November 10, 2014

​Dearest All 

We are well on our way up to two baptisms this month, and we are teaching with the ward members 4 out of the 5 lessons we taught this week, this ward is how missionary work is meant to be done, through the members with missionaries assisting.  Below is a photograph of Elder Cluff and I with Andrew and Susan S. Andrew is quickly progressing toward baptism on November 23rd (instead of the 22nd only because he wants to be able to have more of his friends and family attend the baptism!) Andrew has truly been waiting for this his whole life for this and is determined not to let it go.  Sister S is a member and this is an example of how missionary work is ideally and most effectively going forth, she invited him to attended ward activities, and sharing her testimony bit by bit and eventually he came to church and and stake conference and then he inquired for the missionaries....I would invite each of you to look around in your life and find the person in your life that this can happen for.

We are continuing to teach The C Family, who run the best restaurant in town...they are elect and sincere investigators and even better we learned that Sister S and Karrie C know each other very well and used to work together, it was fun to teach a lesson in the C's home this week and have sister S come along and see them catch up etc. Brian C also invited us to teach him at his restaurant and he fed us dinner on the house with a reserved table and all! This is also my favorite Plan of Salvation teaching tool. I found it when cleaning out a closet in Parkersburg and have kept it on my person since.

so it is hard to tell but this is the West Court st. (Downtown Prestonsburg) in the background at the end of the street you can see Billy Ray's restaurant (the C's restaurant) and the shop that is on the left in front with all the colorful lights is called Foxy Fitness where they teach zumba (mom this reminded me of you so much,) the entire downtown area is quiet except the yells and shouts from the Zumba class going on...there was a good 80 people in the Zumba class, with black lights, and disco, color lights and lasers that were shining out of the windows and lighting up the buildings across the street. totally reminded me of all those nights at home of my mom having her Zumba classes upstairs. 

this photo does not do it justice, but these buildings were really covered in lasers and lights from the zumba class.

 The restaurant has been in the C's family since 1927 here in Prestonsburg...it is a prominent establishment that pretty much everyone in the town knows very well it is right at the end of the town's "main street". (west court st.)

I was rather surprised when I ordered the Double cheeseburger and discovered it was literally two whole sandwiches stacked on top of each other...they also cook a 5 pound hamburger called the big billy challenge.

 We love our Library here in Prestonsburg, #1 it is a brand new facility and really up-to-date and the staff are really supportive of us, and set us up with one of the study rooms (with a white board and big poster paper too) to use for lessons this is us teaching Debra (the woman in the blue) with the Winn's (the senior couple from Idaho, that we live across the street from)...notice what is in front of me!!! that's right! ipad! finally at last we have them! JK this one is the Winn's but we are able to use it when they come along...but it is official that the WVCM will receive ipads in January and February of 2015! Debra is also progressing right along for her baptism on November 30th.

  Then here is the funny one...for mom...Andrew is really tall...it is going to take both of us to baptize him. 

 

 ​us doing service in Elk horn park, which a lot of the ward members are affiliated with, it was a huge piece of land donated by Elk Horn Coal,  we are clearing some brush and trees for a look-out point at the top of one of the trails, we make big brush piles then burn them. this is Elder Buttars he is playing the part of our burnt offering today ;)

Prestonsburg High School, made the Playoffs so naturally the town was all at the game, so we joined in and we able to talk to and get to know some new faces, ​Prestonsburg won 28-7 it was a good night and alot of fun getting out with the community. Just to note every window in the town was decorated for the game, every office, restaurant, store etc. it was a lot of fun and was an interesting approach to missionary work but it worked we have a few new contacts because we went...better than tracting while everyone else was at the game. It also made me wish I had been a bit more involved in the games in high school, we got all into the spirit...not to mention with Elder Cluff it was like having my own personal sports commentator next to me. It was also very chilly. 

​We felt prompted to stop while we were driving at a house along the road, it was a great conversation we had with a man named Gary (well educated college professor agnostic) at one point the elders lived with them and he new a few of the strong members of the ward here and he invited us back to come fishing in his pond...(which we are taking him up and will talk more with him then) but as we walked up to his house, I noticed he had ducks but not just any ducks Muscovy Ducks, which I had as pets growing up, so it was the perfect conversation starter when we knocked on his door not to mention I was more than pleased to see my childhood pets. Love my ducks:)

 Lease I forget.... did I mention Kentucky is a super nice area!

this is me and Brabra (member) and she has purple hair like my mom.

 ​Every Sundy the M's have us over for lunch (a lunch that is more like a grand sunday dinner, reminds me of sunday dinner at home) but mentioned that I worked for Sundance and Sister M just about died...she is a huge Robbert Redford fan and she uses the Sundance Catalog...another peice of home far from home.