Family!

We had a great week here in Sunnyslope! Big turn around from the
week before! So on Tuesday, we had set up "Rescue Visits" with members
from the Stake Presidency and from the ward. The person I was assigned
to go with was our Elders Quorum President. We had a list of some
names that he wanted to go and visit and at first it looked like we
weren't going to get anything accomplished, but we had one person that
we especially wanted to visit and we got to talk to him for awhile
which was great, for him especially. He is a man in our ward that
hasn't been to church for years. He has a 3 year old and his wife
passed away two weeks ago from Stage 4 breast Cancer and Stage 3 Bone
Cancer. It was an experience that was hard on the ward and everybody
that knew the family. But we got to go and see him and offer our help
and when we asked him if there was anything we can do for him, he
broke down and told us how hard of a time he was having, I think it
was good for him to have company because he has been having to not
show it for his little boy. So the ward Is hard at work trying to help
take care of his necessities. He came to church yesterday too and met
with Bishop! I think he knows now that the ward really does care for
him. It is weird to see the opposite side of it. For awhile I thought
our home ward in Bountiful was annoying because they always wanted to
come see us. But really, we weren't a statistic, it really is all out
of love. And that is why missionary work is so great, multiple times
in just this past week, I find myself sitting in a strangers small
apartment having the most important conversation we could have and en
letting them know that we are there to help them in any way we can.
We found a new investigator to teach, her name is Kathy Erikson,
she has been taught before but her husband got really sick, so she
stopped taking discussions, but now he is healthier and she is meeting
with us again! She has no religious background really, but she is a
very humbled lady and she is super nice! She is about 60 years old and
loves the church members that introduced us to her!
With Lawrence we heard some crazy stuff that happened to the
family and that we weren't going to be seeing him again, and I felt
awful. I just stood there with the phone in my hand not knowing what
to do, and that made the week seem awful, but on Saturday night, we
went by to check on Angela and the boys and to see how they are doing,
and we heard Lawrence and he was super excited and told us to come
inside (which he had never done before) and he told us how crazy the
previous week had been, and we were really glad to hear that the
family is doing okay. There is still some lasting stuff that we don't
know but we are heading over there tomorrow to meet with them! It was
so cool to hear about his story of the guys he was sitting next to and
how they all just wanted another chance, and then he related it to the
Atonement of Christ. Sometimes by law, people don't get a second
chance, but through Christ, everyone has new opportunities.
We have been teaching Christian and Isaac, the two little boys,
they love the men in the ward that look after them and their mom has
really opened up to us lately so we are hoping for great things to
come there!
We went to a baptism with the Royal Palm Elders and I was part of
the missionary presentation which I always love doing because I love
teaching the Gospel of Christ lesson. It went really well and it was
really cool to be apart of another Ward Baptism.
We had Ward Conference yesterday and Bishop Goodwin and Stake
President Hettinger spoke. Bishop shared his falling away story and
talked about the road coming back. It was really cool the way he
related the saying "hold to he iron rod" because "hold" is an action
word. We must actively be following Christ. And iron, as we know,
rusts if it is not cared for. Much like our testimonies, if we don't
actively nourish our testimonies, they will be weakened. Just like
iron needs to be sanded, polished and shined, we must do the same with
our testimonies. We must protect them with prayer, church and
scripture reading!
This week has been great! I hope you guys all have a great week!
I love you guys! Elder Byington.