it was transfer week. so it has been somewhat stressful. Getting my second companion was fun and stressful. Our chauffers were Joe and Auvae Matavao. i felt pretty safe with them. we had to drive to Macon. so it was a good 3 hour drive. it was fun though.
once we got to Macon, there was a corner spot made up of like 2 rows in the back corner that me and elder meiling sat in. then a couple minutes later, practically our district came in and we all sat next to each other. it was fun to be together for the last time.
My new companion is Elder Paxson from a little town outside of Portland Oregon! It is difficult to work together. not going to lie. our tactics of missionary work are different and coming from two different missions, it adds to the difficulty. but we keep pushing forward.
this week was kind of a down one for me. but hey, thats okay. it happens.. This week my testimony of prayer and the power of the Book of Mormon were strengthened though. It was really humbling. i was feeling down and all one morning, (my emotions in this email are portrayed differently in actual life.. haha..) and so i was praying and pleading for inspiration. afterwards, i got up and started to read my scriptures. Mormon chapter 8 opened up. It is Moroni talking about how he is the only person really left and how he is left to write the sad tale of the Nephite Destruction, and how he didnt know if he was going to be killed or not. it was really humbling. and then he continues and says that all of his family was killed and that he has no friends to go to, and he doesnt know how long God will suffer him to live. but he kept pushing forward in the commandments of his fathers.
but anyways, the work presses on. we had a really cool experience friday. Me and Elder Paxson were going to visit some Former investigators and neither of them were home, but we saw a man standing against his car that wasnt there before. so we walked up to him. he was smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. but we felt we should talk to him. so we just started a conversation about the music he was listening to. and then the usual thing happens, since we are in the south, he practically told us his life story. it was really neat. he realized that God had sent us into his life to help him. His "Baby Momma" got him going back to church. She is Samoan. so they go to the American Samoan Christian Church.. which is perfect. because practically all of our samoans that are members that dont come regurally go there.. and he knew some of our members! i am excited about getting to know him more and to teach him!
This week we met with our less active friend Todd Davis. Him and Elder Paxson kind of got to know each other a little bit and now Paxson knows a little why Todd doesnt come to church. but we are still working with him. While talking, he gave one of my favorite analogies of some members of the church. He said some members of the church are like a rock sitting in water its whole life. the rock represents us as members and the water is the love of christ. when you take the rock, thats been in the water its whole life and look inside of it, its dry. they didnt let the love of christ affect their life. we would do better to be a sponge.
anyways, im trying to think if anything else cool happened this week. Nope. we didnt get rain this week. i think the south is in a drought! ah! i cant wait for october to come when all the storms hit :)
Love, Elder bodily
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(Mom here: He didn't send a description of these pictures but I assume they are of his new companion, other missionaries in the area, and some member/investigators. The Golden Corral one needs no explanation - Elder Bodily loves his food options!)
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