Tucson--#21

Hey Everyone!!

For P-Day we hiked a local mountain that is called Sombrero Peak. Elder Wynn loaned me his Vibrams which are those little toe shoes that people have started wearing. They are not the best shoes to hike in....I will just say that the hike was rocky but I had a blast anyway! Because of Word of Wisdom issues (coffee) we had to change Elay's baptismal date to March 2nd. Niiki, Serrah, Jenica and Thomas are going to be baptized this Saturday!!!! They are the coolest family! We found out that Niiki and Thomas were actually born in Ethiopia. Last week was a little bit of a struggle to get them interviewed and confident about being baptized. In an appointment we asked them how they felt about being baptized on February 9th. They were very apprehensive, scared, did not want to do it, even questioned the need to be baptized by authority. Hmm...all thoughts and feelings that Satan uses to prevent God's divine children to come closer to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. We felt that we should review the baptismal interview questions with them. After we did this they felt more comfortable but still a little apprehensive. Elder Wynn and I were concerned that they might not be baptized on Feb 9th. We were not going to force them to do anything. Sunday came and all four of them were interviewed before church. After their interviews they were all STOKED to be baptized! That was truly an answer to our prayers. Last night after creating the baptismal program, I celebrated with them by showing them some of my "dance" moves. That was for you Miles! We have been able to meet with Linda Larson's youngest daughter, Brooklyn, and set a baptismal date for March 2nd. Brooklyn is a smart 9 year old and learns really quick. We have an appointment with them tonight. Hopefully we can get the 14 year old daughter to be present for the lessons. We went over to see Debbie and pretty much have a dropped lesson. We went over and said that she would like us to "study" with her which unknown to her means teach her the Gospel and get her baptized. Debbie told us that she will come to church this Sunday! Transfers are the 19th so we are trying to get as much work as we possible can before then. Cool experience for ya'll. We went to visit a partly active/less-active family with some unbaptized children. They were not home. I had a prompting to go see the Elder's Quorum President. I thought why the EQP? We went and as we got to his house we saw his wife and daughter drive up to the house. We talked with the whole family and the daughter asked us a lot of questions about the mission and mission papers because she is currently working on her own papers. We then talked about The Book of Mormon and how it is the keystone of our religion. We challenged them to hand out a copy and then left. We thought nothing of the visit. It was just a normal visit to some active members. Yesterday, the daughter thanked us for coming over and answering her questions. She was doubting about going on a mission and pulled over in her car and asked God if she needed to serve a mission. And lo and behold, we showed up at her house later that day and alleviated those doubts that she had. I am grateful I acted on that prompting and did not just brush it off as I have probably done too many times in my life. Who knows, if we did not come over she might have decided to not serve a mission. The field is white and ready to harvest and you do not need to be a missionary in order to harvest. The church is true.

Love,

Elder Urry

LiveStrong

Acts 7:55-56