On Sunday right after church Elder Poteki and I got a call.  It was some Elders in the zone wondering if we could help them out at their baptism in an hour.  They wanted to know if Elder Poteki would sing a song before the baptism and after if we would share the Joseph Smith experience with the group while they were changing(because they were baptizing their investigator).  We complied and we had to take off to our dinner appointment and then we went straight to the church.  Elder Poteki sang and it was really good, then they had the baptism and after we were getting ready to share the experience and after the experience is shared we normally sing Joseph Smith's First Prayer.  We decided to sing it on our own...  It went really well, although I could not hit the high notes and sat back and watched as Elder Poteki did.  I have never sang in front of a group before like that, so it was a different experience.  

  After we had that experience, we went  by a guy's house that Elder Poteki and I had tracted into when we first got together.  He was there and totally wanted to hear our message.  We were able to teach with clarity and power.  The spirit was there.  He has 3 kids, an older daughter and 2 little boys.  Right when we got there his wife had to leave to go to a funeral or something, so we were not able to have the lesson with her.  But it was a great experience and he really wanted us to come back!  They will be an awesome family addition to the church.  His name is Jeremy Chargois.  As we were teaching, we used a lot of the stories of Moses to relate to the points we were trying to teach.  He told us that Veggietales had done a special episode on Moses and he had watched it with his kids, that is why he knew a lot about it!  What would this world do without Veggietales!  In the lesson we also talked about the spirit and the influence of the spirit using the scripture in Galatians 5:22-23.  He was just awesome though and soaking everything up.  

  Overall this week was a slower one compared to normal, just because we don't have too many people to teach.  But, we are going out and looking for the elect.  Talking to everyone and looking for opportunities to serve.  This morning I was able to read in Helaman 8 and 9.  I love that story!  Nephi is up on the wall praying and the people gather around and he teaches/rebukes them and the prophesy of the death of the chief judge and all of the key factors that went into the story!  I also really like how the 5 ,who were sent to see if the chief judge was dead and did not believe anything Nephi had said, later on, confound the Gadianton Judges defending Nephi.  I loved the change that took place as they recognized truth that required action to obtain happiness. 

  I love the scriptures and like Nephi delight in them.  They truly do have the secrets of God for our salvation.  I love y'all and hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Willden

7/13/14 Sunday night Gumbo!

Elders Willden and Poteki 7/20/14