News From Bremerton: NOV 2005
[Ed. Note: The following letter was received December 3, 2005, although it was a xerox copy of a letter writeen in early November 2005--sorry it has taken us so long to update you on Elder Drews! He has been busy doing good things, as have we! Please remember to send him some cheer and encouragement this holiday season!]
My companion was calling the other set of missionaries in our district and Elder Bandis picked up the phone and said “Dear Heavenly Father…”My companion said, “Bandis, are you praying to me?” It was really funny.
Around my birthday, actually ON my birthday, we were really blessed. We were tracting these apartments and of course the spirit guided us to this one door. A man opened the door, his name was Robert, and at first he wanted nothing to do with us. But then his wife came to the door and let us in. Her name is Marie. We went in and sat down at the table and she told us a little about her and how when she lived in Guam with her two boys and ex-husband (he died), missionaries would come over. She just loved having them because her ex-husband was very abusive to her and the kids and the abuse stopped when the missionaries came over. Then she told us how were an answer to her prayers and she just broke down and cried. It was so amazing to see that the Lord brought this small miracle forth. We weren’t even going to go to those apartments but the spirit prompted us to go. We have taught her and her husband the first lesson and committed the wife to baptism. The husband was not too adamant about it. What is unfortunate now is that we have been trying to contact them now for the past few weeks and no one answers the phone or door, we know that they are home because we see their truck and when we knock we see someone look through the peephole. Also, my companion saw the man walking back into the living room. We called their phone number and could hear the phone ringing through the door but no one answered. We think the husband has something to with all this and it is really sad. I have faith, though, that God will provide a way for us to get through.
The last wonderful experience I have to Share: We met this guy named Andy. He is in his late 30’s and has two kids and is happily married. We found him by tracting and we have been teaching him the lessons and he wants his family to be a part of it also. So now we are teaching all of them this coming Saturday. They will be getting baptized the 27th of this month and it will be glorious!
Actually, I have one more story to tell. We had a mission fast starting on the 5th Saturday of November at 1pm and ending on the 6th at 1pm. The purpose of the fast is to increase finding and teaching families. I want to share the experiences that I had with the fast. First, even before the fast began, we went to this pizza place for our “last meal.” It was my district—Elders Bandis, House, Fisher, and me. We went to the Pizza Hut buffet, but lo and behold, they don’t’ have the buffet on weekends. So we went to this family-owned pizza place that a lot of other missionaries talk about. It’s called “Boston’s Pizza.” So went there and before we even stepped in the door, a guy came out and asked us if we were hungry. He then guided us in and told the cook that our meal was on him. There were four of us and this man bought us each a large pizza and a drink. We found out that he was a visitor from Utah, a very nice man. We were already being blessed even before we started our fast. Following that we went on exchanges, so I went with Elder House and my companion Elder Fisher went with Elder Bandis. Well, we were tracting once again and it was raining very hard. Elder House had one umbrella and it was small and kind of broken and barely kept him dry. I love to wave to people as they pass by, so as we were walking, I was waving to everyone. We knocked on this door where we had seen someone leave. We decided to see if there was anyone else at home. A man with no interest in our message opened the door. He asked me if I had an umbrella and I told him no, but it wasn’t a big deal because normally I am in a car. Well, he told me to take this one, which was a very nice umbrella and very big. I declined, but he insisted and we came to an agreement. I was very grateful I had taken it because it ended up raining cats and dogs that day. I was able to share it with Elder House and it really served us well.
These last two experiences I would have to say came because of paying fast offerings than the fast were doing to find families. But one result of the fast happened the same day we were ending our fast. On Sunday a member family form another ward brought a family to church that lived in our ward boundaries but were not members. It was a mother, 12-, 9-, and 6-year-old daughters, and a two-year-old son. I found out she has a son who is 18 and baptized LDS. It ended up that the son is the boyfriend of the daughter of the family that brought them to church. So we have taught them a couple of lessons and they will be baptized on the 26th of this month. It is so amazing how the Lord works! He hears and answers our prayers.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed these stories because they were all made up! Ha! Just kidding! They are all very true stories and blessings if you ask me. Please let me know how everyone is doing. I truly miss you all and will write more and send pictures when I get a chance. Please write and send me pictures.
