Can't know Sweet, without tasting the Sour

Letter #35
April 28, 2014
Area: Humble
Companion: Owens

This Easter was an interesting one because I was sent down to a different area.  To explain, the Elders (in a different area) were having a baptism of an ex-alcoholic and his temptation to drink is greater when he's alone, so we invited him to come to our dinner with members after church and before his baptism.  Well, he decided to take one of the elders, from his area, up to our area, therefore I was sent away. It could have been either of us to be companions with the other elder( again the one in the different area), but Elder Owens chose me to be sent down--no scheduled dinner, no easter egg hunt...and no cake for peoples' birthdays... :(
(I was bummed for a short while, but I'm over it now).

We had a great time this weekend with our mini-Missionary, Jesus. (If you don't know, there is an opportunity for young adult members of the church, like Jesus, to be ask to help the missionaries (as if a missionary) for a week-long 'mini-mission' when they actually live the life of a missionary.  Well, Jesus had this opportunity, and we really tried our best to help him get the feel of the different parts in missionary work and still have a good time. The best part of Jesus' experience was on Saturday as we helped out at the Genealogy Conference. A man walked up to him and asked for a Book of Mormon. On the way to get one in English for him, he told us that he wasn't a member, but he wants to read the book. Jesus really enjoyed that experience and told many people about it, he felt really good about having the opportunity to do that for the man. We really wanted to do the Mini-Mission because Jesus really isn't sure if he wants to go on a mission, he wants to, but he also has the desire to go to the Marines, I believe that he will look back on this experience as he continues to grow and mature, and I hope it will help him make the right decision whatever it will be. Again, thank you for giving us that opportunity to give this young man a chance to experience a little sample of the mission.

Now on to the week, this week has been a difficult one for the area again, but it has been successful in many ways. I feel like we had a difficult week, again, because we still aren't exactly following through on our plans. We keep setting high goals, but then we get lazy or tired during the week and so we don't look for ways to meet the goals we set during the week. I have been trying to work hard and help Elder Owens and myself become the best missionaries we can be, but it is hard sometimes. I really have the desire to help people in the area progress, but I feel like I keep falling short. We work hard and try to resolve the concerns of the people, but then things come up and they can't come to church or they can't meet with us. I feel like we will have plenty of success soon because we have a few people that really have the desire to learn more and come to church, but they just can't right now because of work. [I do know that the 'fruits' always come after some tribulation...how else can we enjoy the sweetness without having experienced the sour.]

       I think the best part of the week was when we were at church though, we were there just waiting for the meeting to start, then an investigator of ours named Manuel walked in. We didn't expect him to come, but we had gone over on Saturday to invite him and well, he came! We haven't had an investigator come to church the whole time I've been here, and I believe our bishop was starting to lose trust in us, but he looked really happy when Manuel came in and he was really happy to meet him after the Sacrament Meeting. Our bishop had just given a talk during the meeting and it touched the investigator, and Bishop Morales invited him to come next week because he had a previous commitment, making it so he couldn't stay longer. Manuel said that he wanted to come again and come to the classes (one of which is about baptism next week), and he would make plans to be able to make it.

I love this work and I can't wait to see what comes. And the biggest news this week is that Elder Owens is getting transferred and they are changing the area boundaries for the missionaries in the ward, so I have Elder Anderson, a redhead from Utah as my new companion starting this Tuesday.

I love you guys,

Elder Stanley Scott Dye