Gordon's Missionary Blog: Letter and Pictures

Hey!

So with this week being transfer week we all got our calls from President Herrington and Elder Moli and I will be staying in the same place. There are a lot of changes though with the other missionaries so we will have to deal with all of that. It will be fun. That's cool that Mom and Dad were able to go to visit the Hornes. All the missionaries love them. Miguel is the son of Sister Sarah and he is about 11. Ariana is doing well and has already found and started attending the ward out in Columbia. Alma is the mother of David. We have only taught a few times but she has started to read in the Book of Mormon. She hasn't come to church yet but hopefully next week she will come. She lives next to a strong member named Odellia who is around 20. Hopefully things work out well with Alma. We haven't been able to visit with David and Shatal unfortunately. We were out of our area a lot this week. Elder Moli and I flew to Barbados to on Thursday evening and came back Saturday morning. We went to do an exchange with the Assistants to the President. I went with Elder Pape and Elder Moli went with Elder Stewart-Johnson. Both are exemplary missionaries. I learned a lot from them. They are so loving and selfless. We had a worldwide broadcast on Wednesday for all missionaries which was awesome. It was some really great training. I learned about the importance of the Spirit in teaching. Us as missionaries are vessels for the Spirit. The Spirit carries the message UNTO the heart of the people and not INTO the heart. God respects agency so much that he will not force anyone to have faith and repent but He is constantly inviting us to make the change and provides a way for to do so. My job as a missionary is to be worthy of the Spirit. We have been teaching a guy named Kevin recently who is really progressing. He is reading, praying, coming to church, has a date for baptism, and he even comes out teaching with us. He loves learning and has been progressing really well. Hope you all are doing well! I love you guys a ton!

Love,
Elder King

P.S. - Yep the McFarlane family were originally contacted by the Horne's and a lot came from it. I was blessed to be around them but yeah we had to walk a lot to get to them and teach them. Lots of hills but it's a pretty road to get there. I enjoyed going up there. There are public places to wash clothes and shower.

BAPTISM OF JOHNATHAN!

Elder Moli taught him with his companion Elder Hardy and then was transferred so Elder Hardy and Elder Platt (the other two in the photo) continued to teach him and he was able to be baptized on Saturday. Elder Platt is the DL and since Elder Moli taught him before I performed the interview for him on Friday and it was a really spiritual experience. Johnathan was well prepared and he has a strong testimony and a desire to be baptized. Others tried to put doubts in his mind and question his judgment but he pushed forward determined. He was really happy and also nervous but it was a great experience for him and for me. He later that day came out teaching with Elder Moli and I and he really helped our investigators understand the Spirit which was way cool. We just sat back as they talked together. He is a great guy and loves the gospel.

This is Sister Sarah's and Sister Tessa's family. Both are members who live next to each other. Sometimes we go and have a combined family home evening with them. It's fun. Sister Tessa isn't in the pic. But in there is Ariana, Miguel, and the little girl in Sister Sarah's arms and these three and her kids. Then there is Nelida and Nile who are Sister Tessa's kids. In the back in Zidanne who you all saw on Skype. :)

Today, for P-day we went to Pigeon Island which is an old fort on top of these hills on the coast. You can look up more about it but it was pretty cool. It had a great view.