down to the bottom on his concerns really fast, and it was one of the most open people I have met on my mission.  He said that he knew some people from the church when he lived in California and that he did notice that they were happier than most people.  He said he was happy in his life, but noticed a distinct level of happiness more than his, and he was a little curious to know what it was.  We had a lesson on what the church really was and why it would make people happy.  Although we left the lesson with this man saying he may not change right now and that maybe in 5-10 years down the road he would look into the church.  He did have a change during the lesson and admitted that it seemed like "something" created the earth.  Maybe a start of him believing in a God. Elder Wilkins said after the lesson that I answered some questions or asked some questions the exact way he was thinking in his mind. The Holy Ghost is real and will tell you what to say in any moment.  It was an amazing experience!

Well I got to go. Love you all.

Elder Ben Howell