48th week in Spokane

We had another really great week. To start it out, we went and did some service staining a fence. They gave me the sprayer to use and I was a little bit hesitant to take it, but of course did anyways. Well, I got done staining one section of the fence fairly quickly and then moved on down to the next section, got about half way done and happened to look through the fence and noticed the neighbors ac unit was covered in stain. So I ran over there and started wiping it up when I noticed that not only was the ac unit covered in stain, but so was the house! So a staining the fence service project turned into everyone for two and a half hours cleaning and scrubbing the neighbors. I felt so bad! It was horrible! But the week got a lot better and we met with Sister Espinoza and shared more with her about the book of Mormon, answered her questions and she committed to read it everyday. They are progressing along really well and it has been a miracle to be able to watch them come closer to Christ. She told us with tears in her eyes that her wild three year old autistic son had knelt down with her to pray and that he actually was reverent and seemed to understand who he was talking to. I love being a missionary! So I forgot to mention, the other week the church and community had a big clothing exchange in the gym at the church so of course we had planned on going. Well we ended up going to the chapel the night before to take a bathroom break and as we walked by the gym we saw all the clothes spread out all over the gym, there were clothes EVERYWHERE!! So since we were early we had the first pick on all the clothes, don't worry, we got permission! And I found two suits that fit me! Which is good because with winter coming up soon we will have to go back to wearing a suit everyday so I was already planning on getting a goodwill suit, but nope, I got two suits for free, and get this, one of them is machine washable!! Well, my last companion in Spokane, Elder Moleni, was called to be the new assistant to the president. The already existing assistant is Elder Zohner, and he was my zone leader back in my first area. He was with me when we taught Jessie Jones (when I gave my pentecostal type sermon) (14th week in Spokane) the point is, I know the assistants really well. So this week they called us and asked if they could come work in our area for a couple hours and then sleep over at our house. We were excited because Elder Mudrow has served around both of them a whole lot on his mission and so anyways they came and we were able to split off and Elder Moleni and I were able to teach a few lessons together again, just like old times! It was fun. Then the next day, yesterday, they drove us to Moses Lake where we were able to receive training from Elder Christiansen of the seventy. Like usual, it was a very good experience that we were able to hear from and get to know a general authority. He was very personal and took the time to shake hands with and talk to each individual missionary. One last experience from this week. A couple weeks ago I was asked to give a talk on the last Sunday of the month. When I was given the assignment on paper the paper said that it was on the 22nd. I figured it was a typo and decided to wait until this week to fully prepare. I did however write down a few scriptures that I wanted to use. Well, this last Sunday we were sitting in the congregation and I noticed that there's only a youth speaker sitting on the stand. So I checked to see who the speakers were that day and sure enough... Elder Burns was listed to give a talk. Unfortunately I didn't bring the little notes that I had and so I quickly wrote down a few scriptures and a few thoughts and by that time it was time to give it! I thought it went alright for an impromptu performance haha anyways, funny times being a missionary, luckily I've gotten pretty used to having to give talks at last minute, this wasn't the first time and I'm sure it wont be the last! Well, we are finding new people to teach all the time, but very few end up progressing. However we still press forward in this, the Lords work.