Elder Nathan Steed: Email received December 9, 2013

Dear Family,

I hope you all had a great week. Mine was pretty good. Last Monday we played Frisbee with most of our zone and that was really fun. Tuesday we had 3 really great lessons. The first was with a man named John. We reviewed what the Apostasy was and why a Restoration was needed. Then we watched the Restoration DVD. That lesson format has been working well for us. It's hard for people to understand the whole Apostasy/Restoration/Priesthood concept and that lesson plan has been working well for us. He said he now has some reading and praying to do.

We later met with a lady named Paula. It was my first time having a lesson with her. We almost dropped her a bunch of times and she is now working from home. So we should be able to visit her more often. We read the BofM with her and touched on the importance of church. She said she was gonna come but she didn't :( it's really frustrating.

We had another lesson with Laura this week. And it was awesome. We talked about The Gospel of Jesus Christ. After Elder Hillebrant taught baptism, I told her that as missionaries we have prayerfully considered a date for her to be baptized, the 28th. She said she wants to be but she was a little confused. She thought that it would mean being committed to do what we as missionaries do. This is why it's so important to have members come to lessons. So they know that we are normal people. She said the only obstacle is she likes the church she goes to and the people there and would miss them. She understands that this church is that one lord, one faith, one baptism stated in Galatians 4:5. She said she would be coming to church, but she didn't come. That means that her baptismal date has to be pushed back because she has to go to church at least 3 times before she can be baptized.

On Wednesday we were finally able to meet with Carlos again. We touched on the Apostasy and watched the Restoration DVD. It was a great lesson. It's just that his same gender attraction is a big obstacle. At the end, he wanted his family to come in the room and hear him pray so that they can see that his faith is growing. His family is Catholic and he has been atheist most his life. His family isn't very supportive so he wanted them to hear him pray. It was cool. We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday and the Christmas devotional yesterday and no investigators came :(. I can't possibly tell you how frustrating it is when they don't come after saying they will. Oh well, that's part of the work. Well there is a little update. Hope you all have a great week and stay safe! Love you all!

Love

Elder Steed