Bryndee Down South: All Is Well...All Is Well!

Hello! I hope everyone is having fun at Philmont without me! I'm not gonna lie, I’m pretty jealous of Porter and Torie getting to go on the mountain man trek.... y’all better have fun, and tell me all about it!!! I am fully planning on living it vicariously through you.

This has been a brutal week. We had several of our top investigators abruptly drop us, and most of our other ones have come to a point where they need to either start progressing or be dropped. Needless to say, we've done quite a bit of knocking this week, trying to find new people to teach.

There were a few really, really great moments though:

1. Bryson officially has a solid testimony of the gospel. He was really really struggling for a while believing that God calls prophets, and having faith that he could quit smoking. We had a really, really powerful lesson on Thursday. We simply bore our testimonies, shared a story from the scriptures, and re- invited him to be baptized. He may or may not have cried :) It was awesome to watch the spirit work in him. He told us he needed some time to think, so we left him with some scriptures and conference talks to read, and set up an appointment for the next day. That next day, we walk up his driveway, and he stops us at the entrance to the garage, where we usually teach him. he has all of his coffee cans, tobacco pouches, and tea bags all lined up, and one by one he tears everything up, dumps it on his lawn, and throws it in the garbage. he finishes by declaring that he wants to be baptized, for real. The change in him was amazing.... he was so happy! He's slated to be "dunked" (his words, not mine...) on Saturday. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited :D

2. Sister Belyea put her first investigator on date yesterday!!! Lately, I've taken to having her take the lead whenever we teach the restoration, but she always stopped at the first vision. This week, I challenged her to do it, and to share her testimony about the truthfulness of the account. The week went on, and she never mustered enough courage to do it, until we got to Margret on Sunday. Margret is a former investigator that we started working with this week, and we have been meaning to put her on date since we met her. We started the lesson, and when we got to the part about sharing the first vision, Sis Belyea totally took the reins! I have never been as proud of anyone in my life as I was when she started "I saw, a pillar of light, exactly over my head..." The spirit was so strong, and it really testified to Margret. Sister Belyea then took it a step further and invited her to be baptized on the 20th... and Margret said she would be absolutely honored. I'm so proud of my girl! :D

This next week is the week of many meetings. Tomorrow is MLC, where we will learn about what is going on with this missionary Face book push. Funny side note: I have been asked to sing in a special musical number. I can almost hear Porter laughing from here. Wednesday is sisters’ conference. I’ll get to see Sister Mumford and Sister Houston! I’m so excited!!! Thursday, in addition to being Independence Day, is ZTM. It should be an interesting week.

Well, I love you all, and can’t wait to hear from y’all next week!

Have a blessed day!

Sister Derrick