Bonjour!
So first off Houston is ridiculously hot now! The humidity is crazy. I walk outside and I immediately start to sweat and all I hear from the locals is that it will only get worse so I am excited. I hope that I get tan....but not that ugly missionary tan that I am bound to get.
Well on April 26 our district then went to the Stake Center and played poison with our Zone. We then had dinner at the Martin's and they fed us some stir fry and it was delicious.
April 27th we went and visited some less active and recent converts the whole day nothing really unique happened. We then had dinner at the Stephens.
Then on April 28th one of our ward missionaries (Hikir) and his boss (who is an excommunicated member) was suppose to take us out to lunch but they forgot so Elder Conrad and I went out and got some food on our own. We then tried some less actives but none of them answered. We then had dinner at the Christensen's (Bro. Christensen was offered a teaching job at Maple Mountain High but turned it down) they fed us some yummy Italian food. I then went on splits with the ward mission leader (Bro. Stoddard) and Elder Conrad went with Bro. Ravenburg. They visited the Davis's (RC) and the Donaldson's (I) and Bro. Stoddard and I visited the Ochoa's (LA/RC) and then the Davis's (LA).
Hikir was suppose to make up lunch for us on April 29th but yet again he forgot. Elder Conrad and I drove all the way to The Woodlands to pick up my specialized shoe soles which are suppose to solve my foot pain....for now. That took a good chunck of our day. We then finally got a hold of the Youngblood family (LA) and they invited us over for dinner and we thought we would expect less active attitude and behavior but when we walked in the first thing we see is a Family Home Evening chart and a Proclamation to the World and we could tell they didn't just put that up. They don't come to church because Bro. Youngblood is a firefighter and he works 24 hour shifts and that usually includes Sunday's and Sis. Youngblood works as a financial advisor at a hospital and she works Sunday's but I absolutely love this family.....Even though they are HUGE HUGE HUGE Duke Blue Devil fans. I love the kids - I played basketball with them for a while - the oldest is 7 so I had a blast.
April 30th - We had our district meeting and we listened to a talk given by Elder Cook of the Twelve about how prayers can be answered - its a really good talk! We then went out to lunch as a district as we usually do. Elder Conrad and I tried to visit some more less active members. We then had dinner at the Reyes and they fed us some potato soup....yummy :)
May 1st - We had to wake up at 4:45 a.m. to get ready because our Stake was holding a Katy 5k Fun Run and we had to be there at 6:00 a.m. to help set up the running stations, food stations, etc. We felt like we were there forever when we left at 11:00 a.m. but we were super tired! Oh, I haven't gotten mail for 2 weeks and I got the family's package today so that was awesome! We did a surprise visit with Jeremy and Misha Payne (PM/LA) and we had an okay meeting with them and we invited them out to church. Then Jeremy (LA) walked us out and we drove off but 3 min. later he called us and it was my phone day so I answered. Jeremy told us that while he was at work that morning he was thinking that he just needed to start coming to church and then we showed up that day and he told us he will come out to church and he wants to bring his family because he says he has a testimony of the church, he will never deny the church, he will never deny the Elders (Missionaries), he regrets not going on a mission, and he wants to build up the kingdom of heaven. So when we heard that we just cheered and I almost cried because just little miracles like that are just....they are very special and unique to me. We then visited Jason (I) and invited him out to church but he still won't accept....all in due time. We then had dinner at the McCarthys and they fed us Chili.....Beans and yes I ate it all again....... We got transfer calls. My new companion is Elder Foster and Elder Hackett is staying as DL and his companion is Elder Reese and well Elder Conrad and LaMont are going home.
May 2nd had PEC meeting at 9:00 a.m. and talked about the missionary efforts. Elder Conrad and I are over our miles for the car so we decided to go walk and tract/visit LA before church started and man was it hot and humid but I loved it but we had little success oh well :) We then had church at 1:00 p.m. and behold Jeremy showed up! Elder Conrad and I were very excited! And Johnny (I) showed up also. But right after the first sacrement prayer was spoken a lady walked in - she was in normal clothes. And she started to make this huge scene right in the middle of sacrement and she was just yelling at this adult that just blessed the sacrement and some men from the congregation escorted her out........never a dull moment in Texas but we had an amazing testimony meeting. It was seriously great and powerful. It really touched Jeremy - he was really sad that his wife Misha (I) didn't come today to hear the testimonies. After church we had dinner at the Sosa's and they fed us this really yummy veggie homemade pizza. After that we went with one of our ward members to visit a Sister Stamps (LA) and that went really well.
Well I am a little scared for tomorrow because my companion is going to be counting on me to choose where to go, where to tract and teach him the area. So I feel a little uneasy with this responsibility but we will see what happens.
Love y'all
-Elder Barton
