Elder Mitchell's Mission to Tennessee: Redneck Ingenuity

The good ol' South

Buenos!

Well this week definitely had its highs and lows, but we tried our best this week, so that's what counts. Right now we are having this re-occurring problem of finding new investigators, setting up returns,going back to see them, and they fall off the face of the earth (so to speak) and we can't ever find them again. Also, none of our main people are keeping their commitments right now, so that's been a little frustrating. But, we still had lots of positives this week! We weren't able to meet with some of our main people this week, but Tuesday night we had a great lesson with E all about keeping commitments, and we really felt the spirit guiding us to address his concerns and needs. We also met with K, our excommunicated member who wants to come back, and we started teaching her about the Plan of Salvation. Also this week, we saw A after church and had another great lesson with him.

Wednesday was a busy day. In the morning, we had a meeting for new missionaries and their trainers in Knoxville, so that was fun. We had lots of great trainings by the AP's and Pres. Griffin. After the meeting, we went on exchanges with the Chatt Valley elders. Our DL, Elder P, went with Elder M back to Dalton, and I got to spend a day in Fort Oglethorpe with Elder W, who is also a greenie. We had a good day, got to do some tracting, visited some less-actives, and then had dinner with an older couple in the ward and they made us a southern feast! Deep-fried chicken, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and biscuits, with brownies/ice cream for desert. It was probably one of the best meals I've had on my mission.

This week we had a lot of random opportunities to help people with car problems. We were teaching a family on their porch when all of a sudden the neighbor came running over explaining that she needed to get her friend to the hospital, but her car wouldn't start, so we hooked up the cables and jump-started the car. That was fun. Other story from this week: we were driving along when we saw a truck that had gotten stuck in a ditch with the back-left tire stuck up the in the air. So, they had us hop in the back of the truck to see if we could weigh down the back tire so that they could back out. Well, everyone passing by stopped to help, so pretty soon there were about ten of us in the back of the truck and we finally got the tire down, and they were able to back out. One of the guys said, "Well, with enough redneck ingenuity, we'll get 'er done!" Haha.

This week, we have really been focusing on how to get members more involved and more excited about the work. We have been working hard, trying to get these members pumped up, and we are seeing a change in the attitude of the ward. People are starting to come out with us more, and everyone is getting excited about the next Ward activity, telling us about all the people they're going to invite. Things are looking good here in Dalton. One example we've seen is our members the G family. We had dinner with them and their friend Y and her daughter G. After teaching them the Restoration, we invited Yaneth to go to Women's conference with Hermana G. Well, Y went and she loved it! We are really hoping we can continue to teach her more! We never know what can happen when we invite! That's the key: Invite!!!

Sorry that was a lot of stuff. Anywho, my ponderizer this week comes from Jacob 1:7-8 which says, "Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest...Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ..." Sometimes missionary work is so hard because we just wish that everyone would be persuaded to keep their commitments and accept the gospel. But, all we can do is labor diligently and keep inviting people to Christ. Just invite! Invite, invite, invite! That's my invitation to y'all this week: invite someone you know to hear about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! Invite someone to watch conference this weekend! We have the greatest message on earth, and this world needs it! Even if people say no, just keep inviting! I hope y'all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell