Stop Smoking in 7 Days...

Hellooooooo!!!

 

I hope you guys had a good Labor Day! Mine was pretty awesome. We went fishing on the Chattahoochee River! We also made a fire on a rock which was pretty hardcore and I boiled some peanuts for me to eat. I sure do love boiled peanuts.

 

Life is good here in GA. So much happens each week, yet it sometimes feels like not much at all happens each week because they are all scheduled out so I know exactly what I will be doing on each day throughout the week. Right now I am on an exchange in the Hartwell area. I have a fun district. There are 4 elders and 2 sisters. We cover 3 areas--2 wards and a branch.

 

This week we had some pretty inspirational mission meetings, which is always good and the work is progressing at pretty much the same rate as usual in our area. Something difficult happened this week--Elder Zundel and I decided that we needed to stop visiting an investigator as much. It was really sad because we thought things were going really well with this family. We went over to their house after about a week of not seeing them because they had been out of town. We watched "Together Forever" with them and then started to ask if they would come to church this Sunday and how their Book of Mormon reading was going. 

 

Basically he told us that they loved having us come over, we are always welcome, but that he started reading the Bible again and won't ever be able to go to church on Sundays and probably won't be reading the Book of Mormon very much. He told us we were welcome there, but we decided to stop focusing our main attention on them because they aren't willing to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. It was really sad just because we felt like they were doing so well and we know how much the Restored Gospel can bless their lives. The Book of Mormon really is one of the most important parts of spiritual survival today. When people read the Book of Mormon regularly their testimony grows in every aspect of the Restored Gospel. It also gives you strength to go through life's challenges.

 

Even though that happened we still have a lot of good things going for us. Hopefully we will have two baptismal dates set up by the end of this week. We have also started working with a few part-member families, which I enjoy because the gospel has already been a part of their home just a little bit which makes thing easier. 

 

We made fliers for a "Stop Smoking in 7 Days" workshop which we are excited for. Tobacco is a huge thing here and many people want to quit, but they just don't know how. Hopefully with our workshop we can help some people out and possibly find some new investigators.

 

My companion and I were talking last week, and he was telling me about some really cool experiences that he has had on his mission. He asked me what I want out of my mission and I told him that what I would like most is to honestly be able to help someone improve their life or become happier because of the gospel truths. He told me how great of a feeling it is to do that and showed me a letter written to him by a girl that he had baptized. It was heartwarming and all that good stuff.

 

Sorry I didn't write on Monday; the libraries were closed for the holiday. I hope school and work are going well for you, things are just dandy here in GA :)

 

Love you long time, let me know if I can do anything for you!

 

Love,

 

Elder Mikey T. Caplin