I can't believe it's already been 6 weeks. Elder Bennett and I are both staying in Walkerton. Yesterday we were tracting a street and I suddenly realized that I wasn't being trained anymore. That was a pretty strange realization. I still have so much to learn, but looking back I have come a long way.
Yesterday was a civic holiday, so the library was closed. Sorry for the late e-mail. I hope no one called the mission president, fearing that I had some tragic accident and couldn't e-mail home due to being in a full-body cast, or something like that. The only health problems that you should worry about me having are sore feet and callused knuckles.
This week went by fast. Our number of new investigators went through the roof; we now have an investigator pool of 13. Wednesday alone brought us 4. Elder Bennett and I have been wondering why we are suddenly having success. Our work ethic hasn't changed and almost all of our investigators are in Hanover, the town we live in. I see a couple reasons why the Lord might have seen fit to bring more investigators to us in this manner: 1) We just found out in ward council yesterday that one of our families is moving back to America due to employment/immigration law changes. They had to move within 60 hours of the changes. Unfortunately, that family constituted both the elder's quorum president and the primary president, and there aren't many members left to fill those roles. The Walkerton branch desperately needs some reinforcements. 2) It is my belief that because of our consistent efforts, the Lord trusts us and has seen fit to lead us to a few of his children that are seeking him. I have noticed this pattern on a shorter timescale. Earlier this week, we had a 9-hour finding day; that means no lessons, just knocking. It was a lot of work and not too enjoyable. At the very end of that day, after all of that work, the last person we talked to became a really promising investigator. Events like this cause me to believe that hard work is not only an investment, but an act of faith. We wouldn't work to find people if we didn't have faith that someone would come closer to Christ because of our efforts.
Saturday we drove an hour away to an investigator that had been handed to us from a neighboring area. His name is Matt, he's 21, and he is dating a member of the church. My first thought would be that he was investigating the church because of his girlfriend, but it turns out that he actually reactivated her. We committed him to a baptismal date. He already doesn't drink or smoke, because he's a mixed martial artist(UFC style) and knows how to keep himself healthy. I was pretty interested in what he had to say about martial arts, and he told us some pretty cool stuff. He said if you're 6'2" you're ok, but if you are 6'1" he can kick you in the temple. And he's 5'7". I thought that was pretty amazing.
I hope everything's going well for everyone.
--Elder Wade
