First Week With My New Companion!

Cartoon courtesy of Elder D's parents

     Hey everyone!! It has been a fantabulous week here, minus the on and off rain showers. I received my new companion, Elder D. from Nampa, Idaho. First thing we took care of was our goals for the transfer and our companionship goals. The second order of business was how well he knew Star Wars. He passed very well! One night we ate dinner quoting the movies and having a grand time. Turns out he is a Star Wars lover and a LOTR lover as well! Needless to say we have had some fun so far. Our first night together, we got chased by a very big dog out of a harmless-looking yard. We both laughed to ourselves as the adrenaline wore off. I have never moved so fast on my mission! We were also offered a job at Panda Express after District Developmental Meeting. Earlier in the day at DDM, someone asked the definition of integrity and (thanks to Mr. Downs' repeated questions) I answered exactly how he would tell me:."Doing what you know is right even when no one else is watching!" in only the way he can.:)
      On Friday evening we had an appointment to teach Y, the daughter of J. She committed to be baptized on the 19th of February! We are so excited! We had challenged her to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true, and we both felt like we could promise her she would get her answer that night. When we followed up the next morning, she had received it! She said she felt that it was true and that she needed to continue reading. I have never been so led by the Spirit in a lesson before. It was incredible how it happened.
      It didn’t end there, though. After a no-show appointment we drove past a man walking his dog and I thought I recognized him, but I drove by. Elder D. very soon after said he felt like we needed to go back and knock the door two doors down from where our appointment fell through. We said a prayer in the car after we parked and then got out of the car. As we walked towards the house, the man with his dog was passing the house. I immediately knew I had to talk with him and with the most confidence I've ever had in a street contact, we began talking. Conversation in Spanish came very easily and somehow it kept going on until we had covered several point of the gospel including temples, church and missionary work. His name is A and he was very interested. His dog even sat down and seemed to be listening. It was incredible! He lived one street over so we set up an appointment for Wednesday and said goodbye. It was the most heart-warming experience I’ve had thus far while looking for people to teach! I have no doubt that we were led by the Spirit. He seemed almost to be waiting for us to talk with him. It was basically a bomb day and we were so grateful for it!
        At the R home after dinner, I had planned on sharing a scripture in 1 Nephi about prayer, but Hermana shared one in Enos that was almost exactly the same -- I’m sure it wasn't a coincidence. We must have been on the same brain wave. M, the mother of K (who was baptized in December), had started reading the Book of Mormon even though we hadn't taught her yet. Now of course we’ve started. She remembered an incredible amount about the beginning few pages. We also met a man named H on Sunday who seemed semi-interested until Elder D. pulled out a money example about prophets. He ended up giving us Arizona sodas and setting up an appointment for Tuesday. Our original goal had been to find four new investigators this weekend and the Lord blessed us with exactly four, it was so crazy!  I can testify that when we are strictly obedient we will see miracles in our missions and in our lives! I love you all! I pray you are doing well! Thank you for your prayers!