Over here the Superbowl is a huge national holiday. This season, everyone has been going bonkers for the Seahawks. You can't go anywhere here without seeing someone sporting a Seahawk's jersey! It's interesting. Everyone is bummed that they lost though. It has been wonderful getting here and experiencing this ward. Manorwood is such a great area. Everyone here is so nice, even if they don't want to talk to us.
Today we went to the temple, and we had Brother "D" give us 11 names for the elders and 1 name for a sister to take and go through the endowment session for. It was such a spiritual experience, and I am filled with so much love and joy. Nothing in this world matters more than the ordinances and covenants that we make with Heavenly Father. I'm so glad to hear that you are all doing so well. Elder Brown goes home in a few weeks back to Arizona. He and I get along really well and I'll miss him. We have had wonderful experiences in this ward.
I met one family that is currently investigating in our ward, the "J"s. We couldn't meet the first week because Sister "J" is preparing to have her mother come over from Ukraine, and she is expecting a baby! The whole week has been busy for them, preparing for the two new arrivals! They both know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, but they have difficulty committing to anything. One aspect that is hard for them is the Word of Wisdom. They don't understand what it means by "hot drinks." They also haven't been able to study the Book of Mormon and pray daily. I testified that as long as they did that, their concerns about the Word of Wisdom will be resolved.
We have two potential investigators as well. We met "I" and her uncle contacting in our apartment complex's parking lot. She is a teen mom living in her uncle's apartment. She said that in foster care, she attended many different churches. Her uncle told us he's been to a Mormon church once and he really liked it. We gave them a restoration pamphlet to read and pray about in preparation for our meeting on Saturday. We'll have a lesson with them Saturday morning and remind them about church on Sunday.
We have also been working really closely with the members. If you have the elders over for dinner, what they SHOULD do is ask you for referrals (friends that you could invite to meet with them). If they don't, make sure you tell them that their primary goal for member visits should be to strengthen your desire to share the gospel. If they don't, they're not fulfilling their responsibilities. I suggest that before you meet with the elders, everyone in the family (Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, Jessica, Aaron, and Sarah) should have already invited a nonmember friend to meet with the missionaries. It doesn't have to be in the ward boundaries. It could even be over facebook or e-mail.
I don't have a bike yet, but I've been borrowing one from Brother "J". I need to buy one soon. I also need a waterproof coat and boots. I recently bought waterproof gloves and a balaclava from the sport store. I'm excited to hear from you all and I can't wait to share my experiences with you from serving in the Manorwood ward.
Love,
Elder Herbert