Great Reunion...

Good morning!

 

    All those pictures look so great! sounds like you all had a super good time. I can't wait for the next one, it definitely looks like a good time. I can't believe how old some of the family looks! Tess and Hannah look like grown ups. And Noah. man. that smile of his is one of a kind. haha.

   We had some really good experiences this week. We met with William, the guy I was telling you about last week, and had one of the craziest lessons of my life. We decided that we were going to be really bold with him, because he didn't come to church. So we asked him the hard question, hoping the spirit would prick him just hard enough. "If you really want to see your wife and daughter again, why didn't you come to church this week?" After I asked that, he exploded. He was so mad that we had the nerve to ask a question like that, and was yelling at me. I asked if I could share my testimony with him, and at that point God really filled my mouth. "Let me tell you how I feel in my heart, William. You're right, you owe me nothing. But you owe God a whole lot. I honestly don't care if you come to church, this isn't about the missionaries and it never has been. But I know how much God loves you and how much he wants you to come to church." In his closing prayer, he asked for forgiveness for losing his temper, and told God he knew that he had to go to church now. He came yesterday, and loved it! Also, Sister Duan came up to us this week and said something super surprising. She feels like if her 6 year old son is going to grow up in a healthy and safe environment, she needs to be baptized. We're trying to get her ready for this Sunday. :) It'll be great, July will be a good month for us. AND one more miracle. We ran into a 40 or so year old couple last week, and they came to church this sunday. They love church, they feel like they're part of a big family now. We told them about the Word of Wisdom and some other commandments, and they already know they're going to give drinking tea and alcohol up in order to be members. They'll hopefully be ready by the end of the month. So exciting! The Lord has truly been watchful over this area. He knows we're working hard, and he's placing people in our path every day. The Lord has been teaching me so much in the mornings. I've had some really special experiences in my studies of the scriptures lately, and he's even sent me a few dreams that are very special to me. I have so much more I want to say, but we're pretty rushed on time today. We're going hiking in Pasadena, I'll send some pics next week. I love you guys!

 

Ben.