Brian, Josh and Jordan--following the Spirit

Hello family! 

It is my birthday and I'm going to be twenty. That is pretty weird and it's even more weird that I've almost been out here for six months. Time flies when your busy. 

The miracles are amazing on this end also! We have been working really hard to find people to  teach and this week we have really focused on bringing them closer to Christ and God more than just teaching them about our church. That's our whole purpose, because with that knowledge or relationship it will lead to action-which leads to accepting the church. This week we found these two teenagers when we were tracting and at first they didn't let us in. They said, "Thanks for stopping by but we aren't really interested." Then we asked to just come in and have a prayer and blessing upon the home and it worked! When we got in we had a small talk to break the ice then taught them some of the plan of salvation. Brian and Josh, the two teenagers, are so humble and open to hear a message they want us to come back. This week has been another incredible one that's for sure. 

I would have to say the highlight of the week was Thursday. That day we took the traveling assistants to the president out for a day and show them what we were working on. We loaded the day with teaching appointments and less active visits and it was going to be an amazing day. So when the plans actually started working out it really showed me what kind of missionary I could become. The assistants are pretty inspired and know what questions to ask. With that said, we ended up running into a kid named Jordan--actually the first door that we had knocked on and it was coincidence that Jordan had been praying to find something that would help or that could bring him closer to his Heavenly Father and we knocked on the door just after that prayer. First we become their friend and just share from the heart, nothing written down or why we were there, addressing concerns and inserting principles into an average conversation. Jordan is the definition of solid and we ended up leaving him with a Book of Mormon and a commitment to read. 

The Lord continues to bless us missionaries with people to teach. It is amazing! It helps to realize how a lot of the time you have to really be in tune to the Spirit so that you can ask inspiring questions instead of something you said before because it gets robotic and boring. I would like to thank you so much for those of you that are praying for me and my investigators. I can definitely feel those prayers.
That's awesome that your helping the missionaries out with proselyting and teaching. And yes I do agree with you on the blunt question of 'will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized' on the first lesson but it sets the expectation and no one is confused or beating around the bush. It's really amazing when you do go though because they see how important it is right off the bat instead of three lessons down the road. 

You are doing a crazy amount of missionary work now! That's exciting! Idk if I am just noticing it more around or what but the work has been increasing everywhere dramatically. It's definitely the sign of the times. Thank you for the package also! It was awesome and fun to follow. Everything was needed and is awesome. Could you thank the young women for sending me a box with a bunch of letters and candy. That was also awesome. Love the support ! 

I gotta go so happy Fourth of July and birthday mother! It's crazy how old we are getting. I will send you pictures every week. It's probably the best thing to do so.

Love ya,

E. Archibald