12-30-13

Family,

Well I had a good week. Kingman is eating with my mind at times but you know you just go with the flow. I totally loved all those pictures and video that you sent me. Pennie is just the funniest dog when it comes to Christmas time. I love it! What was the toy she got? Was it just a squeaky toy dog? Has she ripped the squeaker out of it yet? I love how she does that. So I'm still waiting for Dad's letter but I'm sure he's almost done. Did you take the week off this week too? I hope you guys can enjoy it. Well let me tell you about this week, shall I?

Monday was just another P-Day pretty much although the senior couple had to go to Wichita for a senior missionary gathering. So we had to do our laundry at the Laundromat next door to our apartment complex. It used up pretty much all of my quarters. Oh, before I forget to ask, would it be okay if I sent home my SD card? How do I do that without scratching something important? Also, to Dad, do you need to state the authority when you dedicate a home? I was just wondering. 

Tuesday we went back to the library because we had to complete a survey and write a short essay on the history of opening up Kingman as a new area. We then had an awesome lesson with one of our investigators in the which we watched Elder Holland's talk from this past General conference titled: "Like a Broken Vessel." The spirit was quite strong and he really liked it. He really feels like this church is true but struggles with certain things like hygiene and especially transportation. We're trying to come up with ideas for him but unless he does it himself, then nothing is going to happen. We'll pray for him, that's for sure. That just made me think when I was in Blue Springs in the Fleming Park ward, we fasted and prayed for a particular investigator who eventually got baptized. I think we can have that experience again with this particular investigator and even all of the other ones that I have here in Kingman. My faith has fallen a bit recently but that is a good thing because it's made me think about my testimony and the strength of it. 

Wednesday was Christmas day. We were blessed with an appointment that we scheduled during weekly planning. We taught half of the first lesson and invited him to baptism. He didn't seem all too gung ho about everything but said he would. So we're going to go back this week and re-commit him to come to church and therefore be baptized. We feel we need to include the wife too or else this won't work for him. I later opened my presents and was happy with what I got (you know me...whenever I open a present I never jump up in the air with excitement but rather, I am satisfied with everything). By the time weekly planning ended and we'd eaten lunch, it was time to go to Pratt and Skype. That was so fun to see you on the other side of that computer. It felt as if I hadn't even left home. Elder Clay enjoyed his Skype call. It was kind of funny because we heard him through the door most of his call. His voice is kind of loud sometimes. Dinner was amazing, Brother Gordon special ordered this roast and it was waaaaaaay good. By Tuesday I was not feeling too good at all. I've been fighting a cold ever since then but now am just dealing with the side-effects like stuffy nose and all that. I was feeling quite poopy on Thursday but we still went out and got to work. 

It was pretty warm on Thursday and as a result, the snow from Saturday was melting at a fast rate. That made walking quite fun. It made my shoes quite dirty (no use cleaning them because the first step you take outside the door will make your shoes dirty) quickly. Some of our appointments this day fell through which made the day longer. I was looking forward to Friday more than I should've. I need to focus on the now more than anything. We did a lot of tracting on Thursday. 

Friday we had an appointment at 1 that fell through. Later, we talked to this teenager guy that invited us in even though he had loud, worldly music on, and playing video games with a few of his friends. I declined the offer and realized right after what I said was not what I should've said. His family wasn't home and we need to involve whole families. But that's just an excuse. We'll try to go back this week and teach the whole family or maybe even just him. Later, we went to district meeting in Pratt. The zone leaders came out all the way from Wichita because we were going on exchanges with them later that night. I received several compliments on my training at district meeting. I trained on D&C section 4 breaking it down verse by verse. I was grateful for the involvement and excitement that they showed during it too. I went to Wichita that night with Elder Hamblin. I was going to his companion again for the day on Saturday. Do you remember him? I was his companion from December 2012 through January 2013. I really enjoyed being his companion. Being on exchanges on Saturday and being a zone leader for a day was way fun. I also loved seeing some of my old investigators and many of the members that were in the singles ward. One of the sisters in the ward enters the MTC on January 15th for Carlsbad, California. She said the boundaries go from Del Mar to Murrieta. I didn't know that. 

Yesterday being Sunday was a great day. I had the chance to partake of the sacrament again for the first time in 2 weeks. Last week we got snowed out and had to wait until this week. It felt great to be able to be cleansed and handle the emblems of the sacrament. For the fifth Sunday lesson, our branch president spoke on priorities. He listed some things on the chalk board and we put ones or twos  or threes by them according to what we thought would be the most important in someone's life. He emphasized tithing a lot along with the balance of family, career, church calling, and everything else the world throws at us. It was a great lesson. I loved it. There is a member of the branch that we later spoke with at his home. He didn't come to church because he was sick. So we discussed his family history and eventually got him to turn off the TV (watching the NFL) to talk about temples and stuff. He says that he can't go to the temple because he can't afford to pay tithing. He says he was told that, in order to got o the temple, he would need to be a full tithe payer for a year, according to our branch president. He gets angry fairly easy and as a result I did not boldly speak up and testify of the blessings of tithing. I don't really have a testimony of tithing yet because I haven't needed to stretch myself to pay it and wait for the Lord's hand to bless me. But that day sure will come. That night after dinner we went to this one guy that was a former investigator down in Galveston, Texas. I intended on going there and introducing him and his family to the sisters so that they can take over with them (they live in Pratt) for only like 30 minutes. But this guy just wouldn't stop talking. I was so frustrated and impatient (I'm honestly trying to work on that) the whole time because that appointment made us get home 45 seconds exactly after curfew back in Kingman. We got out of there at about 8:40 and still had to walk to the church for 15 minutes and drive home for 30. But that is just another trial that I'm going to have to work on. I don't know how to make someone stop talking. I don't want to get on this guy's bad side either. That made me really mad. But I'm over it now and that ended our week.

So I just read Dad's e-mail and really enjoyed the journeys and adventures that he told me about. Why were the Hepworth's in town again?  We have an amazing leader in the form of Grandpa. I am grateful for the love that he shares with everybody. Well sorry I didn't write to anyone last week. I was busy writing other letters and laundry and stuff like that. It was a crazy P-Day last week. Unfortunately, I need to go right now. But I really loved skyping with all of you. I always look forward to talking with you and e-mailing each week. I thought it was totally funny how Jayce (whose voice has totally transformed in 7 months since I skyped last) kept running in and out with his BB gun. But anyways, I best be off. May the Lord bless you and strengthen you when you feel down. I love you. Love,

Elder Sutherland

PS: "You and me, me and you, both of us together!!!!"