S L O W !

So this week was a little slow. We weren't able to have very many lessons, and people don't seem to like being outside very much. Can't imagine why.....Arizona in the summer is PERFECT weather to be working in your yard....and being outside all day. So yeah, its getting steadily hotter it seems like. So its hard to do very much street contacting. But I guess that means we have to find other ways to stay busy! So we do our best. Sorry there isn't much going on this week, but next week should be better! Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

The Highlight is the Skype

Happy Mother's Day!

The highlight of this week was probably getting to skype home to my family. That definitely makes it easier to go out and do the work; I think, at least for me. People seem to make a big deal about missionaries being homesick and not being able to focus on the work after they call home, but at least for me, it kind of reminds me why I'm out here. It reminds me that my family and I have been blessed so much from the message of the gospel and that is something I want to share with more people. So hopefully this week we will have more of an opportunity to do that.

We have been able to start working with a couple more people this week. Ricky and Charlotte are a couple that live on our street, and they are way cool, super nice people, who have raised their kids to believe in God and know the importance of living a good life. They have started reading the Book of Mormon and I think things are going well with that, so we will see where it goes. We also started teaching Laura and her daughter Kaylee. They recently moved from California into a former investigator's house, and we just happened to stop by and knock and they siad they were interested. They have had some negative experiences with some church members in the past, but hopoefully we will be able to help them understand that it is the Gospel that is true, and sinners are the ones who need to come to church, not saints. They are also reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it, and things are going pretty well with that, so hopefully they will be able to see their relationship with Christ grow through that process.

All in all, things are pretty good here. Hope things are going well at home. Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt

Danielle's Baptism

Hello all,

This week was pretty good. We had some good lessons and were able to contact a few people who hadn't been able to get in touch with the church for a long time. So, that was nice.

Probably the highlight of the week was Danielle's baptism. She was another investigator who was very well prepared and already seeing the blessings of the gospel in her life and the life of her family. She has made so many good friends and was actually able to stay through all of church yesterday! So that was great. 

We had another lesson with Linda so that was pretty cool. We taught her about the plan of salvation and she was so quick on picking it up and realizing how it would help her in her life. She is an amazing lady and extremely prepared to accept the gospel of Christ. She's already noticed how acting on what she knows or believes is right has brought blessings into her life; including helping her develop her relationship with her daughter. She was even interested enough to go to Danielle's baptism even though they are in different wards. 

Well, things are going good here, I hope things are going well at home,

with love,

Elder Hiatt

He Can Physically Ease our Suffering

Buenos Dias!

So this week was a little slow again, we're still a little short on investigators. But its all good. We met some really cool people who are interested so hopefully things will start picking up again soon. We met a guy named Ricky, who is always really friendly to the Elders, and apparently used to have them over for dinner all the time, but never got invited to church.....so hopefully we'll be able to get things rolling with him. His whole family speaks Spanish as well as English so sometimes he will just randomly blurt out some Spanish things to his wife or kids, and we never know if he's talking about us or not! But he's a really nice guy so I trust him. We also met Laura and her family. They just moved from California and she is pretty interested. Her husband isn't, but he is prefectly fine with us coming over and teaching them. They have three kids and they should usually be there for the lessons so that will be great.

 

One thing I have been thinking about a lot, and realizing from talking with so many people, is that people don't understand how the Atonement can hellp them out in their lives. A lot of people accept that Jesus Christ saves them from their sins, but they don't realize the benefits He offers us in this life as well. People that have transgressed feel guilt, whether they realize it or not, they are burdened down by guilt. Calling upon Christ as Alma the younger did, allows us freedom from that guilt and misery. But also, because Christ suffered all our pains and afflictions, he can physically ease the burdens of those things. When he "takes our burdens upon him" He can physically ease our suffering. That is something that not many people understand, and probably no one understands completely. But as we begin to take advantage of His gift to us, we can better understand what He went through and draw closer to Him because of it.

I hope things are going well for everyone at home. Take care and God bless,

Elder Hiatt