Week 2 in Michigan

September 07, 2020

Hi everybody!

I have had another great week here in michigan! On Tuesday I had a cool experience, we were calling some members to set up some short meetings to get to know them, and we called Sister Britton in our ward, and when I was scheduling the lesson, she just replied "oh well I have time right now". So we literally were able to teach her over the phone right at the moment, and it was really cool! I pretty much lead with the small talk and getting to know her while my companions prepared a spiritual message and it was really good. She gave us my first referral too! It was a guy named Boone Allen. He's and older gentleman in his 60's who recently lost his wife.

Oh man Boone Allen. We called him on Thursday and that guy is wild. I told him that Sister Britton had referred him and asked if he was interested in taking some lessons. And he told me no 😂😂. He was a super nice guy though and we talked for a while. We will continue to work on him through sister Britton though. He has a heavy southern accent and he kept telling us about how he sings a lot. In fact he asked if we wanted to hear him sing, and being polite we said yes. And instead of singing, he played a tape recording of him singing over his land line 😂😂. The whole situation was just super strange, and I couldn't keep from busting out laughing.

Thursday we also taught a man named Sulaiman. He is from Afghanistan! Elder Leavitt just happened to run into him on Facebook and he wanted to meet with us. He doesn't want to learn the gospel yet, but he calls us his American friends and he enjoys talking with us to have friends and to practice his English. His English isn't very good but he's a super cool guy. So we just kind of talked to him, and got to know him. He created a Facebook group chat with us where he called us his "sweat and dear friends". Its crazy because how many missionaries can say that they taught a man from Afghanistan, in Afghanistan. There has never been a mission there and so we are in a very select group. We will continue to teach Sulaiman in the coming weeks.

On Thursday I was also feeling inclined to find some service opportunities, and so I put a post on a lansing Facebook group that said we were offering free service. Within minutes we had people interested. We had to call to get authorization on one of the projects where I learned, that we weren't able to perform service for nonmembers yet because of the virus and the mission was only in phase 1. I was told by my companions that we were able to do that kind of service so there was a mixup there. Which was insane because I had to take the post down and deal with those who wanted service. One of them we referred to the ward down in holt, their elders quorum. (She never responded to me though after I told her we were doing that though so its probably not going to happen). And the other we are doing this Saturday because President Heap said we should fulfill our commitment to her. So we got some service! I know a really good way to get nonmember service once we reach phase 2 😂😂

Friday was a great day for Facebook finding. I reached out to 8 people and got 5 responses, which is by far my personal best.

This week we had some great member lessons with sisters Britton and Blackburn, and we also met with a member from Illinois who Elder Leavitt found through Facebook. His name is Tom Parsons and he is an awesome guy. Hes like our dad now. Hes super supportive of the missionaries. He was just baptized in March of 2017. But he texted us last night telling us to remember to say our prayers and to sleep good. He's a blessing for sure.

We had another great lesson with the Donnelly family yesterday. They are making some great progress and I am so grateful to be able to teach them. They wanted to hear the real nitty-gritty about the second coming and the millennium and all that. So we had a very in depth lesson. Which they tell you not to do, but they asked for it and I think they understood most of it which was great!

We also got transfer calls this weekend and I will stay put for the next 6 weeks with my same companions so that is nice.

Today we had to fix our tire that had a nail in it, and then we did some shopping, and played soccer with elders Candland and Hansen which was fun. We also had an awesome member lesson this evening with the Carlsons. They have been married for almost 2 years now and sister Carlson is pregnant which is super cool for them! And they are just the best. They're super kind and they were awesome to teach and they said that they would bring us food!!

Also, last p day we bought a cilantro plant and long story short I nursed him back to health after elder Leavitt hit him with a soccer ball and after a difficult transport from the grocery store, and i named him Kenny. He is my pride and joy.

But anyway, I've written so much. If you've made it this far you deserve this ❤.

With love,

Elder Oswald

Elder Leavitt dressed up as a girl for his "gender blender" day back in school