It is still....wet (06/15/2010)

It is still raining. We a got a break Saturday to Monday but last night and into this morning it has started raining. It is nice though. It keeps everything green and cleans the air. It really doesn't make it too cold so that is nice as well.

Well this week has been a good week. We found a lot of people and to cap it off, Andres and Isabel and their family came to church. It was really good to see them there. They really enjoyed it as well.

Thursday we decided to go and walk to save some miles. (Hey it stopped raining) Well things were going well. It was kind of sprinkling almost like a misting. We were walking and talking to people. Well it just started to pour cats and dogs. We both had umbrellas but it was bouncing off the concrete and hitting us. Then this homeless man came up and started walking with us. His name was Woody. Well Woody was using a cardboard box as an umbrella. We had to go somewhere so we said our good-byes. Then we decided to give one of our umbrellas to Woody. He was very appreciative and it was okay because it had gone back to just sprinkling. Well we got out of our appointment and started walking back to the car and it just pouring, again. This time we had no umbrellas. We got a second shower that day. We were both just soaked. It was fun though. So we get in our car and we are able to teach three lessons, right in a row in the same apartment complex. Then we got four text messages with referrals from the MTC. It was awesome. We were truly blessed for walking in the rain....with Woody.

One of those text messages was for a lady name Ofelia. This is a cool story. On Saturday I went on exchanges with an English Elder named Elder Barter. Well we are both new to the area and really didn't know how to get anywhere. So we were trying to find Ofelia. She lived on the other side of the city from where we were. I was trying to find it but I just couldn't. I thought, I will call Elder Arnold but then my pride got in the way and I thought, no I can do it. Well after trying and trying and having no success, I thought again, just call Elder Arnold, it will be worth it. So I called him and he was able to help me get to her apartment. So we knock on her door and tell her who we are and she said, are you with the other guys that had come over (English elders) and We said yes so she quickly let us in. So we sit down and I ask her, “how did you get to know the other guys.” She said that one day she was sitting outside thinking about her life and thinking about all of the stupid things that she has done. She started to pray and ask God for forgiveness and asked him to send someone that could help her. Well up rolled two Mormon missionaries on bikes. She said that she wants to get closer to God to have more peace and happiness in her life but she doesn't know what to do. She also said she wants her family to be more united (her brother and sisters and her parents). I promised her that this is what she was looking for. She just had this look in her eye like she knew this was it too. We finished the first lesson and she said she would call us once she found out her work schedule for this next week. Well last night she called and we are going back tonight. She said she loved our message and can't wait to hear more and that her roommate wants to hear more too. It is awesome.

A little bit about the church in Vancouver. My new companion is Elder Arnold. He is from Provo and will be going home in August. So, for the moment, I am a junior companion again. Here is his blog elderbenjaminarnold.blogspot.com. He even talks about me in it. We, along with a pair of sister missionaries attend the Spanish branch here in Vancouver. We get about 80 out for the meetings. There are also about 40 English companionships in the area too. So about 40% of our mission's missionaries are in the Vancouver area.

Well that’s about it for this week. Things are going really well here. We are truly being blessed.