Investigators, Elder Tews and Answers to Questions

Greetings from the heat of San Antonio to y'all,

Elder Tews is a great companion. Many people in our ward have told us that he looks like Elder Scroggs. I'm not sure I can see the resemblance. I'll post a picture of him and I that we took last week.

More and more every week I enjoy all of the steps that we take to find, teach, and invite people to come unto Christ. It is a delicious food that I am growing to love.

Questions from Sister Hall:

 I was reading in 1st Nephi chapter 18 verse 3. 'And I Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; and the Lord showed unto me great things.'  What do you think that verse means to you as a missionary?

Our Heavenly Father wants us to come to him and pray. He will show us what we need to know and do if we come to him. Often times that means we must go to a 'mount' that is outside of where we would normally go. I think it also means that we should pray always. We must do these things 'oft.'

Where is Elder Tews from?    

 

Elder Tews is from Twin Falls Idaho. He tells me the school he attended was pretty small. Elder Tews left on his mission after he graduated in 2013. He has an older sister, two younger brothers and another younger sister. Just like Elder Scroggs, he teaches me many things through example.

How does the saying 'Excellence is encouraging. Perfectionism is criticizing.' help you as a missionary?

It reminds me that the people I teach will benefit far more from loving encouragement to read the Book of Mormon than demands to read it. Additionally, it tells me that perfectionism demands more than we can give, but Excellence will only ask for what we have.   

Also, how does this saying work for you as a missionary- 'Excellence is self acceptance and effort.'?

 
Missionary work cannot exist without effort. On the other hand, self acceptance allows missionaries to understand their limitations and turn to the Lord to make the difference. Did I mention that I absolutely love missionary work?

Where has Elder Tews been serving prior to being your companion?  

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He has served in a branch near the Mexican boarder and in Montevista, which is nearby in San Antonio. This is his third area even though he has served in the TSAM for almost a year. I suppose some missionaries stay for longer than others. What wonders does this mission hold for me in the future?

Which of your ties is your favorite right now? 

Probably the maroon one that has squarish patterns dispersed across it. My parents will remember which one this is. It reminds me of the cherished heritage I have from my high school. (It looks like I wore this same tie in the picture here.)

Saturday was a long day. In the evening, the Young Women of our ward held a fund raising activity that they were preparing for quite a while. Brother and Sister Johnson came with the Watkins family, and we were extremely glad to see them there. Sister Johnson hasn't smoked at all since last Tuesday, and Elder Tews and I are extremely proud of her, and her husband. But it wasn't this activity that really worked us.

After the activity, we took our bikes and went to contact a few referrals that the Sisters gave us. Their area is much further away from us than ours, so biking from the chapel gave a huge advantage. We biked this one road for an extremely long time, and it wasn't until we got to the edge of the Sisters' area that we found the man we were looking for.

It was well worth the biking. Tony is the name of the man we met, and we had an encouraging talk with him. He, like a lot of the hispanics who live here are extremely humble.

Last night we went with the Ward Mission Leader and visited the Rubios. He is currently a member, but his wife and three daughters are not. I can hardly believe how they have progressed in the last transfer with Elder Scroggs up to now. We invited them to be baptized in late September.

I'm having trouble condensing so much blessings into one email, so if you have any questions, feel free to email them my way. I bet I'll get better at writing emails as I go.

-Elder Hall

P.S. I love all of you at home.