Monday January 7th
After P-day we had a lesson scheduled with Thomas at the library. We tried calling his phone to make sure he was still going to come but it said that his phone was disconnected. Something really weird about Ohio is that everyone has these phones called Obama phones. I have no idea what requires them to qualify for an Obama phone but everyone has one. It basically is a cell phone that has a preset amount of minutes and then when the minutes run out then you're on your own. That's the problem we see with a lot of people. They run out of their Obama minutes. Thomas didn't show up to the library so we went to his house. When he came to the door he was super confused. He had no idea that we were meeting. Weird because we clearly told him on Sunday that we were meeting. I felt really weird about it. He also told us that he is on probation and doesn't know when he will be off. Also he told us about his love for smoking pot. He also said that he is planning on moving to a state that has laws that aren't strict on marijuana. Nice! Pretty classy Thomas. We CLEARLY scheduled with him to meet Thursday at the library.
Tuesday January 8th
We were at Sites all day. No tours. We spent a lot of time calling people and emailing. We had 2 different people come onto chat. First Eric came on. He is taking a religion class in Alabama. Last week they had different religions come in and talk to the class. 2 elders came in and handed out Book of Mormons. Eric was really interested in learning more. We talked to him about our church and we scheduled to teach him the restoration over the phone on Wednesday. Cory was the 2nd person we chatted with. He used to be a Mormon but struggles with some doctrine. We also scheduled to teach him over the phone on Wednesday.
Wednesday January 9th
We were at Sites again. We had a really good phone lesson with Eric. We taught him the restoration and we committed him to going to church on Sunday. He said he would and he was excited to go. We scheduled to teach him again on Sunday when we were at Sites. We also talked with Cory. It went pretty good. I think he is just wanting to argue but we have to give him a chance.
Thursday January 10th
First thing this morning we had interviews with President. He is a funny man. Mine literally lasted 5 mins long. He looked at my planner and was impressed with all of the plans that we have set. He randomly picked a name that was in my planner and asked me to tell him as much as I knew about them. I was able to so I guess I passed. After that we tracted for a bit. We didn't really find anyone that was interested. We stopped by some less actives to check up on them. We had a dinner appointment!!! We rarely get fed by the members. It was nice. We had an appointment scheduled with Thomas. Since he doesn't have a phone it is really hard for us to confirm appointments with him. We decided to go stake out at his house and watch and see if he gets in the car and goes to the library. It was actually really funny. We parked down the street and turned out lights off. It was a legit stake out... possibly boarder line stalking (?). He was outside piling wood or something. We waited until 10 mins after he was supose to be at the library and we drove off and then came back down and parked in front of his house. We knocked on the door and he said "Oh ya I thought I saw you guys down the street watching me." YIKES!!! Not good!!!! We were like uh...uh... no. He again was confused that we were meeting that night. He is really sketchy. Dang we thought he was so ready!!!!!!! We've decided that if he wants this he can come to us. We aren't here to beg people to listen to us. We are looking for people that are responsible and that will help build up the ward and be an asset to the people in the ward.
Friday January 11
My companion has been having really weird stomach pains for the past week. We have no idea what is going on . She's been talking to President's wife and we think that it is time for her to probs go to the doctor. She spent most of the morning sleeping while I went though old teaching records and calling people to see if they were interested again in taking the lessons. I found a half filled out baptismal record. Weird!!! His teaching record was two full pages. I read that in between his baptism on Wednesday and his confirmation on Sunday he broke the law of chastity. After that he basically just dropped off the face of the earth. I had a good long conversation with him over the phone and he agreed to meet with us later that day. After my companion woke up I told her about Cameron and we went to his house. He came outside and we immediately felt the devil. He was telling us how he sold his soul to Satan and all of this weird stuff. We just turned around and walked off. See ya later Cameron. We've been staying in contact with Tommy still. He went to church last Sunday and he told us that all week he was reading the Book of Mormon and praying. We decided to call him when we got home. When he answered the phone he was screaming and swearing. He told us that he just got finished at CrossFit and he had thrown his back out. He said that he was laying on the floor face down. We decided to just say a prayer with him and we would call back in the morning. I said the prayer. I asked for his back to please be healed so that he could keep working this week. At the end Sister Hansen and I said Amen but he didn't. We were like uh.. Tommy, you are supose to say Amen. He said I am in shock! I am in shock. He said that during the prayer he felt a warm tingling in his body and felt all of his pain taken away. He said that he was jumping to see if his back still hurt and he said the pain was 100% gone! How cool is that? My prayer healed someone. I told him that because he was reading every day and because he was praying that Heavenly Father blessed him. We asked him if he would pray about a baptismal date. He committed to doing that. So cool!!
Saturday January 12
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN SOMETHING IN THE MAIL FROM ME. IF NOT THEN IT IS COMING! We spent some of the morning putting a package together for Tommy. We wrote down tons of scriptures that would help him. We wrote our testimonies and put those in. I included Hilary's husband's conversation story. To be funny we put in these coloring pages of Joseph Smith. We also put together a Book of Mormon studying kit. We wrapped it up and put a huge bow on it. We have a really good relationship with Tommy. When we gave it to him he started to get teary eyed. He hasn't ever had anyone show that they care about him before. It was so awesome. We had a really good lesson with him. He loves reading the Book of Mormon. He knows that he is getting blessed because he is doing it. We asked him if he prayed about a baptismal date and he said he hadn't. He said he was scared of getting an answer. Come on Tommy! We recommitted him to praying about a baptismal date. He told us that he couldn't come to church because he was working.
Sunday January 13
We watched the CES devotional at sites. We invited Tommy to come and he did!!!!!!! If you didn't see the devotional then I ask you to read it right now. I swear it was tailored just for Tommy. President Uchtdorf talked about casting out our doubts and turning to the Lord. That was exactly what Tommy needed to hear. Lately as a missionary I have been really bold with people. People need to hear it straight up. After the devotional we sat out on the couches with Tommy. I asked him "So did you pray about a baptismal date?" He said that he did. He said that he was confused because he didn't get a specific date but he got the number 16 in his head. We opened our planners and February 16th is the day that we had been hoping Tommy would get baptized. We told him that and he was so happy. He was beaming. I asked him if he would prepare himself to be baptized February 16th. He said yes and the spirit was so strong. He kept saying I get it now!! A really cool senior couple came and sat by us (the ones you met over skype. The prison warden). We told Tommy to tell them his good news and he said " I am getting baptized February 16th." He was stoked!! He really is gonna do it now. He finally gets it. Please keep praying for Tommy that his desire to be baptized won't go away!
My week was really good this week. I love you all so much. I guess since I'm a missionary I can hop up on my box and get mad at everyone that doesn't read the Book of Mormon every single day. Here is a really good quote that I heard last week in church:
“I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. … Faith, hope, and charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness. Marion G. Romney
Since a few people that get my letters aren't parents you can tailor it to your life. If you want to be happy READ THE BOOK OF MORMON. If you want peace in your life READ THE BOOK OF MORMON. How simple is that? Just 5 mins. a day.
I love you all and miss you so much!
Lacee Rae
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