First things first - Elder Blad and Elder Carr are staying in Lawrence for another transfer! WOOT!
Well this week we did OK...but we could've done better, and that was really frustrating to realize. We didn't guard our planning hours and things came up (a funeral, a baptism, teaching appointments, phone calls, etc.), so our weekly planning got shot and our nightly planning struggled. And as a result, we had a OK week, but we didn't really progress much in the work. Part of it was a lack of focus on seeing past the transfers, but part of it was also just not getting done what NEEDS to be done. So we have set many goals and plans for ourselves now as to what we will do this week to change this issue and become better "escalator missionaries". It's great to see how repentance can be applied in many ways, and in all ways the essence of repentance is CHANGE - so this week we are repenting, changing, and refocusing our efforts to achieve our goals. I know that our God is a god of high expectations, and His are the expectations I want to meet.
In other news, Luis's baptism was excellent! We had 4 investigators there! And afterwards, one of them said, "I want to get baptized next!" and we've barely even started teaching her! So nearly everything went smoothly, and he was confirmed the next day in church. We learned a bit about the influence of women this week and the righteous influence Luis's friend Melanie (Bishop's daughter) out at BYU-I has on him. When we came over the night before Luis's baptism, we noticed that he was still wearing his earings; we explained what the prophets have taught us and how men should not have any body piercings, but he rejected it in a light/sarcastic way and figured that "if our bodies are temples, then this is just how [he] likes to decorate it." Well a few minutes later, he was skyping Melanie, and with us in the background he asked what she thought about his earings. Thankfully, this valient and virtuous woman politely told him that he should take them out, and a minute later Luis's ears were back to looking the way God intended them to look! Haha. It sure was great to see how much of a role Melanie has played in his conversion process, and she really has helped him in so many ways by encouraging his righteousness - it was also pretty funny to see how easily influenced he was by a female - it's no wonder now why Satan chose to tempt Eve first ;)
Well, our female investigator's baptism is set for this Saturday at 11:00 a.m., and we are SO excited and happy that we get to stay for this transfer so we will both get to be there. I am so proud of her and her journey in her conversion process - I've learned many things from her example, and she sets a very high standard for others in the ward now. She is so engaged in our clases - in fact, yesterday in Gospel Principles she was responding to several doubts that other people had about the Fall of Adam and Eve, and she was answering with clear and true doctrine that I don't even remember teaching her! I can't wait to see where Luis and she will be in the next few years, but I know that they will be of great strengths to the ward and so many others.
Well I gotta get running, but I hope you all are doing well and I hope you had a great Groundhog Day!!!
From New England with love,
Elder Dustin Carr
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