Elder Cole Christopher Safford: Peoria Week 9, *January 20, 2014

Hey everyone!

This week has been full of little moments that have made it great.
First off we went through the old teaching records of the area and
found a lady named Maricella who had not been taught for over a year.
All the comments on her said that she was very interested and she is
ready to grow in the gospel. So we were super stoked to get into her
home and talk with her. We went over on Tuesday and she welcomed us
right in. Our plan was to talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ which
is through Christ we can be cleansed from sin, faith, repentance,
baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. as we
started to talk to her the tangents started rolling and we got way off
topic. I honestly didn't know what to do. I silently said a prayer in
my head and the spirit came in loud and clear. I bore powerful
testimony of the power the gospel has to bless our earthly families and
how important it is to grow together because we will be together for
time and all eternity. I could see in her face the comfort that
sentence brought to her and the peace in her heart. I know that that
is exactly what she needed because I didn't come up with it but the
spirit did. It was a huge testimony builder. We left when the spirit
was high and we have a lesson with her in a couple of days. We are
planning on inviting her to baptism and I hope she says yes. I have
not seen anyone more prepared by The Lord and ready to come closer to
Him.

One day Elder Zaugg and I decided that we would go and contact a ton
of the potential investigators in our area to see if any of them would
be willing to have us come and teach them. As we were riding through
the neighborhoods there was a group of like 3 women walking through
the streets trying to get their late night workout in. We ran across
them multiple times and finally they asked us if we were stalking
them! I tried to explain what the situation was but they were
convinced that we were stalking them. Finally I just accepted it and
agreed to be stalking them. They laughed it off and we went on our
way. It was pretty funny. The very next door we knocked on was a women named Jody. When we knock on people's door we ask them if they want to hear the gospel and
if that is a no then we just see if we can do some service for them
which is usually a no as well but we might as well ask right? Anyways
Elder Zaugg tells Jody that if she lets us rake her rocks (because no
one in Arizona has grass in their front yards) we will take off our
shirts and ties.... She was all like "oh your those kinds of
missionaries!" Elder Zaugg tried to back his way out of the situation
but she let him have it. I couldn't say anything because I was
laughing too hard! It was so funny. Elder Zaugg felt so bad but he got
over it soon enough. Then after we left her house we were riding down
this street and a cop shined his spot light on us and pulled us over.
They were looking for some kids who stole some stuff but luckily we
were not them. He saw we were missionaries and let us go. All of these
things happened in one night! It was so crazy.

At church this last Sunday we watched a video in our elders quorum
meeting from a BYU devotional that talked all about the grace that
Jesus Christ has for us. It talked about how many individuals think
that we need to reach a certain place before we die in order to
receive the atonement in our lives. But in reality we will have the
atonement everyday of our lives if we are making the steps to improve
our lives. Even in the darkest hour God is there and His love for us
is infinite. We never need to feel alone because we aren't. Don't ever
feel that your are not good enough or that you cannot be forgiven for
things you have done. Even if you have promised that you will not do
something again and then you fall and do it. You can be forgiven if
you improve. I love you all and I know that this life is tough. Keep
moving forward and don't give up on yourself. Read the scriptures, go to church,
and pray. Although these things are simple, but they are precious. God is not complex
and neither is His gospel.

Until next week,
Elder Cole Safford