Thursday, May 14, 2015

Peoria Week 90 *May 14, 2015

Hey hey hey!

Like I mention last week we had transfers on Wednesday. Normally the mission president will call us the day before and give us a heads up on the changes that will take place but this time nothing. Not a peep. It was so nerve racking! I have become so accustomed to knowing what was happening that when I don't know it was awful. Well anyways, elder Johnston must have been giving the mission president treats without my knowledge because he was sent up the flagstaff for the summer! Right when the heat started to pour here he goes up to the nicest weather. I was a little jealous haha. My new companion is Elder Bunn and he is fantastic. He is the polar opposite of me in most every way except for our desire to serve a mission and share the gospel. He is ridiculously smart, loves computer science, got a 34 on his ACT, has a full ride to BYU, he is half Korean but it totally American by culture, he played tennis in high school and is 6'3". I always get the taller guys haha. He knows the doctrine in the scriptures and has a powerful testimony. It is going to be awesome to work with. He has only been out on his mission for ten months so he has a lot to learn but he is farther along then I was.

Alexis and Rob have been doing amazing. They came to church two weeks in a row and we have a lesson with them tonight. We hope to talk about baptism and the need they have for it. I know they are going to make the right changes to have the happiness they are looking for. Chris is home this week and his baptism is scheduled for Saturday. It is going to be the coolest weekend for that family. It has been 13 years since he was first married to his wife and that has been her dream for the whole time! We are so stoked! Our singles ward had been planning for a few months an "Almost Summer Picnic" which was going to be held at a park with field games and a giant slip n slide. Who wouldn't like that? Plus free BBQ. That's the icing on the cake. Well a few days before the big day the park decided to flood irrigate the whole place with a few feet of water! And to add to the bad luck the weather made a turn for the worse and it was rainy and colder. People still showed up and it was a good time. We stayed just long enough to grab some food and say hello to the members friends before we went out to work.

We had a super cool experience this week. We went into an apartment complex to visit a less active member but I got the prompting to try by a lady that we had knocked on a million times. So we walk up the flights of stairs and for some reason I felt oddly good about the whole situation. Well she answered and after a few pleasantries she invited us in. Come to find out she and her non member husband, Randy, we're having a discussion about God communication with his children and how Randy didn't think God ever listened to him. Well he kinda tempted God and physically knocked on a bedroom door and said "hello God, I want you to send me a physical sign that you are there". Well wouldn't you guess that five minutes later we come knocking in the door! Crazy I know. We talked to him about the plan of salvation and how God answered our prayers based on faith and not on sight. He has a ton of questions that we didn't answer on that visit but it was still an amazing experience and a real faith builder.

Thank you for everything you have been doing! It was awesome to see my family on Mother's Day and to see the niece Eleanor! She is so big now. Talk to you next week.

Elder Cole Safford

1. Elder Johnston and I at the Almost Summer Picnic

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