August 4, 2014

Another week down, and we are in August? Are you kidding me. Can you believe how quick time goes? It is absolutely unreal. On a mission, you just need to learn to accept that, and go with the flow, because it honestly does get sad with how fast it goes. We had an incredible week. So many cool experiences, and memories that I will never forget. Elder Holt and I have been having a good time together, even though I have American pride, and that trumps his Canadian pride. He does love to bring up the fact that they have Maple Syrup, "The Worlds Best Hockey Team", and cool nature, but come on ;)

I will try to explain this week as well as I can. The Lord provides, not only for unforgettable missionary work experiences, but also unforgettable memories with other missionaries. Our investigators are doing really well. Burt is has come to church for the past 4 weeks, and that is super good because he wouldn't come to church before I got here I guess. I love him to death, and he is so funny to interact with! He is Belgian, but hates speaking Dutch, so he even speaks English to the members, and I have to translate to Dutch for the members. Super funny. We had two lessons with him, and he is progressing. He will be ready for baptism on the 6th of September! Can't wait! We have a few other progressing investigators that we are working with. After the 6 baptisms that Genk had last transfer, we are all back to square one, and finding new people. The amount of faith that this branch has in Genk is unbelievable, and I firmly believe that they are the reason this city is on fire! We had a really cool experience on Monday, right after we emailed. We went to a store to look at suits, and summer sales, and this really nice employee came up and talked to us. She asked who we were, and she started explaining how cool it was how we are so young, but so involved in something, and invest our lives in "an organization". She told us that other than her job, she works with a foundation called Forever... I think. She was saying how the founder of this foundation is religious, and that his morals and beliefs are the key to his success, and that he is a Mormon. She asked us if we have ever heard of the Mormons. What a super cool miracle! Long story short, we now have an appointment with her on Thursday, and she wants to learn more and come to church, with her two kids. Super pumped! See, the Lord provides. We were just shopping, not doing anything on a P Day, but that happens. We had another lesson this week with Zr. Gertrude. She is a progressing investigator, and the girlfriend of a member in our ward. She lives in a handicap person home, because she has certain struggles, so we visit her, and it is the highlight of my week. You all know how much I love experiences like these, and being around these angels! I just needed to throw that in there. I love visiting her! The next day, our ZL, Elder King, came on exchanges with Elder Claflin, so he spent the night in our apartment, cause we have a four man. Elder King is a stud and a gymnast, so we asked him to teach us to do backflips. We pulled out all the mattresses from our beds, and laid them out on the floor. We all took our turns, and it was nearing the 11 PM hour, so we were already a little too late awake, and Elder Holt tells King to spot him one more time. Next thing we know, we heard a crack, and Elder King fell back and grabbed his nose. He broke his nose that late at night, and Holt and I ran to the store to buy ice. Missions are the best! He was in a lot of pain, and we all learned a lesson, and that lesson, I will never forget :)

One last miracle we had was on Sunday. Right after church was over, we were eating cake for the birthday of one of the members, and this guy walks in the door. I go an talk to him, and he introduced himself. I said that he has been looking for the true church for 2 years, and he came across our church on Google. He got the address, and this was actually his 3 time stopping by the church. The other 2 times, the church was closed. He told me that he really just wants to know, what we know. We took him into another room with a member there as well, and taught him the restoration, with a focus on prophets. He said he met with the Jehovah Witnesses, but prayed about it and got the answer that it wasn't true, but he said when he walked into our church building, he felt something he has never felt before. The lesson went really well, and he loved the fact that we believe in Prophets and Apostles. He is so prepared, and this was one of the coolest miracles that I have been a part of on my mission. We are now going to his house on Thursday, to teach him about the Plan of Salvation. The Spirit was so strong, and he felt it as we explained what the Book of Mormon was. He is so excited, and I have to doubt in my mind that he will become of member of the true church.

Miracles, Memories, and Missionary Work. I love it! This is why I am here, and nothing brings greater joy to me, than to see others experience the joy that I have taken for granted all my life. I love being a messenger of the truth, and having this wonderful opportunity to just bear testimony to Gods' lost sheep. I hope that you all had as good of a week as I did. ;)

Transfers calls were last night, and of course our four man was super nervous. We knew that we were going to get broken up, but none of us wanted that! The "Genksters" are officially broken now. Elder Krebs is going to Rotterdam, Elder Claflin will be training, so that will be fun, and I will be getting Elder Yocoms companion, Elder Clement! It will be a fun time, and I am grateful that I get to stay here. Every companionship in the district got effected, so it will be interesting, but I love all the missionaries in the new district!
I love you all, and I hope that you have a great week :) Expect to see miracles!

Alma 26:12

Elder Elkins