My companion was calling the other set of missionaries in our district and Elder Bandis picked up the phone and said “Dear Heavenly Father…”My companion said, “Bandis, are you praying to me?” It was really funny.
Around my birthday, actually ON my birthday, we were really blessed. We were tracting these apartments and of course the spirit guided us to this one door. A man opened the door, his name was Robert, and at first he wanted nothing to do with us. But then his wife came to the door and let us in. Her name is Marie. We went in and sat down at the table and she told us a little about her and how when she lived in Guam with her two boys and ex-husband (he died), missionaries would come over. She just loved having them because her ex-husband was very abusive to her and the kids and the abuse stopped when the missionaries came over. Then she told us how were an answer to her prayers and she just broke down and cried. It was so amazing to see that the Lord brought this small miracle forth. We weren’t even going to go to those apartments but the spirit prompted us to go. We have taught her and her husband the first lesson and committed the wife to baptism. The husband was not too adamant about it. What is unfortunate now is that we have been trying to contact them now for the past few weeks and no one answers the phone or door, we know that they are home because we see their truck and when we knock we see someone look through the peephole. Also, my companion saw the man walking back into the living room. We called their phone number and could hear the phone ringing through the door but no one answered. We think the husband has something to with all this and it is really sad. I have faith, though, that God will provide a way for us to get through.
The last wonderful experience I have to Share: We met this guy named Andy. He is in his late 30’s and has two kids and is happily married. We found him by tracting and we have been teaching him the lessons and he wants his family to be a part of it also. So now we are teaching all of them this coming Saturday. They will be getting baptized the 27th of this month and it will be glorious!
Actually, I have one more story to tell. We had a mission fast starting on the 5th Saturday of November at 1pm and ending on the 6th at 1pm. The purpose of the fast is to increase finding and teaching families. I want to share the experiences that I had with the fast. First, even before the fast began, we went to this pizza place for our “last meal.” It was my district—Elders Bandis, House, Fisher, and me. We went to the Pizza Hut buffet, but lo and behold, they don’t’ have the buffet on weekends. So we went to this family-owned pizza place that a lot of other missionaries talk about. It’s called “Boston’s Pizza.” So went there and before we even stepped in the door, a guy came out and asked us if we were hungry. He then guided us in and told the cook that our meal was on him. There were four of us and this man bought us each a large pizza and a drink. We found out that he was a visitor from Utah, a very nice man. We were already being blessed even before we started our fast. Following that we went on exchanges, so I went with Elder House and my companion Elder Fisher went with Elder Bandis. Well, we were tracting once again and it was raining very hard. Elder House had one umbrella and it was small and kind of broken and barely kept him dry. I love to wave to people as they pass by, so as we were walking, I was waving to everyone. We knocked on this door where we had seen someone leave. We decided to see if there was anyone else at home. A man with no interest in our message opened the door. He asked me if I had an umbrella and I told him no, but it wasn’t a big deal because normally I am in a car. Well, he told me to take this one, which was a very nice umbrella and very big. I declined, but he insisted and we came to an agreement. I was very grateful I had taken it because it ended up raining cats and dogs that day. I was able to share it with Elder House and it really served us well.
These last two experiences I would have to say came because of paying fast offerings than the fast were doing to find families. But one result of the fast happened the same day we were ending our fast. On Sunday a member family form another ward brought a family to church that lived in our ward boundaries but were not members. It was a mother, 12-, 9-, and 6-year-old daughters, and a two-year-old son. I found out she has a son who is 18 and baptized LDS. It ended up that the son is the boyfriend of the daughter of the family that brought them to church. So we have taught them a couple of lessons and they will be baptized on the 26th of this month. It is so amazing how the Lord works! He hears and answers our prayers.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed these stories because they were all made up! Ha! Just kidding! They are all very true stories and blessings if you ask me. Please let me know how everyone is doing. I truly miss you all and will write more and send pictures when I get a chance. Please write and send me pictures.
posted by Jamie | 12:15 PM
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