Stormin' Mormons

Well, there were a couple of big storms this past weekend, Elder Cooper and I were not affected by any of them however. But I guess on either Friday or Saturday or something there was a huge hail storm and people said that there were golf ball sized hail raining down and it sounded like the roof was going to give way, but we were at a members house when that happened and they live a ways a way from our neighborhood so we didnt even hear much. On Monday there was a lot of wind and a pretty big storm that came through and the power was out for a little while but again nothing serious. It did however blown down a coupletrees in the neighborhood and some landed on houses but not ours. You could tell because everyone who did get hit had tarps covering the holes, but we're still alive.

Well that is pretty insane what happened to T-Nut. I can't believe that one (other) guy was so stupid. It seems like there's always one person to ruin it for everyone.

Well the work has definitely been improving a lot, especially over this past weekend. We were definitely blessed with a lot of sucess in finding and teaching. I think we ended with double the amount of lessons taught for last week than in the previous ones. Saturday we taught six just from tracting, and it seemed like everyone was letting us in. We met one guy who invited us in
without a word, before we could even tell him who we were. So we taught him the first lesson and committed him to read and pray, and set up an appointment for thursday this week to see how he did on his committment. So on sunday we had an appointment with one of his neighbors and taught her, and pretty much the same thing. It was a good lesson but not quite that golden contact, and promised to read and pray which is always awesome. So after that appointment we
thought we would go downt the street and just say hello to the people we taught the day before because there was two other families we taught. So we get back to Chris' house , and again he just invites us right in to meet his wife and family. They were all super friendly, probably the nicest people we've met so far, just that real southern hospitality. So we get to talking and Chris' wife Karen said she watched the show "Big Love" about the fdls so Elder Cooper and I
kind of looked at each other and were like oh man, not the best start, but she said she knew Mormons weren't all like that and it was different from the tv show, so we set her straight on polygamy which was good, and then she asked about Joseph Smith. At that point I got pretty excited and was about to just jump right into the first vision but Elder Cooper in his infinite wisdom stopped me and started from the beginning of Lesson 1 and just set everything up
perfectly. It was kind of funny because at first the grandma was there and told us how she was raised Pentacostal and believed in tongues and whatnot and seemed to attempt to put up that sort of guard but definitely agreed with everything Elder Cooper was teaching. So finally we get to Joseph Smith, and I remember the overwhelming calm that came in the room at that time. And so I told them about the first vision and how Joseph Smith was called to be the next prophet, and I can't even begin to describe the spirit that was there, never have I felt it so strong. By the end of it both the grandma and the mom were just in tears. So I invited them to be baptized and they werent all too sure at first and said that they still liked their church, but we reminded them of the sprit they felt, and began teaching them about the book of Mormon. It had turned out that Chris had been laid off and that they hadn't been to church since because they felt like Heavenly Father took that away from them. We reminded them that sometimes we
have to be tested, and that if we put our trust in Him we will be blessed for our trials. Elder Cooper went on to talk about tithing and the blessings that come from it. They were so happy we stopped by and I knew it was no coincidence. In the car ride back I was trying to figure out why at that particular time the Spirit was so strong, because we didnt do anything different
than what we've been doing, and I realized that it was because Heavenly Father had prepared them to hear that message, and that they needed it without ever knowing it. We are going to visit them again tomorrow and they offered to feed us as well. I am so overcome with joy we were able to meet them. I am almost positive that they will be baptized by the power and authority of the priesthood in almost no time. That one experience was the best I have had yet since I've been in Georgia, and I know that as long as I am working hard I will have more
like it. I cant wait to continue to see them progress and enter into the covenant of baptism.

Thank you so much for all of your help and support and for writing to me, I appreciate it so much. I hope you have a wonderful week!

-Elder Alex Edwards

p.s. I sent a letter yesterday to everyone at home so hopefully you get it soon, I asked if it were possible if you could send me a couple of things but forgot to ask if there would be any way you could send my black leather fossil watch, and maybe a pair of shoes as well? the only ones I have that arent dress shoes are my basketball ones so if you could send me another one of my pairs perhaps my black and red osiris shoes I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks!