Week 50. A great week!

 Hi. If you don't read anything else, read the spiritual thought. And shout out to Bryce: Happy Birthday. Love ya, here's the highlights:

Hansen's B-day - I made him breakfast and brownies and we had an awesome day doing missionary work. Had some awesome lessons, a packed day, and amazing food. 

Exchanges - I went to another Area with Elder Martin. He's pretty cool. We had an awesome lesson at dinner that night. He asked a riddle and then the importance of asking questions to get guidance and answers. Then that night we both pulled out our yo-yos and had a trick battle. It was pretty impressive because he had a fixed axle and I had a loose Estring so we did different tricks. He's a cool elder. 

Gregory - so this guy. Missionaries have been in contact with him for a while, and so we called to see how he was doing and get this whole spiel and why the story of Sampson is false because no guy is that stupid and why would God make long hair so important. I felt really bad for him. That he read that much but took away so little. I tried helping him out, but I think he wants the Bible to be perfect and doesn't realize it was written a crap ton long time ago, has been through so many hands and translations, and the meaning of its verses has been disputed for centuries. So obviously we are going to be missing some details. 

So we talked about faith and the importance of that. Talked about Noah building the ark out of faith, but then Gregory went off about that and how it would've been impossible. And I said God literally performs miracles. I asked him if he believed in God and listened and set up a time to see him in person and so please pray for Gregory. 

Jeremiah - this week was definitely good but it had its weird parts too. This man posted on Facebook that he needed help and to find a new direction. So we hopped on it, met him at the park, and then this man proceeded to tell us what he believed in for the next hr. It was wack, the guy went through some wack stuff. Some stuff was similar, but the rest was kinda crazy. But then he gave us some time to talk, but we actually had to get going, but... in his spiel he said there was no prophet anymore. But he also said God works in seasons. So I said for a long time it was an off season and prophets weren't around, but the time has come again for prophets and it is amazing to have that guidance. Invited him to look into our prophet. So who knows what will happen there. 

Carnival - so our ward holds an annual carnival with lots of games and such. We were asked to make fries, which was a roller coaster of effort. Then we did a pie eating contest, axe throwing, and talking to as many people as possible. Some less actives showed up and other friends so it was pretty awesome. 

Alana + Tasha - had a lesson on Tuesday with them, then they actually came to the carnival even though it was as everyone was leaving. We talked for a bit and got them both committed to church and volleyball next week, and Alana for church this week! So she came and stayed for the second hr this time and asked us why only young men pass the sacrament so we sat down and talked about that and it was pretty cool that she asked a question like that. Hopefully we can help both of them continue to grow their relationships with God. 

P-day!! - we went to the fair today! It was pretty fun. I did deadlifts for a pencil and did a lot of walking around and seeing a bunch of cool stuff, but not buying anything cause I'm broke. They even had a rodeo! It was pretty cool. We ran into some members there and afterwards ran into one of those Christian dudes with the big banner and weird pamphlets. So funny! When he found out we were LDS he handed Hansen his banner and took out a pamphlet that just said multiple reasons why my religion was wrong (a lot of it was written without context  made me mad, but luckily I didn't read it til we got home). Well since he gave us something we traded and gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read and pray about it. Then I handed him a picture of Jesus without our number on the back and asked him if he wanted it. He seemed really surprised that I just had a picture of Jesus in my pocket, and I said, "I always have a picture of Him." Which I think might have pressured him into taking it because he didn't  it was super funny but, hopefully we helped clarify some misconceptions he had and show Him that we are all trying to follow the same Savior (which is actually the opposite of what his pamphlets said) but oh well. We will see if anything happens. 

All in all a great day.

Spiritual Thought - PRAYER IS THE BEST. This week my testimony of prayer has grown a lot. God loves hearing from you and He loves answering prayers. One of my favorite scriptures is Helaman 3:27 "Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name" 

Which I actually found after saying a prayer asking for a scripture to share with others. 

I prayed for inspiration and received, I prayed for confirmation and received it, and I prayed for someone who's going to be baptized soon but was struggling and found out the next day her problem got solved. Literally prayer is amazing. I hope y'all never miss a chance to pray and call on His holy name, cause when you make it sincere He will answer. 

I love ya all, have a great week.