Happy Birthday!!!!

April 29, 2013

Elder Hunter Nelson had a Birthday!!!!!! He's 20 years old, and he's still rockin' it out in the mission field!!!!!!! My Brotha is staying cool, working hard, and preaching the good word of the Lord! I'm so proud to call him my Best Friend, and even though I can't really get him a Birthday package, I'm sending my love! He's such an inspiration to me, and I can't even imagine where I would be without him standing as a freakin BOMB example for me!

Anyways, back to me. Because I'm important to some people I suppose...

So, this week we had a great miracle happen! We are teaching a bunch of investigators right now, and there is one in particular, Gary... he's been taught a bunch of the lessons but he never really wanted to make the commitment to be Baptized. He has always said, I'm not quite ready yet. We affirmed that he knows this church is true, knows Joseph Smith was a prophet, knows the Book of Mormon is true, just couldn't figure out what was holding him back! He is a truck driver and so he's gone all the time, so it's really hard to get a time to meet with him, and we decided to talk to him about it the next time we were able to. He was out on the road this past week and so we were going to call him the next day (this is on Wednesday) So, we were just about to get out to work, and Gary calls. He tells us all about these awesome spiritual experiences that he has been having and then says... "Guys, I want to be Baptized... I'm ready." AH!!!!!!!!!!! Boo-YAH!!!!!!!!!! That was so awesome, we talked a little more, and he was insistent that we do it as soon as possible, so we set his date for the 18th of May. Because it's so hard to meet with him, it'll take a bit longer than usual. But he's really excited and he can't wait to get Baptized!

Then on Thursday we were about to go out to work again, when we received a call from Michaels wife, saying that Michael is going through a very hard time, and we should go visit him. So we got really worried, and went straight over. He was having difficulty with EVERYTHING. The Devil is working VERY hard on him, and he expressed all his feelings to us, we felt impressed to give him a blessing, which helped him immensely. As we prepared to leave, I felt prompted to ask if he needed any service, he said no. I looked around and saw a massive pile of dishes and said, "you sure?" he says, yeah, don't worry about it. I was prompted again, JUST DO IT! So, I started rolling up my sleeves and said, "Nah, YOU don't worry about it!" And we did all those dishes, talked to him, and you could literally see his eyes light up, and the weight just disappeared off his shoulders. After this experience, he expressed great respect and love to us, and we talked a bit about his Baptism, to which he is VERY excited about, and VERY prepared for.

Then on Friday night, we had a dinner appointment with them! We went over and had Fish Tacos, which were REALLY good!!!!!!! I had 7, a house record :) Haha, they wished me a happy birthday because Elder Kempter let the secret out! But it was really fun, after dinner we had a nice sit-down and talked about Baptism, and further prepared him for the interview. It went very well, he knows his stuff! He looks deeper into the questions sometimes, like with the Word of Wisdom we asked what he understood about it, and he just went off about the BLESSINGS that come from FOLLOWING it! And then we said, oh we were talking about what you have to do, so he explained that part to us. He is very smart, and he's SO ready! We're super excited for him!

Then on Sunday, We had 3 of our Investigators come to church! Diane and her Grandson, and Michael and his family, Diane has been having trouble coming to church because her car is very iffy, but she's getting it fixed and she is way excited for her Baptism. She called us after church and told us that she felt the spirit SO strongly, and she just expressed her thanks to us for coming into her life and teaching her in such a way that she could REALLY feel it, it was super nice to hear. Love it! Michael got a lot more fellowship in the ward, he loves the people, and they love him back. Church was AWESOME!!!!!!!
So that's the week's proceedings! Tune in next week and maybe you'll hear another miracle! After all, the Lord does work in miracles! (Mormon 9:19)

Everybody, the Lord BLESSES those who WORK HARD, and do what is expected of them. I am a living witness of it, BUT, don't take my word for it! Go out and do it yourselves! You'll be surprised with how quickly and how often the Lord will bless you with whatever you need! I love this work, and I know that the Lord has sent me here to Concordia Kansas, for a very specific reason. Quite possibly for these investigators that are to be Baptized in the coming weeks.

Keep reading your scriptures, bearing testimony, and inviting your friends and family to church. You will see the blessings, I can guarantee it! (John 14:27) Whatever you're afraid of, quit it! The Lord will be with you!

I love you all, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Elder DeFreese

1. I been to Norway!
2. Birthday package :)