Weekly letter -- 14 MAR 2011

Dear EVERYONE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADRIENNE!

Sing along!

"Happy happy birthday, Adrienne, dear.
Happy days will come to you all year!
If I had a wish then it would be,
a happy happy birthday to you from me!"

Happy birthday, Adj! :)

Last P-day we went with Brother Gilliland to a ranch that he manages for a lady. It was AWESOME! We fed cows, wore cowboy hats (we had to become true Okies someday!), and learned phrases like "Jeet?" (Did you eat?) "Yannoo?" (You want to?). It was a great time! I love being out in the middle of nowhere :) It feels like home :)

Guess what's happening this week?! ANOTHER LTM! I'm excited!

The best part of this last week was the exchange we had with the Zone Leaders. We have been working hard here, but haven't been seeing much progress. We both learned a lot when we were out working, but the big ticket of it all was the exchange report. We tried a combined exchange report (so it was an open discussion about rating ourselves and whatnot) and it was great! The great part about was realizing that we definitely have a lot to work on. After the exchange was over, we went out an worked and noticed an immediate difference!

First, we started praying over streets to tract. We said a prayer to know which street we should tract when we look at the map. Then we looked at the map, picked one, and went there! Now, instead of tracting out an entire section of the city, we're going to the streets we feel prompted to go to and we're finding people who have been prepared! It's awesome!

Second, we have stopped giving up and started holding in there longer when helping someone to pray. We use the pamphlet a lot to help with that (and our tracting lessons) and they almost always end up praying! All it takes is a little encouragement and listening to the Spirit and people pray!

Finally, when we implement all of the 8 fundamental lessons in each lesson we teach, the lessons are better! There seems to be a direct correlation on the number of skills from the 8 fundamentals that are implemented and the quality of the lessons (fancy that!).

We taught a lesson yesterday to an older couple (the Thackers). Brother Thacker has refused to pray in front of us. This time, we stuck to it and invited either of them to pray. Sister Thacker offered a kneeling prayer. We talked about it after and read 3 Nephi 18:19-21 with Brother Thacker. He hasn't wanted to pray in front of people. After we read the verses, he discovered that he has been praying incorrectly all along (he hasn't been saying prayers "in the name of Jesus Christ"). After he read it from the Book of Mormon and the part about praying in our families, he went from saying, "I don't want to pray out loud. I believe it's a personal thing. Jesus said to pray in our closets," to a slight chuckle with, "I don't know what I'd say." We encouraged him a little, with the help of his wife too, and then he prayed! We've been trying to get him to pray for a month! This is awesome!

I'm convinced that having the investigator pray at the end of the lesson is one of the most important parts of the lesson. It has made ALL of the difference in our lessons. We're definitely going to stick to it a lot more!

Almost done with Jesus the Christ and it's awesome! Everything is just AWESOME!

That's it for this week. My mind is prepared to be blown away. Awesome!

Thanks for the letters and whatnot! I love you! :)

Love,
Elder Woolley :)