Taught by the Spirit

This week went really good. I started to fall apart closer to the end of the week. It's weird to think that only a short while ago, I didn't like to go to church and being there was a chore for me. I can say that now I've changed. When I first got out here, Elder Olsen told me that eventually you, as a missionary, need to go to church. I thought that he was crazy but I get it now. If I couldn't go to church, I wouldn't be able to get through the week. I would be so dead. My spiritual battery would give out on me. It's nuts! I was thankful to go yesterday. It gave me the peace and strength that I need to go out and keep talking to people.

We got to teach Craig and his wife this week. We met his wife for the first time and she was really nice. We taught her the restoration. I was super glad we had a member there with us. We teach simple truths and Craig knows those really well. He wants to know the "meat" of the gospel. The member answered his questions and finally he was content. Afterwards, I was so drained it was bad. We went home and had dinner and went to bed. I was glad that we taught him at the end of the night. I'm excited to go and see him this week. I hope that he has been reading so we can talk about it with him and his wife.

We also got to teach Pamela this week. I don't think I've told you about her before. She is an engineer and is super duper smart! She knows her church stuff! She is probably 25 and taught six years of Sunday School in a Lutheran church. She has been meeting with us the whole time I've been here. She is a hard person to teach. Finally we gave her a teaching record and told her, "These are the things we can talk about and these are the commitment we leave with people. Why don't you choose what we talk about?" So this last week we talked about the atonement and why we need it. It was great! The Spirit was there and Elder Warner and I knew it. We were able to talk and teach and she said she had an "a-ha moment." It was great! It was so cool. I learned and understood mercy and justice better now and why we need them. I was just as much the student as she was. It was amazing! This next week she asked that we define love, yep, love. It's going to be a new experience. I'm pumped about it!

Those were the highlights of the week. I do wish that the weather would change already. If its cold, it needs to snow. I hate the wind--it's nasty! But I guess when I get home I won't need a car. I'll be conditioned to ride my bike through all types of weather! (But I'll still choose to drive over the bike ha-ha!)

Love,
  Cooper