Dearest family,I love you so much. I want to tell you that things are going
well. The work is slowing down a bit, but we hope to be able to pick it back
up. It's frustrating when (I'm not joking), about 1 out of 4 people we meet on
the street are Indian and don't speak any English. It can be discouraging at
times, but I'm learning to put away my frustrations. This was especially true
for the "H" family this week. On Saturday I was elated. I read the
following text from Sister "H": "I'm reading and teaching my mother
[from the Book of Mormon]. Also she will probably join me at church Sunday with
a friend also. :) mom is so interested in this happy to share with her."
The next day I got this text: "Brother "H" can't get the day
off [work]. We will make it [to church] next weekend. I was heartbroken. I kept
thinking "why? Why is God making this so difficult?" As I sat in
sacrament meeting, the words of my patriarchal blessing came crystal clear in
my mind: "The Lord will bestow upon you the gift of patience." I
pulled it out of my scriptures and read the rest of the paragraph. It talked about
how I will be patient as I exercise faith in the Lord. It tells me I will be
patient and longsuffering in times of difficulty and challenge and I will
overcome them and come out victorious. I was filled with gratitude for the
prompting I received. Later, as a sister in the ward spoke in sacrament
meeting, she related the following words from the Savior in John 14, verses 26
& 27: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to
your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my
peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." I realized that the Holy
Ghost had brought the words of my patriarchal blessing to my remembrance. The
reason he did that was to give me comfort. He really is the Comforter. I
learned many things from this experience. I learned that God helps us to find
hope in the heartache. I learned that the Holy Ghost brings the words of the
Savior to our remembrance. It was affirmed to me that without the Gift of the
Holy Ghost, we would not have his companionship. I was reminded of how blessed
we are to have this precious gift. Now, I will act more fervently and
diligently so that others can have this priceless gift as well. The Holy Ghost
can guide us, protect us, and lead us safely home to our Father in Heaven.
In answer to your questions,
Jessica: The weather has been hot and sunny this whole week until today. It started raining and it's cloudy. It is a much needed break from the sweltering heat. I didn't think it could get hot in Washington, but it does. It really is cool to see all the different cultures, but it makes me feel foreign. I wish I could speak Arabic, Punjabi, and Spanish. Those are the most common languages spoken here besides English.
Mom: I did receive my ukulele. And when we do community service, we usually have set days and times, but sometimes we set it up ourselves. I'm so glad to hear you are listening to the Book of Mormon on audio. That is what we encourage a lot of our investigators to do. It really does help!
Dad: My new companion, Elder Holden is great. We get along pretty well. We usually talk about how we can help our investigators. Elder Holden likes Marvel comics. We usually talk about stressful situations that occur and make light of the situation to relieve stress.
I love you all very much and can't wait to hear back from you. I'll be sharing more experiences later.
Love,
Elder Herbert
In answer to your questions,
Jessica: The weather has been hot and sunny this whole week until today. It started raining and it's cloudy. It is a much needed break from the sweltering heat. I didn't think it could get hot in Washington, but it does. It really is cool to see all the different cultures, but it makes me feel foreign. I wish I could speak Arabic, Punjabi, and Spanish. Those are the most common languages spoken here besides English.
Mom: I did receive my ukulele. And when we do community service, we usually have set days and times, but sometimes we set it up ourselves. I'm so glad to hear you are listening to the Book of Mormon on audio. That is what we encourage a lot of our investigators to do. It really does help!
Dad: My new companion, Elder Holden is great. We get along pretty well. We usually talk about how we can help our investigators. Elder Holden likes Marvel comics. We usually talk about stressful situations that occur and make light of the situation to relieve stress.
I love you all very much and can't wait to hear back from you. I'll be sharing more experiences later.
Love,
Elder Herbert