Don't worry, I'm not getting transfered missions or anything.
Besides, the next transfer isn't until January. I just keep feeling
like I'm not in Wyoming, even Pugh everybody says I am, yesterday was
pretty much the only day this week that it got into the low 30s and
high 20s! He had multiple days in the mid 50s and high 40s so I feel
like there may have been some big mix up, because this isn't the
weather I was expecting haha! I'm really grateful for it though.
Pretty much all the snow has melted and gone and we only had one very
light dusting some morning this week. It looks like we'll be making up
for it though, today we're driving up to Billings for our Christmas
Conference! And there's a severe winter weather warning out! And we're
supposed to get 12 or more inches of snow! And we might get stuck
there because the interstate back might be shut down! All sarcasm
aside, I'm pretty excited. I love snow and have been missing it.
Last week we had some interviews with President Wadsworth. That's
always one of my favorite things. He loves us so much and there's no
way to avoid feeling it! We had some really funny conversations with
sister Wadsworth while we waited for our turn to talk to President
Wadsworth. Sister Breinholt, the Stake President's wife showed up and
brought us all Christmas packages from the stake! They had wool socks
and candy in them, good wool socks. Then yesterday the primary class
came and invited us in to give us more presents from the stake haha!
We got scarves and ties and gloves and socks and hand warmers! Also a
really cool Wyoming Flag lapel pin, but sadly we're not allowed to
wear lapel pins :-( Anyways, the Gillette stake is awesome!
To celebrate MY FIVE MONTH MARK on Tuesday we went tracting and
did 3 entire streets, super fast too! So many people were home and we
found a couple people that seemed super interested. Multiple people
told us to come back another time, but that they'd love to see the 'A
Savior is Born' video.
This week we also had our first district meeting of the transfer, on
week 3. The first week didn't happen because of transfers, like usual,
and the second week didn't happen because of Zone Training, and this
week won't happen because of the Christmas Conference. Like I said
before, the only person that changed in our district was Elder Hatton.
Now our District Leader is Elder Bird. Funny story, he went to Provo
high and graduated in 2014!!!!! How crazy is that? We about all the
classes he had and the people he knew. He knows quite a few people I
knew so it's pretty crazy that we never officially met or that I
didn't know he was out here. He's super funny and awesome. Sadly, I
asked and he did not have Mrs. Tippetts for middle school science.
On Saturday we had a really interesting discussion with one of
our investigators. We got to his house the same time he did after a
really long and frustrating day at work. Also, apparently earlier in
the week he met a pastor while he was working and told him he was
talking with Mormon missionaries. I'm guessing you can guess where
this is going. He pulled out all the anti Mormon literature he was
given, pamphlets and DVDs, and started firing off the questions. The
first bit we were there was a lot of him not being happy and raising
his voice. Multiple times Elder Bills and I both thought we should
leave, but we both felt we should just wait it out. After he vented
for a while we got around to having a decently civil conversation. He
kept telling us how he didn't have time to read the Book of Mormon and
pray about it, but he did get around to reading all the anti stuff.
Which was 10x longer than the portion we had asked him to read. We
helped him see how trying to learn that way was a little silly. We had
to be very patient and avoid a few topics that set him off again and
had to be very careful not to argue, because bible bashing and
contention are bad. In the end it turned out alright. He told us that
this doesn't mean he'll stop coming to church or meeting with us, it
just means that he's going to be a little more wary. We love him and I
know he's a great man. He just has lots of questions and different
opinions.
On another day of the week, I can't remember which, we had a cool
experience following promptings. We were driving to somewhere for a
backup appointment and I saw a lady sitting on her porch and I felt we
should go talk to her. We pulled over down the street a block or two
then walked back and tried talking to her. She wasn't interested and
when some guys in the house saw us talking to her they ran to the door
and told us to leave. So we quickly did, I was sort of disappointed
that it didn't work out the way we wanted it to. Elder Bills suggested
we knock on the neighbors house, but I didn't want to so I kept
walking. I stopped and thought that it was unfair of me to ignore one
of his ideas and just do mine, so we went and knocked there. Another
lady answered and she was very nice. She said that from time to time
she had met with different religions and said that she thinks God
always bring them into her life. She said she'd like to meet with us
and took a Book of Mormon and said she'd read it!
Y'all are grand, focus on bringing the Christmas spirit more
fully into your lives and then naturally it will start to spread.
Share the new Christmas videos that the church has produced.
Prayerfully think about your family and friends that you could
introduce to the gospel and the missionaries at this time of the year.
It's the best gift you can give, I promise.
Elder Tippetts
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