Hey Friends and Family,
We have had a really good week here in Duncan, Oklahoma! We managed to find some new people to teach and we have one new investigator who is really interested in the gospel.
So the baptismal dates that we had with Elaina and Miranda unfortunately fell through because our mission has a rule where investigators have to attend church three times in a row before they can be baptized. Our mission president wants to make sure that our investigators are able to fully understand the importance of the covenant of baptism and what it really means. There are a lot of other churches in Oklahoma and many preach that baptism isn't really that big of a deal. There have been missionaries that have had papers handed to them that say "all you need to do to be saved is to sign the paper and give it to your local baptist minister." It's funny, in a sense, but frightening in another. Satan works really hard to hinder the Church's work as much as possible, even though he knows he has already lost in the long run.
Our new investigator's name is Jerry. He's an older man and has recently run into a lot of health troubles. We have had him as a potential investigator for awhile, but he has either not been able to meet or has "dodged" us, which means that he forgot to show up to his own house for our appointment. We tried him on the spur of a moment, and he let us in and we began to teach. He expressed a lot of interest in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. He said that he had never heard of the Book of Mormon before and said that he wants to read it. We left him with a commitment to read and pray to know that the Book of Mormon is true. He seems like he is solid, so we're going to keep on working hard with him.
Elaina and Miranda are kind of in the same story right now. We've been teaching both of them but they haven't been able to make it to church yet because of weather and car problems. We're pretty sure Elaina is being honest about it all but Miranda doesn't seem to be all too comfortable at coming to church. We're planning on doing a church tour with the both of them this week.
James and Sara Walquist moved away to Kansas this week. It was sad that they were going but we helped them move some stuff out to their van. I told him about www.mormon.org and how he can still be taught by the missionaries in Kansas. He seemed excited and I'm glad that I was able to help plant some seeds so that he could be taught again.
The Tuckers have been keeping commitments that we give them and they learn a lot from the lessons we teach. They haven't been able to make it to church with us this last week because of the weather but they said that next week they'll be able to show. I am excited for them so that they can feel the spirit again and listen to other messages the ward members have to offer.
Mable Bracken said that she would be willing to take the discussions, so we're planning to visit her tomorrow night to teach her about the Restoration. It will be a great lesson, she has already been reading out of the Book of Mormon and she understands a bit about how the Book of Mormon came to be.
Elder Nibley and I have been working hard for our area so that we may be able to see more success in it. We've seen a lot of improvement in our investigators this last week and we're grateful that the spirit has been there as we invite them to live the restored gospel. We have had many small miracles happen for us and we feel like many more are going to come to us as long as we continue to show our faith by working hard and being obedient. I have seen a lot of blessings come from being obedient to the mission rules and the commandments, and I am beginning to come to a better understanding about Obedience being the first law in heaven. I know that this gospel is true. I have a testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I understand that if the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that we have a fullness of the Gospel here on this earth today.
Thank you all,
Elder Holbrook
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