Hello Family!
This week was a good one. We didn't end up being able to see Thor again. He got kicked out of the place he was staying because he got drunk and mean. He doesn't have a phone or a place to live, so we might not see him again. It was a very interesting experience, though. We did go back and see the lady he was staying with. She said she wanted the Stop Smoking workshop too, but we haven't been able to see her yet. We did find out that her number was already in our phone, though, which means she's met with sisters before! That was pretty crazy.
This week we met a guy named Nathan as we were tracting. He loves the Savior so much and wanted us to come back and talk to him. We did, and taught him the first lesson, and he listened very intently. After the closing prayer he didn't say anything for a second, but just looked at us intently, and then said, "I felt something just then. That was amazing." The Spirit was so strong and I was so grateful. We couldn't find a girl to come with us when we taught him, so we were standing outside and strange people kept coming up to us, asking for money and stuff. I was very grateful that despite the circumstances, the Spirit could be there.
We had interviews with President Merkley this week. I had been wondering a little bit why it feels like there are so few of us. There's an Assemblies of God church here called James River and they basically jam out to hard rock every Sunday. Thousands of people attend and they baptized 200 people on Easter. I was thinking about that, and when President spoke to us he talked about how "they that be with us are more than they that be with them." He told about an experience his great-great grandpa had with Joseph Smith and the early Saints. A mob in Missouri was coming to kill the Saints and there were 1500 of them and only 150 Saints. The mob was about to attack but then dispersed. Pres. Merkley's ancestor ran into a guy he knew was in the mob a few days later and asked why they didn't attack the Mormons. The guy said it was because they were so outnumbered. There were at least 10,000 Mormons there. That story really struck me and reminded me that there are forces working on both sides of the veil to progress the Lord's work, and the Lord is working with us. Miracles happen today just as they happened in Biblical times. It's so amazing that we have the Gospel when so many others don't!
The storms this week have kept us inside for longer than we'd like. Last night we had appointments planned, but we got about 5 phone calls from people telling us to get home and find cover. We did, and the little thunderstorm passed in about an hour. It was pretty anti-climatic. We heard about Joplin, though. The Stake Center there got ruined, and so did the Elder's apartment. That was pretty crazy.
Last night as we went to see a guy we've been trying to see. We know his next door neighbor, Billy, and she loves us. As we went up to the guy's door, two drunk guys came up to us and one of them, a big black guy, started saying how much he respects us and then preaching. Billy came out and started yelling at us to get home because a tornado was coming. He started yelling that we needed to pray and then when we were trying to leave he grabbed our hands and started praying. Billy kept yelling that we were going to die and he kept praying and everyone was yelling and I just started laughing my head off. It was crazy. There are a lot of crazy people in Missouri.
I love you all so much! Thank you for your prayers and your support. Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Monson
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