"Stuffed crust Monday, Book of Mormon and Listerine strips, Hard work+Caring=Investigators, Cyber Performance."

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Hoo boy... what a great week. A little bit of everything from stuffed crust, to potential families making their way to covenants with our Lord.  :D The work's on fire!

(Sadly, from what I hear, so is California... Pray for those people)! 

So first off, Monday, we usually hit up a Pizza Hut for our lunch because.... it's a special stuffed crust day ;)  Now for those of you who don't know already, my little sister Emmalee asks me almost weekly, if I've become fat yet... I of course always laugh and say no way,  ;) however, this stuffed crust is compromising this... Hopefully our 30 minute workouts in the morning will be an effective advocate for me... we'll see... She can't win... 

We also had a zone meeting this week. This was an incredible meeting... we planned it all out, and the day it was on, the gym was being redone on the floors, so we had to squeeze a good 30 missionaries into a primary room...  It went so good though! I taught how to contact someone with the Book of Mormon using a listerine breath strip packet! Doesn't  it sound weird trying to explain one of those things and how it feels and why you'd do it? We talked about just open it up and begin reading with them! Just like you'd let them sample the strip and see what they think! 

You don't have to explain all these random details about the product and manufactorer... let them try it, and start with the questions that come from their feelings!  That how it works with the B of M. 

We also got our high councilmen to deliver a superb lesson on member trust for us!  It was incredible... he talked for a good half hour about the importance of love and humility... check this out... We live the commandments and keep the temperal law, so  that we can be given a higher spiritual law to live and follow... That was a pretty neat insight...It's  like John 7:17 living the higher law, comes after we've kept the commandment, to understand the doctrine. SOO.... after this meeting... MIRACLES STARTED FLOWING LIKE THE WATERS OF LIFE :) 

We went on an exchange with some elders who haven't found new investigators in quite a long time!  Also not the highest activity level in the whole world, so we went down there and promised them that in this exchange, that we'd find 3-4 new investigators! The answer came back negative.... we found 5!!!   Haha,  it was incredible!  The Lord's hand was definitely leading kindly with us... it's power was felt!! 

(Quick preface to the next story)... President had called us before and told us that we needed to step up our finding investigators in our zone.  Our # of lessons were falling behind in the grand scheme of things... We've only been averaging about 20 NI's weekly... (not a lot of people coming to the Green and inviting pastures... (best hymn))! 

So..... this week.... after the zone meeting, and a lot of talks with our beloved district leaders and some of the other missionaries, .... the numbers came in......

(Another pause:  we always talk about how numbers are simply an indication as to how many spiritual environments you create for your investigators, and how if you don't focus on loving each person you teach, creating these numbers and these things, is a rote walk through with no purpose... PEOPLE are behind the purpose of any event or condition we create!)... Anyway...

SO......later in the week, as we were taking in the new numbers for the week from all of the missionaries, we got a pleasant surprise!  We found 42 new investigators!! Whooo!!  Some sisters in Cameron, NC found 11 on their own.... crazy!!

I know that the Lord's been truly guiding us!! ;D:D 

One more story.  To end off the week, (and this blog cause we need to head to a member's house for dinnner in about five minutes),  Sunday was an interesting 3rd hour meeting for us! We talked about a very controversial issue that I won't get into.  Let's just say it was an interesting meeting. 

It's so interesting to think of the things that I'll have to teach my kids at such a young age, and the kind of world that I'll be letting them live in... I think one of the biggest things I've learned from my mission is the fact that the gospel is a simple process to be taught. 

We believe in God. We have faith in His commandments. We know that He Loves us. We know that as we keep God's commandments, He will bless us. King Benjamin gives us this great promise in a greater detail as we do this: "And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true." (Mosiah  4:12). 

No matter what, as President Eyring told us this conference, the things that will stick the longest when the Holy Ghost brings memories back to us, will be the hymns and the scriptures. 

"Keep the commandments... Keep the commandments...In this there is safety and peace." 

Now you've been sung to cyberly. That's the best it'll ever sound. I love you all so much!  Till next week! I'm grateful I have numberless amounts of hours left to serve!!!

Love, 

Elder Langford