A lot of great experiences this week.

This week was a good one!! I think the Lord has finally decided that we have put up with enough and is starting to pour out the blessings that have been waiting for us for these past 6 months! I'll start out with a cool little story:

Two weeks ago I was driving with Elder Adams (I'm pretty sure I've posted a picture with him... he was one of the assistants) and we were going to pick up a cell phone from an area that was just closed down. As we were driving along, I noticed that one of the road signs had graffiti on it that said 916. And I was like woah that's pretty cool (because its my area code in Roseville). So I had Elder Adams sketch the graffiti and we continued on. After that, I didn't really think about it that much, until last Monday. Elder Fuller and I were walking around contacting because all of our appointments fell through, and we decided to contact this house that we thought two girls that we talked to the week before lived. As we go up to the house we start talking to three kids and a 23 year old named Arnold. We introduce ourselves as Mormons and they start asking why we are called Mormons. So I pull out my Book of Mormon and start explaining it. As I'm explaining it, Arnold takes the book out of my hand and opens to a random page and starts reading 2 Nephi 31: 20-21.
 20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

 21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.

After reading that verse he looks up and says, "This book is from God!!" and I just look at him with my jaw dropped. How did he pick that verse out of allll the other verses? It was exactly what he needed to hear in that moment!
So anyways we started talking a little bit more and he said he wanted to hear more about this "Mormon Book" and took out his phone to save our number. When he turned on his phone, guess what his background was? The graffiti of 916 painted on a wall! I said, wait what is that...? and he said, "oh, that's me!" Apparently he just really likes the number 916 and started painting it everywhere he goes. He doesn't really know why. I explained that it's the area code where I am from and he thought it was the craziest thing ever! I don't know why his graffiti caught my attention so much two weeks earlier... but there was some reason to it.

After that we found the girls that we were looking for and they just happened to be with 8 friends who all wanted to hear about the Mormons. We ended up finding 11 news in just 30 minutes that night. haha

There were two other amazing things that happened this week, but for the sake of time, my fingers, and your patience I'll keep them short.
A couple of weeks ago we met a girl named Susie, who is amazing. She is 23 and is super nice. She is really curious about the gospel and wants to learn a lot more. She lives with her mom, stepdad, and two sisters. We hadn't been able to teach any other of the family members because they were always busy, but this week we were able to teach her mom and older sister Candy. Let me just say... these people are so prepared for the gospel! They are very active in an evangelic church, but there are lots of things that they don't agree with there. We taught the restoration and watched the Joseph Smith movie with them and they accepted the whole thing! Candy said that she feels a lot like Joseph Smith in the movie, and that the restoration just makes sense. She also said that she felt something special when we were teaching. Something that she liked, but couldn't explain. I took advantage of the opportunity and challenged them to be baptized and they accepted to be baptized in a month! I really hope that they can make it! It would be during my last week here and it would be soo cool!

Also, Eduardo finally is starting to come around. We went over a couple of days ago and started teaching about the principle of repentance. After a little bit of talking we got out of him that he was scared to make some big changes in his life and he didn't want to change too quickly. With the help of Alma, we were able to explain the importance of changing. We taught a cool lesson involving fire... I'll show you later haha, and he really felt a strong desire to change. After teaching the lesson he asked, "and when could I be ready to be baptized?" I just handed him the calandar on my phone and said, "this is the month of June. You pick the day." He decided on making a baptism goal for 3 weeks from now. I really hope that he can do it! He really wants to be baptized and is taking it really seriously! At the end of the prayer at the end of the lesson, he didn't lift up his head. I thought he must have been silently praying, but as he lifted up his head a couple of seconds later, tears were in his eyes. He understood in that moment that what he had committed to was one of the most important decisions of his life. It was such a cool experience.

Missions are so cool! They can be so hard, but can be so rewarding. There is nothing better than being fully immersed in the work of the Lord. Dedication, obedience, hard work, and perseverance bring miracles.

I hope you all have a great week!