December 15, 2014
Dearest All, okay so to bring everyone up to speed on what has been going on
Debra
was baptized and confirmed over the last two weeks and everything went
off without a hitch, it was grand. But what was truly remarkable was her
testimony that she bore in Sacrament Meeting this past Sunday,
a few things struck me, was first of all her gratitude for the ward and
Elder Cluff & I...she had investigated the church for ten years and
she mentioned how grateful she was for God sending us to her...
"Elder Wheeler and Elder Cluff, those two are the greatest tag team that God has ever put together"
she also bore testimony of how she has searched her entire life with
questions she has since she was a child answered and how there is a
distinct difference in this church which is his church and how grateful
she is to now understand and have the restored Gospel. to put it simply,
she has gone from Protestant as all get out, investigator, to full
fledged, full tithe paying Mormon that you couldn't tell hadn't been a
member for at least a decade. True Conversion
A also got up and
bore testimony of his own conversion in equal magnitude, and he met with
the bishop and set goals for the temple and priesthood, he is set to
receive the Aaronic priesthood this Sunday and the Bishop is working with him and is set to be ordained an Elder in April.
Both of these recent converts have also been on fire in there own recent convert lessons and sharing the gospel.
Unity...Opportunity...and
service have been the keys in not only getting progress moving in this
area but keeping. Over the past transfer we have been working on being
seen, from teaching in places we are seen, attending and participating
in every event possible, and serving where ever we can, and He is the
Gift has been the perfect tool in magnifying this work and not only
tears down walls but brings them crumbling down in a spectacular
implosion, making way for new teaching opportunities which we already,
rising from the dust, I would not be surprised to see this area have
Baptism"S" (multiple) Every Month in the coming year of 2015
Game
night at the library = sharing He is the Gift at the end to everyone in
the library which brought one woman to tears of gratitude, not to
mention two hours of spectacular "table talk" when different people each
week and some of the same people asking us questions, why are we here,
what we believe and want to know more....we give them just enough to
leave them thinking...and pondering...and full of new questions when we
meet again, which has led a number of these people to seek us out when
they see us around town. The Library has also appreciated both our
attendance and as we spread the word about community events such as game
night more people have come to the library because "The Mormon's told
us about it" not to mention it is great when ward members come to game
night with us. The librarians are also coming to our re-showing of the
Christmas devotional.
Big Sandy College = Our Recent convert
Andrew is a student at the college and another member also works there
in the Eastern Kentucky Science Center...we met with the administration
at the college and arranged to be able to set up a booth in the center
of the campus, in the Freedom of speech zone...the security and
maintenance on the campus were very helpful in getting us set-up and
even provided power so we could show He is the Gift using one the flat
screens from the church that the bishop arranged for us and a canopy
provide by a ward member. over the past two days (the last days of the
semester) we were able to share He is the gift with around 150 students
and built a strong relationship with the school and are planning on
another booth on campus on January 12th and through out the spring semester.
In
Addition we worked with city administrators and were also able to do a
He is the Gift booth at the City's Christmas in the Park Event, as well
on the Christmas Parade/Tree lighting ceremony in Prestonsburg and at
the "Santa is coming to Allen" event in Allen (a neighboring city in our
area)...we had so many events that we had to split to be able to cover
all of them.
Below is the crowed at the tree lighting Ceremony that watched He is the Gift prior to the tree lighting.
Mountain
Arts Center = We were invited to attend a showing of the Kentucky Opry,
which the lead singer is a member, and afterward we were able to meet
the Director and shared He is the gift with him and he asked us if we
could get him a copy of it on a DVD to show He is the Gift before the
show! (1,054 seat theater) So after a little work I was able to download
the video and burn it to a dvd with the help of the IT guy at the
library (whom we know better now because of game night), he also gave us
the DVD's to use.
I am excited
to say that the C family is back investigating the church in full
force, a couple of weeks ago we went to Billy Rays Restaurant to see B,
and to our joy Brian not only saw us but asked us to stay and wait for
the Resturant to close so he could talk to us and he asked all the right
questions and wanted to see us again soon...we prayed that we would be
able to have un-expected run-in's with him and over the next week we ran
into him at foodland, Wal-mart, speedway, etc. all on different days at
different times, totally unplanned...then last night we went over to
their home to share he is the gift with our live Christmas card
and...Both B and K (his wife) welcomed us had us sit down and then B.
began to talk about a few of the things that we had taught him and she
asked her questions that and settled her concerns and she really opened
up with her desire for a stronger faith and understanding her purpose
and her struggles. Then an hour later after teaching the restoration,
they were writing down both the Ward Christmas party and church this sunday in
their schedules...we left their home with Brian smiling and waving from
his portch at last this elect family is now investigating
together...and I am beyond excited and Hopeful. #Christmasmiracle!
B
also showed us this Music video of a group called Sunday Best, which
got their start here in Prestonsburg, so they came back to film their
music Video called "home" here in our little city...enjoy their are a
lot of sights that we see everyday included in the video...the Lake in
the video is Dewey Lake in Jenny Wiley State park and the various city
landmarks are all right in the center of Prestonsburg.
If you pause the video at 3:32 you will see B in front of his Restaurant holding the sign for his home in Auxier.
Exciting
work...the ward continues to support us in every aspect and what really
makes all this even possible is the unity Elder Cluff and I
have...Sister Scott related us to Sherlock Homes (Elder Cluff) and Dr.
Watson (Elder Wheeler) or The Green Hornet (Elder Cluff) and Kato (Elder
Wheeler)...The work is not just going forward but the spirit is taking
the city by storm.
Merry Christmas From all of us here in Prestonsburg.
p.s. Over the last four weeks pieces of my letter that I send to
President Salisbury he as included in his own letter to the entire
mission! We must be doing something right.
Minionareies!
Those have to be the coolest things I have gotten in the mail.....ever!
Moms are awesome:)
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