Elder Kyler Brisk : EXACT OBEDIENCE IS THE KEY!

HELLER HELLER HELLER!

Our area has been on fire! Every Thursday we do weekly planning and we set goals for the upcoming week. These past few weeks we have met or exceeded most of our goals! EXACT OBEDIENCE IS THE KEY! Sometimes you have a companion that isn't being as obedient as he should but when you take care of that you see miracles! We got 3 new investigators this past week! I know people always say that it isn't about the numbers but to me it is. There are real life human beings behind those numbers. When those numbers improve that means that our investigators and potentials our improving. That is what I like to see :)

Our first New investigator is a lady named Shelia. She is kinda crazy but that's OK. Anyone can accept the gospel! We met her last week. She told us that she was talking to her son that just became a preacher and he told her she needed to find a church because church is important. Right after she hung up the phone with him she received a knock at her door. When she opened the door there were 2 tall skinny kids dressed in white shirts and ties! (Yes that was Elder Karr and I) We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and she grabbed it out of my hands when I asked if we could give her one. We also gave her a restoration pamphlet and wrote the church address in it. Unfortunately she hasn't been to church yet. It's OK sometimes you have to take it one step at a time. We met with her this week and she was wondering why the Book of Mormon isn't like the Bible. Apparently we didn't do very well at explaining that the Book of Mormon is ANOTHER testament of Jesus Christ. We cleared that up and the taught her about the Restoration! She told us she loves having us over! I have been working on extending the invitation to be baptized at the first lesson and I have to admit, I was scared but I did it and she said YES!

The second New investigator is a 10 year old boy named Perry (He wants us to call him PJ) His family moved into the ward a few months ago and somehow nobody knew until recently. His mom was baptized when she was 11 and his sister got baptized not to long ago. PJ was taught by the missionaries before they moved but they weren't able to get him baptized before they moved. We gave all the kids their own Book of Mormon and PJ was so happy. He started reading it from the very first page when we gave it to him. He came across the pictures and started asking us who was in the picture and what they were doing. It was awesome! Every night he reads the Book of Mormon with his siblings and then they say their prayers. He's already getting into the habit! I am so excited to start teaching him!

The third New Investigator is a lady named Barbara. Barbara has been on our list of potentials for a while and I saw her name and decided to give her a call. She said that she was told that we don't teach homeless people and that turned her off about our church. I told her I would find out. The Zone leaders told us to go for it so I called her back and said we would love to meet with her and we weren't sure why she was told that in the first place. We were worried about the homeless thing but she sent us her address and I saw that it was the exact same hotel that our old investigator Felicia and James stayed in. (the ones that wanted the churches welfare system) We were nervous about going to see Barbara because we thought that she would be the same but she actually wasn't! She has 2 kids and they live in a 1 bedroom hotel room. She didn't mention money or food or anything. We were so happy that we finally have someone that really wants to learn the gospel!

Saturday was trainer calls. Everyone that was going to be training this next transfer received a call Saturday night. I was worried that I would be called because I am not ready to train! It was 10:29 (1 minute before bed time) and the phone rang. Elder Karr was like "Oh Crap" and he answered the phone. Elder Karr will be shotgun training! That means that he will be opening a new area while training. He said he couldn't sleep so we stayed up for a while and played card games! He is excited to leave this area because he has been here for 7 1/2 months, but he will miss everyone here. I am so excited for him and can't wait to find out who my new companion will be! I will most likely stay in the same area. I should find out who my new companion will be on Sunday night and then Transfers will be next Wednesday! CRAZY! I have almost been out for 3 months!

I love this gospel so much! I would like to ask for prayers for my investigators. Specifically Marcus Johnson and Terry Stephens. Marcus has been leaving town a lot because his dad has been in and out of the hospital so we haven't been able to see him forever! Terry knows the Book of Mormon is true and has literally been taught everything! He said he "Won't get baptized until the good lord tells him to." Please please please pray for them!

Thank you so much for the support, packages and letters! I love you all!!

Sincerely, Elder Brisk

That is all.

Elder Karr and I at lunch