This week has been great! Conference was incredible and I got so much more out of it this year than I ever have before. It's weird to think that at one point in my life I thought it was boring. We had a couple of investigators there. We even got Elizabeth to come, the lady that lives next to the church. It's such a great thing for investigators to go to.
This week I ran into a difficult situation. Elder Bennett was talking on the phone to the zone leaders about district leader things. We were on the street and I decided to go and talk to a lady by myself. She turned out to be a Baptist preacher's wife. Yikes. I was alone and afraid, and being verbally kicked in the face. Not much you can do there but smile and say unoffensive things. She wasn't very nice at all. I was about to just bear my testimony and leave, but Elder Bennett got done with his phone call and came over. I don't know how it happened but after 20 more minutes of conversation she softened up and we set up a return appointment. To our doom...haha.
I did some more missionary work with Elder Cozzens this week up in Owen Sound. Seems like I always end up with him. Which is great, we get along really well and he played ultimate Frisbee for his college. Meanwhile the greenie and Elder Bennett were split up with the zone leaders. Somehow Elder Bennett and the zone leader were able to get 3 new investigators in like 3 hours. And we've done 60 hours to find 1 investigator. Elder Bennett has started to change the way he talks to people on the street because of what he learned from the zone leader and as a result I have changed it too. We pretty much just walk up to someone and trade names and handshakes, then ask them if they believe in God. It's way more personable that way. What we did in the past was we always introduced ourselves as missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nothing makes people say no faster than those words. It's such a small detail but it makes all the difference.
Elder Bennett got a fever during conference and it has been pretty bad. He asked me to give him a blessing. I had never given a blessing before and I was pretty nervous. But I had just listened to President Eyring's talk from priesthood session and it gave me courage. Giving that blessing was such an incredible experience. I'm so much more convinced of the reality of the priesthood. It's so real, I felt it, and what a blessing it is that God has given us authority to act in his name!
There's bad news though. Raquel called one of our members yesterday to get a ride to conference. She was going to surprise us. But 10 minutes before she was going to leave her husband told her not to go. He said he didn't want to hear about going to the church anymore from her. Raquel told us on the phone that there wasn't really much that she could do. But she knows that the Book of Mormon is true, and I am much more hopeful for her than I am for the other investigators we have had that got so close to becoming converted. Her blood is on her husband's hands. Maybe one day we will be able to talk some sense into him.
I hope that everyone enjoyed conference. I can't wait until the November Ensign comes out. There is so much inspiration and wisdom in all of those talks. I got a phone call from the mission office in Brampton(which is actually a part of Toronto--and that's where the Toronto temple is) saying that there are 3 letters and a package waiting for me that I won't get until leadership training in 2 weeks. So thanks in advance for whoever sent those things and hopefully you'll understand why it will take me so long to mail response letters. And the most important part of the email, Happy Birthday Dad! You've now been an adult longer than you were a kid. I think I'm the only missionary out here that can say he knew his Dad when he was 22, haha.
--Elder Wade
