Oh man, this week.

So in my time home, I had one perfect day.  I will never forget it, I will always treasure it, and I pray there will be more days like that one in the future.  I distinctly remember that before this day, and its events began, I was stuck in a traffic jam.  The highway was closed for construction and I was not paying attention, focusing on the GPS to get me to Woodinville.  Lo and behold, I was stuck in traffic for 2 hours. 

This week was a traffic jam.  A nice, long one with Puerto Rican's honking their horns and not moving for you to pass.  The AC was broken down, and you're sitting there, sweating.  We had an investigator lesson on Tuesday.  It was awesome.  He was crying, I was crying, the member was crying.  He accepted to be baptized on the 4 of November.  We called him the next day, asking if he read and prayed to Heavenly Father to know the truth of this message, and he said no, and that we need to respect his opinions.  I didn't mean to offend him, I said, and as he continued, my heart broke a little.  We passed by our investigator's house for church.  "Jose," I asked "Ready to go?"  He told us no.  He remembered that he was supposed to go, but he didn't want to. I broke down crying.  As Jeffery R. Holland said,"We should be devastated when our investigators are not fulfilling their promises."  I never felt that before, but I just cried.  I know the blessings of this Gospel and I hurt when one does not want to accept. 

Now, back to the traffic jam I had in Washington.  I remember sitting there, smiling and jamming to music. I was thinking about how awesome of a day I had ahead of me, to see King Tut, to spend time with my friend Becca Folsom.  I was just jamming.  My companion and I decided to have that mentality.  Yes, this work is hard and yes, sometimes it's often something that some might think is unbearable, but all is possible through the Lord.  By not dwelling on the past, we found 3 new families, one a less-active part-member family that wants to return.  We had the chance to help, through the Holy Ghost, invite 2 people back to church to renew there covenants with the Lord.  One has not been to church in years.  How beautiful it was to see them there on Sunday.  To top it off, on Sunday we invited a family to be baptized.  They accepted, and I was shocked.  The Lord's hands are over this world, and since I have returned, I truly feel as if he is walking all over Puerto Rico.  Thank you all for your love and support. I pray for you daily, and I ask humbly that you can pray for me also.

Remember who you are,

Elder Stout