"This week has been a really great week of little miracles and lots of contacting using faith. We had many lessons with investigators. We made a plan to make sure we get all of our lessons done by Sunday, so that we can relax and not be so stressed to get those last lessons in. It worked really well. We had 7 investigators show up to church and we were able to handle everything without stressing. It's really a miracle that so many people came. The sisters even had a baptism that our investigators were able to see. They say that investigators have a 30 percent chance of being baptized, if they see one. We had 4 that were able to be there and that was awesome! We talked to one of them afterwards. Before she was really hesitant about being baptized because she wanted to study first. She thought that she needed to have a sure knowledge before she could be baptized. I told her that I was baptized when I was 8 years old and there was no way that I had a sure knowledge. I told her that baptism is the door and the beginning. She then said that she would pray about it and tell us today if she will be baptized next Sunday. I am super excited because her answer will be YES! We are still waiting for her call."
"The Zone Leaders came down to train us on a new improved way of contacting. It is the same as the last time where we ask everyone we talk to to be baptized and cleansed from sin, but now we have to literally talk to everyone. I mean EVERYONE! We can't let one person go by. Sometimes we talk to the same person over and over again because they haven't given us the right answer yet. We have to invite everyone everywhere we go. Even on P-day. I just invited the guy sitting next to me on the computer. haha We keep baptism cards in our hands 24-7. The other day while Elder Quinn was in the bathroom, I was contacting in the bathroom! Super awkward, but I was told to do it. haha We have been non-stop contacting everyday for the last week. If an appointment was late, we were contacting. If we were going to the store, we were contacting. It is so crazy and we have been seeing a lot of miracles from it. Three of all the people we met, actually made appointments with us. It is very tough and discouraging at times, but this is what we are suppose to do here and we will do it. We have been promised that if we do this, it will be easier to contact this way and we will no longer get discouraged."
"I have been working with Elder Quinn a lot. He is a super nice guy and says some funny things. He has so much faith and is always helping me. He loves being the District Leader and is fascinated by the mission. He always finds so much joy in it. We get along super well and sometimes we will just talk forever about anything. At night we'll talk until one of us falls asleep. One thing that I have noticed about being his companion is the sense of accomplishment I feel at the end of the day. Not complacency or a desire to do more, just like I did everything that was needed of me. That is a good feeling to have at the end of the day for sure. I thank him for that."
"Another thing that happened was that I went on switch-offs with one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Beuhner. All the appointments that I had set up, fell through, so guess what we did? We contacted for 4 hours just walking in one direction! We contacted everyone on the street and in the markets and stores. I was so tired from doing that by the end of the day. We also called an investigator who had no interest in being baptized. I was stubborn and wouldn't let her drop and called her again yesterday. She said that her friend told her that they would read together every day and if she felt good from it and gets a warm feeling, then she would be baptized. It was awesome! I am praying for her every day to get that answer."
"Another thing that happened was that I went on switch-offs with one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Beuhner. All the appointments that I had set up, fell through, so guess what we did? We contacted for 4 hours just walking in one direction! We contacted everyone on the street and in the markets and stores. I was so tired from doing that by the end of the day. We also called an investigator who had no interest in being baptized. I was stubborn and wouldn't let her drop and called her again yesterday. She said that her friend told her that they would read together every day and if she felt good from it and gets a warm feeling, then she would be baptized. It was awesome! I am praying for her every day to get that answer."
"That was my week. Really just full of contacting right now. haha Love you!"
Elder Jacob Smith
