Sounds like everyone has been having a pretty
good week! Exciting that Dad is back home and that everything else has been
going well. Tell grandma and grandpa Dola and Schultz that I love them and also
Uncle Brian too. Tell him thanks for wishing us luck!
This week was a pretty good week compared to
last week. However we are very low on money so we ended up having to eat all of
our freezer-burnt/rotten/expired food that we found in the fridge that we don't
really have any idea of how long some of that food has been in there, but
needless to say we didn't die. Mosquitoes are still raging on, but yeah. It
thunderstorms sometimes, or just rains, so it is still really humid and hot.
This Monday we didn't really do much, just got
prepared for the rest of the week and had Family Home evening with T.
Tuesday we helped the U's do more
renovations on their house and checked up on the last commitments that we left
with them the last time we saw them. After that we talked with some people
on the streets and had dinner at the S's again, met a man and another lady who we were able to talk to and share a
message with both of them. Then we got two new investigators after meeting
with a couple who ran into us the other day and said that they
wanted to change their lives around and meet with us.
Wednesday we had District meeting and did some
contacting on the bus as well as visited some potential investigators.
Thursday we worked at the Soup kitchen again and
then at the food bank again where we were finally able to share a message with
one of the guys who helps run the place. We had a really good lesson and
conversation with him. After that we met a lady named S and now have her as
a new investigator. After that we went over to the Hospital, per request of D and C, and visited her mom who was in the ICU. It was really rough. She can't
even breathe and looked like she was in tons of pain. All we were able to do was share a bit about the Plan of Salvation and how God
truly does love her and we prayed with her when we arrived and when we left. It
was pretty sad seeing as we couldn't help her out in any other way. After that
we met with a man and his wife and shared the Plan of Salvation with
him and it was a little difficult because he doesn't know English all too great, but it was still good having him as a new investigator and very interesting to
hear about his life back home in Russia. After that we had ward Coordination
meeting and that was the day.
Friday we did our weekly planning, met a few
people and were able to share with them some messages on the street. One guy
said I really inspired him to change because I was the same age as him and that
what I was doing at my age really inspired him. We contacted a few other people
and met a few other people, but that was that.
Saturday we had the most spiritual lesson and
experience I have had my whole mission. After we left one house, we were walking down the street and were just going to catch a bus but
Elder McRitchie felt prompted to talk to this one lady sitting on her deck. At
first she didn't seem interested at all but we asked her some really good
questions that really hit her hard, and taught her the restoration and when she
read a bit out of the book of Mormon, all she wanted to do was read more. The
spirit was so strong and even though she had a hard time, we got
her to say a pray for the first time in over 6 years and she felt the spirit so
strong and recognized herself the significance of her going outside at the time
she did, and knew that it was for a reason. We now have her as a new
investigator and are very excited for her! After that, we had supper at a member's home and taught them a lesson, and then later had YSA, even though
only like 3 people came. This time we played soccer and basketball and had a
good spiritual thought.
Sunday was kind of disappointing. All the people
we met this week said that they were going to come to church, however none of
them came and there were almost 20 people who said they were coming.
After church it was pouring rain so we couldn't do much. We had a visit with Sister J and
some of her family and taught them a lesson. We tried street contacting on our
way home, but that's the basis of our week!
Love you all and hope you continue to enjoy your
summer!
-Love Elder Shane Dola
