Connell, Washington (07/08/2009)

Well, I have made it to Connell. The Town has about 3,000 people and it feels smaller than that if you believe it. We spend Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays there while we spend Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in Basin City which is about 20 miles southwest of Connell. Both are good areas but there are a little bit more members in Basin City so that makes it a little bit more fun. The people in Connell are a little bit poorer, not super poor, just not as well off. In Basin City, there are so many fields. People have very nice homes and are very nice. It is fun because we do a lot of Spanish work in the day which I love and then we go to these huge houses for dinner which is really fun too.

One funny experience we had was we went to this less active member’s house and there were the two ladies that were doing something with a chicken and I looked away and about 2 minutes later I looked back and one lady had it by its legs without a head on. It was crazy. They had just killed a chicken for dinner.

Other than that, it is not too bad here. We are super busy with a lot of people that are ready for baptism but just need to get married. Sunday, I asked a lady if she wanted to be baptized but she said she wanted to read more of the book (The Book of Mormon). But later she asked what she had to do to be baptized and I was able to tell her with the spirit there that she had to be married first. She is living with this guy that is a member but for whatever reason won’t get married to this girl. She seemed to take it all right but her boyfriend was nodding his head agreeing with me so he knows. I just don’t know why he won’t.

We have a lot of other people we are teaching. The towns are really small but since we can be in each town, three days a week, we stay very very busy. This week went by super fast.

Now for some other things that I meant to tell you in past e-mails but forgot to mention. When we had Spanish Conference way back in April, we were riding in the car with President Belnap and he asked Elder Uribe, the Elder from Chile, what he missed most about Chile. Well Elder Uribe thought for a second and said the beaches. Well if you have ever heard anyone with a Latin accent say beaches, sometimes it sounds like another word that should not be named. So he says beaches, and President Belnap says what?!? with a confused look and Elder Uribe says again, the beaches and President Belnap again very very confused, says what?!? Then I helped them both out and said beaches. It was hilarious. Ever since then, Elder Uribe calls beaches, the sea shore. Good call on his part.

Another incident was back in Toppenish we got a referral for someone that wanted the “Restoration” DVD. So we dropped it off and set up a return appointment. We come back and they are all outside eating dinner. So we sit down and start talking to them. Not much about the gospel because they were a little preoccupied so we said we will come back another day. Then one lady said why don't you share something from the Bible. So Elder Cavaness gets out his scriptures and starts talking about James 1:5 and how that’s the scripture that prompted Joseph Smith to pray. And this one guy says it never mentions Joseph Smith in the Bible. So he and Elder Cavaness go back and forth about this. I just kind of sat back and listened because I don't like to get into bashes because people just go round and round. But finally, I just asked the guy “how did you get a testimony of the Bible”. I felt like I was in a rap battle with the simultaneous “ooooh” from the other family members. Well he was dumbfounded and just says because it says in it that it is true. He kept talking about the book of Daniel and all sorts of weird things. At one point of time his brother told him to answer our questions, he said you aren't answering his questions you are just talking. So that was pretty neat. At the end, that same brother said hey we are all sinners, theses guys (pointing to me and Elder Cavaness) are good people and doing the best they can. They can receive revelations to tell us what God wants us to hear. That was pretty sweet to hear form a non-member. It was a crazy situation - but fun and spiritual all at the same time.

Well my little spiritual side for today is talking about giving my all. I realized that after our zone conference yesterday and speaking with the Stake President here in Pasco that it’s not giving 100%. It’s giving 125%. That is the best for the Lord. You have to give it your all.

Well that’s all I’ve got.

Have a great week.