January 20, 2010

Hi I'm online. So I got an eye exam last week. My eyes are different perscriptions so I had to order a box of each. I pick them up next week. The eye exam was 65. 17 per box of contacts. Did you get the check yet for my backpack. Also where did you get the printer from, I tried to take it back to best buy and office max, they don't carry it. I did take back the cartridge. That thing is 25 bucks!!!! Way unnecessary. I'll be on for a short time.
That's good to hear that you got the new job. Dig in hard, "Get on your knees and pray as if everything depends on the Lord, then get on your feet and work as if everything depends on you." That has been my recipe for success that has yielded blessings and strength to me while out here on my mission. With the Lord you can accomplish miracles.
Miracles is just what I have been witnessing here these first two weeks. The Lord truly is guiding us and leading us to find people to teach. However, Satan knows this, he must know what we are trying to accomplish here because opposition has come as well. A japanese lady that we met my first sunday here, we met with again this sunday. She had obviously found some Anti-mormon literature and we had to put out some small fires here. She is still meeting with us. Then on Saturday night we were out tracting and we had just had a great conversation with a man who actually came out of his house and stood on his porch in a t-shirt to talk to us. When we turned to go, a police car pulled up! The officer asked what we were doing. He asked us when we would be done. It was only about 8:13 at night, and we told him we'd be heading for home in about 15 minutes. He said well do you think you could cut it short. I said that we weren't doing anything wrong. He acknowledged this and said that he had received a complaint. I told him we were just sharing a message about Jesus Christ, and we weren't selling anything. He then quickly came back saying, "Alls I'm saying is that if I get another report...." I just stood there it was so wrong what he was doing. My companion answered that we would head back. I didn't want to stop. We started walking back to the car, and then I told Elder Matheson that we were going to turn off onto a side street once we got closer to the car, and continue knocking doors. We turned off and just as I went to walk up a driveway, my companion told me the cop was behind us. It was too late. He peeled up to the side of us and rolled down his window and didn't look happy. He then said, "You guys done yet." I don't know what it was that made me stay silent. My companion answered after a long pause, Yeah we're done we're going home. I felt so defeated. It was so wrong what he was doing to us, because we weren't breaking any laws. I just stood there, but I wanted to go up to him and say, "No we are not done, and we are going to continue knocking doors here." We ended up driving back to Elgin and finding a different street to tract. I wasn't about to call it a night because of a cop in a different city. It's odd, because Elder Matheson has never had the police called on him before he was with me. It's like the police follow me wherever I go and the opposition comes.
It was a good week though. The Lord has really been blessing us. We made a prayer list of things to pray for and people to pray for by name. One of those was referrals from headquarters. There hadn't been a referral here in a while, I guess. Then the other day while we were on a doorstep there came a ringing in my pocket, and we had received a text referral. We'd been praying every night for this to happen. Just in the last week we have began teaching Shelby Hauk, whose wife is a member. We also picked up a former investigator, that now has a renewed commitment to get on the trail to baptism, Khoi Dao. There's also Linda Moore-frey who we found tracting and have taught twice. The other that is highly prospective is Will Rios, also a Part member. His son will be baptized this Saturday. His son has cancer and this trial has softened this fathers heart. Things are very prospective, and the ways in which we have met these people can be described as none other than miracles. The Lord is blessing this area.
As far as less active work. Our plans fell through and we were guided to make a trip to the home of the Ralphs. Where we found the mother in some sort of trouble. She was quiet, then just as we were about to leave we asked if there was anything that we could do. She asked unexpectedly for a blessing. She said she was depressed. We gave her a blessing, and she was in tears as she shared her troubles. It reminded me of distressing times that we once faced in our home. It was an odd place to find myself in, trying to provide comfort for this mother.
Our ward mission leader here is great, he's really liking the things that are happening. I'm going about continuing to love and support these members. They are missionaries and lovers of the missionaries unlike any members I have ever met. I'm still getting to know them all though.
So these two weeks here have flown by. Today was the actual transfer date, and Elder Matheson was transferred as expected. I now have a new companion, Elder Layton. He came out with me!!! We had talked about serving together in the mtc. We even served in areas in the city near each other at the start of our missions. We didn't see each other for a long time. Now president has done something that mission presidents don't do: Put two seasoned missionaries together. Normally he puts them with younger missionaries. He's made both of us co-senior companions. He says that he has high hopes for us. I'm excited. We are going to tear it up. I'm excited about the work and the ideas that he and I can generate together. This is going to be an amazing transfer. So I'm way excited. I've still got a lot to learn about the area and the ward though, so we'll both be a little new at things. Like I said though, blessings are coming and the Lord is helping us.

I love you all and thank you for your prayers. I'll pray for you as you start your new job mom.

LOVE ELDER ADAMS

Why didn't spencer or dad write this week. Also, I don't know if you have been corresponding with my mission president, but he is having me meet with this LDS family services guy. I've already met with him once and I really don't want to do this. It's another thing to worry about. I don't want to have to take time to do it either. I don't want to have to spend the last part of my mission worrying about meeting with this guy. If you could get my mission president off of my back about this. I just want to focus on the mission. I'm sorry I tried to not talk about it, but I know that you've talked to my mission president, and that's frustrating. I don't need this right now!!!!

Haven't heard from Spence about Zach!!????!?!?!?