Glendale Week 33 *April 1, 2014

A big hello to everyone,

The days of which I am serving The Lord seem to be speeding up. One
moment I am waking up dead tired and hating the sun for rising and the
next the sun has gone down and I am lying in a fetal position wrapped
in the warmth of my blanket. Spread between those two events are a
mixture of emotions and experiences that remind me of just why I am on
a mission in the first place. There has honestly never been a time
when I have felt closer to my Heavenly Father in my life. Yet I can
still have the feelings of loneliness and abandonment that we all feel
sometime in our lives and I am still trying to figure out how that is
possible. I know that I have a Heavenly Father and I can testify that
he is always there even when we may feel that he has forgotten us.
There have been too many experiences in these past months for me to
say that there is not someone looking out for me or leading me in a
direction. I most often do not know where I am going or what the
outcome will be but that is where faith comes into the picture. Faith
is the hope for things which are not seen which are true. As a
missionary I have faith that there are investigators out there who
want to come closer to Christ. I may not always see them but I know
they are there. I love talking with random people everyday and helping
them realize that without the gospel of Jesus Christ they will never
fill that whole in their heart. No amount of worldly goods can ever
feed a hungry soul.

Right now we are working with Jeanna,  still and helping her get ready
for her baptism. This past week we were able to go over the baptismal
interview questions with her and there was not a sliver of doubt as
she shared her testimony on the different points covered in that
interview. I am so excited to see her step into the waters of that
font and make an everlasting covenant with God to follow His Son and
always remember Him. Every time we meet with her she expresses how
ecstatic she is and how wonderful she feels all the time. There is no
way that this daughter of God could feel that way unless this gospel
is true.

We have been really lucky the past couple of weeks when it comes to
receiving referrals from members for people that we can teach. Almost
all of them come from other parts of Arizona but I don't mind that at
all. As long as I get to share the gospel I don't really care where
they came from because I am more interested in where that's are going
and where they will end up. We met with a girl named Ann who is from
Thailand. She is the sweetest thing. She is a student at Thunderbird
school of global management which is in our area and where a majority
of our congregation goes. Anywho she is very interested in the gospel
and wants to find out what God can do for her. I had the opportunity
to go on an exchange with one of the assistance to the president and
teach her a lesson on faith. She understands what faith is but putting
action behind the faith is a tough concept. She has been coming to
church which is a great step and she said she would try to read and
pray which I know is another great step. I know her soul is seeking
out the comfort of our Heavenly Father and we are being led to her.

The house in which I live is becoming more and more fun as the days go
on. We are figuring out each others personalities and we are learning
just how far we can prank each other. For example the other night my 
companion and I thought it would be funny to Jello the other elders cell 
phone. So we cooked up some jello while the other elders had gone out for
 a dinner appointment and when they came back we swiped their phone and stuck it 
in the jello bowl (it was in a plastic bag) then shoved that in the fridge. Later that night they were desperately
searching for their phone so we said we would call it. Well we did.
And it rang. They opened up the fridge and busted up laughing. It was
a great time. Just silly missionary moments

Thank you for everything that you have all done for me. I really do appreciate
it. Keep your heads up and continue to seek after truth in this life.
I know you will find it through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Love Elder Cole Safford