A lot happened this week

It's been a good week here in Durham North Carolina! A lot happened this week. We did 27 hours of service each, so we spent a lot of time working this week.

We dug a trench in a lady's backyard that we tracted into. We got to talk to her about the Gospel a little bit. We are going back on Wednesday to put some fence in for her, and she said she is coming to church next Sunday!

Another service project we did was for Naomi and Robert. Robert Is recovering from cancer and he doesn't have a lot of strength. He has a riding lawn mower so he can mow all the grass on his 26 Acres, and it hasn't been working for a while but he hasn't had the strength to fix it. So we took it apart and replaced a few parts and got it running. It was fun to turn some wrenches and you could tell he really appreciated it.

Terry came to church again this week. He is the man. Earlier in the week he was having a rough day because he's been having a hard time getting all the paperwork done to move into his new apartment, and he said he prayed and read Alma 33 and he felt a lot better. We were super stoked to here that, and he's been having a great time at church. The members have really taken him in and he loves playing cards with everyone.

We found 4 new people to teach this week which is awesome! One of them is Barbara, she lives out in Dearborn which is a pretty sketchy area but she's a great lady. We met her when we were down there for a BBQ. The BBQ never actually happened because James flaked out....but that's okay because we met Barbara. People out here light up when you ask them if they play cards, it's a pretty big deal. We got to play some Spades with Barbara, and we got another return appointment with someone else because of cards.

We had a lesson with Barbara on Saturday and we brought an African man from our ward with us. He hijacked the lesson and told a 20 minute story about how the people in Africa worship an Albino alligator. It was pretty frustrating but we are meeting with Barbara again tonight and we aren't bringing him this time so hopefully it's a little more focused.

We had dinner at the Newharts last night and they always feed us steak, so we love going there. We showed up at there house and the African man that we brought to the lesson with Barbara was there, We couldn't believe it. Elder Steffensen said he had a headache after we left. It was pretty funny and he actually started teaching me Swahili during dinner which was pretty fun.

At zone training last week President Holland put a big focus on Testifying Contacts. We've been putting a big focus on getting to know people in a natural way and then bearing testimony, and we've definitely seen the fruits of that this week. That is something that everyone can do regardless of whether they are a missionary or not. In Alma Chapter 22, Aaron is teaching King Lamoni father. In verse 22-23 it says...

22 Now when Aaron saw the determination of the queen, he, also knowing the hardness of the hearts of the people, feared lest that a multitude should assemble themselves together, and there should be a great contention and a disturbance among them; therefore he put forth his hand and raised the king from the earth, and said unto him: Stand. And he stood upon his feet, receiving his strength.

23 Now this was done in the presence of the queen and many of the servants. And when they saw it they greatly marveled, and began to fear. And the king stood forth, and began to minister unto them. And he did minister unto them, insomuch that his whole household were converted unto the Lord.

After Aaron raised the king, the king began to minister to his family. As he ministered to them it says they were converted to the Lord. As we minister to those around us we can see those miracles. It doesn't have to be anything extreme. Just be a friend, and lift those around you as Jesus Christ would. As Elder Uchtdorf would say, " share what is in your heart. " As we strive to be more Christlike and love those around us, our own testimony grows and the Lord blesses us for our efforts.

Love ya'll thanks for all the support

Elder Forrest

out tracting on a beautiful day