Monday, November 24, 2014

11/24/14 - 12th LETTER FROM DUNCAN

We've survived the first three months!  I feel I've adjusted better than I thought I would.....until I had this dream.  I've included my email to Colton and his response to me.  I promise, this craziness is not the norm!

Mom: I had a dream the other night and you came to see me.  I woke up so excited and then I freaked out.........HE CAME TO ME IN A DREAM AND SAID HE WASN'T COMPANIONS WITH ELDER ORR!!!!!!!!!!!  HE'S DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  HE VISITED ME AFTER HE LEFT HIS BODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Then I calmed down and went to work.  I just told myself, they will call if he's dead......don't think about it until they call.  When I didn't receive a call by the end of my shift, I figured you were alive and well!  ;-)  Just thought I would share that with you....I know, I'm crazy!

Colton: That's super weird and crazy haha. I'm definitely alive. Lol!
 
Here's his letter:

Dear Awesome People,
 
This week has been a week of miracles. Easily the best week of my life thus far. What an incredible time we live in, right smack dab in the middle of the hastening of the work of salvation! To start off the week, I finally got my BC driver's license! Street legal, eh?! I invested in some hair clippers to cut down hair cut costs, and they are workin' out so nicely. I'm a self-stylist, now. Call me up in two years and I'll teach you the tricks of the trade! ;) I went on an exchange with my district leader, Elder Durfee, who's also from Gilbert! He's goin' home in about a month...so it's kind of crazy to go out and teach God's children with him. We had a crazy day. We met the druid of Duncan--he has a crazy crystal staff that he carries around to ward off bad energy (he likes us, so maybe the staff actually works ;) We were tracting in a nice little neighborhood and found a snake just chillin' on the driveway! (Picture included) And we took an exchange selfie! (Also included)
Later on, we got to meet with W, our super solid investigator who's going to trade me something for his snazzy dress shirt. He's super hilarious and cool. Elder Orr and I are super unified now. It's weird. We're like, legitimate brothers. We say the same stuff when people ask us questions at the same exact time. We got to use my plan of salvation visual aid (click here to see what he's talking about), and we read Ether 3 with W. Wow. What an awesome chapter about faith! One of the members in the ward is taking a temple tour and is going through AZ soon! He's going to have to send me pictures... 
I went on another exchange this week with Elder Huni, one of my zone leaders. He's hilarious. He served in Vancouver most of his mission, so he is obsessed with Asians... We saw a deer in a suburb while driving away from tracting it, and so obviously I snapped a photo of it. But a miracle happened when we knocked on a door and a Chinese family let us in! Elder Huni was ecstatic. We were fed seafood by a Chilean investigator of theirs that just got baptized two days ago. So, we had a pretty fun week. But it all culminated in the greatest day of my life: Saturday, November 22, 2014. 
We were so fortunate and blessed to have helped S work her way to baptism, and when it finally came, it was incredible. The Spirit was never so strong. I was struck this week by just the simple reality of this gospel, and of God. He is real. He is there, and He loves all of us so much. Baptism is real. Like, it is actually a saving ordinance. It really does wash away the sins of whoever takes upon themselves this wonderful ordinance and makes this sacred covenant with their Heavenly Father. I have seen the countenance of both J and S change literally within the moment they were baptized. My joy that I have felt his week has come just from knowing that S is partaking in these covenants and ordinances that will lead back to our Heavenly Father. Her testimony in this gospel is so strong. At the end of her baptismal service, she said, "No matter how dark the times, there is always light if you just simply turn on the switch. For me, that is Jesus Christ and our Heavenly father. They are our light to fight the darkness." The Spirit was SO strong at this point. Stunned silence. Then, she raised her hands to the heavens (First nation's tradition) and said, "Haisatka!" Which means, thank you to a group of to God. It was incredible! Everyone was like, in tears. She was glowing by the end of the night. All you need to do in this life is ACT on your faith in God. And He will carry you the rest of the way. She was confirmed yesterday, and we got to meet with W and watch the Restoration movie with him, as well as attend an amazingly spirit-filled cottage meeting at Brother Schmidt's house. Man, this is what life is all about.
God is real, whether you believe in Him or not, this is reality. He's waiting there for all of us to reach out to Him so that He can bless us. he wants to help us, but we have to choose to accept that help. This is His church, His gospel. He is at the helm of this work. Missionary work is the most important work on earth. I am honored to be here, and I am honored to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. "I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed..." I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sincerely,
Elder Stock
Silly Elder!
 Ensign time!
Gilbert Boys!
Elder Stock and Elder Durfee
Driveway snake
 Bambi!
Love the view
 Elder Orr, "S" and Elder Stock
We're so happy that he had the "best week of his life"!

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