For a whole now we have been waiting for brother Fullmer to get
surgery on his knee because it has been pretty hard to see him
hobbling around. We tried our best to pick up the extra slack and do
the things we could to ease his burdens but a lot of the time he would
still beat us to things. He went into surgery on Tuesday and is
scheduled to come home next Friday. He made sure to keep us updated
and he is doing really great. When the doctor opened him up he was
shocked that brother Fullmer could even walk on his knee it was so
blown up with arthritis and scar tissue. Brother Fullmer said it was
Heavenly Father helping him to keep going. It will be good to have him
back home. We sure do miss him!
We have been working with the elders quorum for the last while with
members that don't contacted besides by home teachers because
they never answer the door or are just not home. But this week we
decided to help the whole ward with this so we made a list of all the
less actives and went on splits two different nights to try and
contact everyone. We were not able to get to everyone but we made a
good dent and will continue to work on it. We met some amazing people
that are happy to have us over but just don't want to make the
commitment to come back to church quite yet. I know they are on the
right path to come back but I just wish they were on the accelerated
path that would bring them here a lot sooner. But it's all in the
Lord's timing. He knows them better then we do so we just have to wait
and be patient, which is really hard sometimes! Each night Elder Lewis
and I have been coming home a bit early and putting the bikes away so
that we could set out on foot to talk to people in the streets. At
8:00pm it is about 90 degrees which seems hot but it is when everyone
emerges from their homes and mills about the town. We have had quite a
bit of success talking to people and it has been a ton of fun. I am
finally getting over the fear of just saying hello and engaging that
conversation.
We met a guy that was quick to tell us he was atheist and didn't want
to be rude by not coming to church. I have never really talked with
someone that didn't believe in God so I was kinda curious. He had once
been a believer but science and the theory of evolution had led him to
question his own faith. Slowly he started taking steps off the straight
and narrow and now he didn't believe the there was a god at all. I didn't
understand how it could be possible. But then as I started to think
about it all he needed to have was a little faith. That is was sets us
closer to God. That tiny particle of faith. It can be hard. I know.
The facts may not always line up in our favor or in this case God's
favor. But if we set all that aside and trust in Him and His plan for
us, we will be so much happier. This life is at least bearable with
God in it. It is still not easy but we know we are not alone. I told
him all this and could see a slight change in his demeanor. He thanked
us for our time and kind words. Then just like that he was gone. I
hope we were able to make a slight impact and the spirit was able to
testify to him.
Last December we found out who our new mission president was going to
be. President Taylor's three years here is up and in comes President
Griffin. President Taylor didn't want us all to freak out with all the
changes that will probably be headed our way with having a new leader
so he had a meeting dedicated to helping us roll with the punches. He
explained the idea of substance versus style. Things that need to
happen will still happen but they may be done slightly different. It
was cool to see that President Taylor cared enough about us to let us
all know that. So the beginning of July we will have a new
President... Of the mission that is. We have a clean slate and a new
opportunity to grow and progress. I am pretty excited.
We came home one day to find the back gate open and a black and white
pit bull strolled out to say hello to us. He was super friendly and
nice so we decided to keep him until we could find him a new home. We
fed him beef stew or corn-dogs or chicken. Basically anything we had.
Haha. Probably not the best for a dog. Anyways we took him to the vet
by our house to have him scanned for a chip which he didn't have. They
told us to post some pictures on a website and hope someone claimed
him. We brought him home and kept looking for lost dog signs. We had
him for five days. We come home one night to find the gate open again
and no dog. Oh by the way we named him Moroni haha. Then we hear
someone yell "hey!" We turn around to see our neighbor walking over to
us. He asked us why the heck we stole HIS dog!! Hahaha apparently the
dog had gotten out of his yard and strolled into ours. The neighbor
was the one who heard him barking, looked over the fence and then took
his dog back! Haha we were laughing so hard. We totally stole our
neighbors dog without knowing it!! Hahaha
I how you are all doing great. I love you and want to thank you for
the letters and emails. They are amazing. Have a good day!!
Until next time
Elder Cole Safford
No comments:
Post a Comment