sammission: Another great week

Hey guys, Sorry about not sending a weekly letter. I was super busy last P-Day and it was awesome! Everything is going super well! So, since I haven't sent out a weekly email, I will write the highlights of the past two weeks because I don't have that much time.

So two weeks ago, we had a lesson with the Maib family. There are three nonmembers in the family and I am pretty sure I told you guys about them a couple weeks ago. Anyways, we had their neighbor, the bishop, come with us to the lesson and it was not a good lesson. We taught really well but the thing is that the father was taking what we say and repeating it but this time, it was twisted. So when we taught about Joseph Smith, he would twist what we say and put some anti-mormonism stuff in there (the Spirit was not there at all...). :/ The bishop apologized for wasting our time but it was all good. We learned something about that experience. We should always make sure that the Spirit was there because the Spirit is the master teacher!

President Hiers (The Utah Ogden mission president) came with us for a hour to tag along to a lesson and to observe our companionship. We had a nonmember lined up for a lesson with PH (Pres. Hiers) but four hours before, he texted us, cancelling the lesson. So, we freaked out but we were able to find a member family (RSP for the Clinton 21st ward) and we went over and taught them. We were able to get three referrals from them. It was an amazing lesson. The Spirit was super strong. It was amazing!!

Then the following Sunday, Elder Curtis and I was able to give TWO talks in two separate wards. I spoke on Roots and Branches (April 2014 GC talk) for the first talk and for my second talk, I spoke on 1 Samuel 16. It was amazing. I love being able to give a talk because I am able to "teach" a lot of people at once. It is awesome!

We also had a RC lesson with one of our recent convert family, the Cefalo family. They are doing so amazing! The kids are working towards baptism for the dead. We just have to give them a push to get their temple recommend and the parents are meeting with the Stake President to see when they can get sealed in the temple! The father had a previous temple sealing so they have to get that resolved first. Anyways, Ethan (age 9) wanted us to teach Genesis 2 so we changed our lesson plan and taught that instead. Ethan is such a funny kid! After we finished, the father asked Ethan to give a prayer and he said yep. He folded his arms and we all closed our eyes. After not hearing anything for like 10 seconds, we heard, "What am I doing again?". It was the way he said it that made it so funny!

We were also able to teach the Murdock family (they are a less active family) and it was a super spiritual lesson. We planned on teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ but the Spirit took it another way. And instead of teaching the GoJC, we taught about the Book of Mormon and how it is the keystone of our religion. It was an amazing lesson. The Spirit was SO strong! The mother was crying a little bit and the Murdock family is progressing. They are aiming for the temple and they are reaching there. It is an amazing thing! One of the things I love about missionary work is seeing progression in the people that we teach.

We also met this Less Active family named the Direen family. They lived in Utah all of their lives except that they lived in SAUDI ARABIA for three years (They lived in a really small city, just north of Oman). I was SO surprised when she said that they lived in KSA. We got to talking about how crazy that place is. We were laughing so hard! It was awesome. We are going to be doing service for them this Friday! I am so excited! They are a really cool family. They have five kids! Sister Direen also told me that she had to wear an abaya and a Saudi hijab or she will get frowned upon. It was a lot more strict down there than it was in Jubail. It was really cool tlaking about Saudi Arabia!

We were able to pick up a new investigator (hallelujah!). His name is Brandon and he is living with his girlfriend. The WML of that ward (he is their good friend) texted us the next day and told us that Brandon and his girlfriend is splitting up, meaning that Brandon is moving out of the stake so we lost our new investigator. That was really disappointing. Oh well, we just have to keep our head up and keeping working hard. We are working our hardest and that is what's important. The Lord will bless us. I trust in Him. I have faith in Him!

Last Sunday, we gave a training on missionary work in the 9th ward 5th Sunday combined meeting. We taught the what, why and the how of missionary work. We had everyone that had a kid from the ages of 8 - 18 stand up and we asked them what they could do for missionary work for that week and we wrote it down on the board underneath the How. We had a bunch of bullet points for each of the what, why and how. We bore our testimony of the power of missionary work and we were also able to share a video, I will go where you want me to go. The Spirit was super strong and it was amazing! A lot of members came up to us and told us that we did a great job.

This morning, Elder Curtis, Elder White, Elder Espadas and I were able to go play golf in Schneiter's Bluff in West Point. Missionaries can play there for free and it was awesome. I really enjoyed it. We were able to borrow clubs from one of the WMLs in my stake.

I absolutely love being a missionary. It is a joy being able to serve the Lord 24/7. I only have 13 months but that is so short. I am looking forward to making every second count! I love being able to share the message I have with everyone I meet out on the street. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and it is the only way that we can come back and live with Heavenly Father after we die (2 Nephi 31:21). I love the gospel. I love the Church. I love Heavenly Father. I love life. Everything is just glorious.

Have a fantastic week and stay strong! You can do it! Love,Elder McGrath