Chad's version of Lehi's Tree of Life Vision

Saludos a todos!                   13 Feb 2012
         Well another week here in Cedar City has come and gone. It is so crazy how fast the weeks fly by when you are trying to just work all the time. This week was really fast and pretty solid. We continue to be blessed by finding new potential people to visit and hopefully it will turn into good things here quickly. We were able to find 4 new investigators this week, and they are all really interested and have a great desire to learn more, so that is a great blessing. We are planning to invite them to be baptized before the week is over. We have had some pretty good lessons this week as well. There aren't too many that actually stand out to me, but we are still teaching and helping many come unto Christ.
          I finally had a chance to see Cris again. We haven't seen him for a little while, but it was a good thing to see him. I just have so much love for that man, and I just want what is best for him. The hardest part is that he knows that everything is true and has a testimony and desires to be baptized, but he has just one thing holding him back, his wife. It is a tough situation, but he is positive that it will be resolved soon and that he will be able to enter into the waters of baptism. I just hope I will be able to see it.
           We have another investigator and her daughter that are so prepared and ready to be baptized, but she just needs to get married first. It is tough because her "husband" has already said he would marry her, but he just keeps dragging his feet. We are going to try and start teaching her husband, Omar, this week and we will see how it goes from there. I am not going to lie, I have been pretty frustrated this week. It is tough to see other missionaries baptize who you know aren't doing all that they should, but they are still blessed with success. And then I feel like we are being obedient to the mission rules, we are being bold with our presentation of our message, and we are finding people that are genuine in their desire, but it just hasn't been translating into baptisms. So for that I have been frustrated and have been racking my brain trying to figure out what I can do better or what I can change to be able to receive these blessings from the Lord. We will see what these changes I have come up with will do for my area.

Brian Head Ski Resort near Cedar

            This week Elder Pedersen and I also visited the far outreaches of our zone. We took a trip to Enterprise, Utah to do a baptismal interview for the missionaries that are serving out there. It reminded me a lot of eastern Washington. It was a bunch of farmland and sagebrush. We also took a trip up to a place called Brian Head, Utah. (see picture) It is a ski resort that is like 30 miles away from Cedar, and it is pretty cool. There was no snow in Cedar City, but there was a lot up there. The road is pretty crazy, but it is steep. That is the thing that gets you. You climb about 5000 feet in about 12 miles.
       I also met a returned missionary that served in the Kennewick Mission. He served in the Spanish Branch in Pasco for 7 months and in Basin City/Connell for 7 months. His name is Gordon Garrett. He said that he knew the Lybbert family really well. It was pretty interesting to talk to someone who served where I am from and to talk about people that we both know.
          Today I am going to end with a little experience we had last night. We basically had a real life experience with Lehi's dream. So yesterday it went from rain to snow to immense fog. So we were with one of our fellowshippers and we were driving back from an appointment. We were in some crazy fog (mist of darkness) and could hardly see, and there was these people who were traveling from out of state and were lost (forbidden paths). So we told them that we could help them get to their goal, a hotel (the tree of life), by following us. So in a way we kind of acted as the iron rod. Anyways they were pulling a trailer and were on this little road, so there was one trial right there, to get the truck and trailer turned around and facing in the right direction. Throughout that whole time there was so much murmuring and bickering. It felt like we really were in the mist of darkness as Lehi describes it. Eventually we got them turned around and we led them back to the right road (the straight and narrow). It still wasn't easy once we were on the road. They continually were slowing down and not keeping up and we had to keep waiting for them to follow us. But with time and some reassurance, we were able to help them follow the road and to reach the hotel (the tree of life). Maybe this experience sounds a little weird and doesn't make sense, but it was definitely a learning opportunity for me. I completely understood Lehi's dream from start to finish. We (the missionaries) understood how easy it was to get to their goal, but they (the people who were lost) were completely disoriented and didn't know where they were going or how easy it really was to get to the hotel. I have a whole new understanding of that dream now.

Tow-Mater Car and Mini Tow-Mater, Cute!

A hammock?  Island Hopping?  ZZZZZZ

     Just so you all know, we had transfers last night, but there isn't anything changing. Elder Pedersen and I will be staying together for another transfer. So I will get to see some more snow here in Cedar. (They have a winter storm watch going on right now.) NEWS FROM HOME: (after nearly a year and a half...) Well I am glad to hear that Keith and Emma finally made it out on their own again. I think it will be something positive for them and it will strengthen their own relationship, but their relationships with their kids. I love you all and am so grateful for your support!      Have a great week! 

   Live it, Love it, Preach it!   les vayan bien!   ELDER D