Week 88 - Oh it is Wonderful (7/2/2018)

Baptism

Well....This week has flown by... It seems like that quote time flies when you are having fun, actually does exist in real life. Last week was pretty neat, it's almost all a blur, but luckily, it isn't (if that makes any sense). I guess I'll start off with our Preparation Day last week. We had a good activity of playing some hockey and it was fun. We then got to work that night as we were prepping things and getting ready for the baptism that we were going to have. Had a great visit with this one family and I'm so grateful that I can play the piano. They had this nice old piano and the subject of piano may have been brought up and so they asked if I could play. Needless to say I did and...wow. The spirit was there. It didn't matter how old that piano was or even how bad out of tune it was, the Spirit was strongly there. They asked me to play a few hymns (church songs) and I gladly did throwing in a little bit of my heart into it. It was really neat. 

Interviews

Tuesday was quite a day. We had an appointment early that morning and we took off one end of our area. We then came back and grabbed a quick lunch then had interviews with our mission president. Had a really good interview with him. Made me happy to hear that I can actually still teach people in Spanish if I find them. That was really awesome to hear. After that we drove to Glenns Ferry to do an exchange with the Assistants and I went up to Boise with one of them. What a drive. Got up there and immediately got to work. It was really neat. It scared me when he told me we were going on Splits. I kinda freaked out cause I did not know his area at all. Luckily he made it easy for me. I ended up going with the Ward Mission Leader. Had a good night with some really great visits. 

Floor Hockey

Wednesday we got up and had a District Council (I'll explain later). Really good seeing a District come together and really discuss what the needs are of the District. We then ran some errands and made our way back to Glenns Ferry to exchange. We then made our way back to Jerome. Had a really night the rest of that night and it was pretty great. We were getting all ready for the Baptism and figuring things out. Turns out, Missionary Work is a lot of planning (haha more like stress). Luckily we got plans all out and we were set for tomorrow. 

The gift I was given

Thursday, what a beautiful day. We got through our weekly planning session and it was really good with all the plans that we made. It was very well needed. We then had a quick break and got to work for a bit. We then made our way back to the church building to get prepared for the Baptism. It was such a Spiritual Experience. Did some run throughs of the songs that I would be playing on the piano. It was pretty nerve wrecking. But we made it through. It was wow breath taking. The Spirit was so strongly there it was incredible, I really don't have words that I could put to it. After the Baptism was over a girl came up to me after the Baptism and asked if I was Elder Ruesch. I of course just said yea that's me. Turns out she served in the Rancho Cucamonga Mission and was pretty close to my Stake!! She served in the Hesperia Stake and did some work with the YSA!! It was pretty cool talking to her and the coolest part was that she knew someone that I knew!! It was awesome!! As we were leaving the Baptism, we asked the girl that got baptized if she had thought of anyone to confirm her and give the Gift of the Holy Ghost. She took me off guard when she had asked if I could do it. I said yes a little surprised though, but like I said, I just couldn't find words. Probably because I can't English...

Me and the Sunset

Friday was quite an interesting day. Went to Shoshone for another District Council and it was awesome!! Came back after that and did some service at the food pantry. It was funny, started talking to a Peruvian in Spanish and he had no idea what I was saying. It was pretty funny, but a little difficult to get on the same page being that we know different Spanish... We then had some studies and got to work. Had a good contact with a guy and we may be doing some service there. We then had dinner which was pretty good. We then had some good time to go out contacting people. Sadly didn't catch who we were looking for at home. But, it's the life.

Saturday was a pretty neat day. Had some good early meetings and we even got to do some service for a member. Demolition, my kind of thing. We then got down to business and went on a finding spree hoping to find someone home. Sadly, didn't find anyone. Next time though. And then we did! There was someone that we tried getting a hold of and it turns out, his phone got shut off so he could never get a hold of us. As we talked on the porch he was hoping that we would come by. Good timing that we did. We then made our way to the church to do some studies and had some thighs rescheduled. Then made our way out to dinner. Had a really good dinner and I think right as soon as word gets out that I can play piano, I may be used a lot. Our dinner just so happened to be the Choir Director and she kinda put my skills to the test. Had me sight read a lot of broad way and musical songs. Which I was okay with. Helps, I need the practice. After all that we drove out to the middle of nowhere to contact some families and we caught one of them home which was nice, but the rest were out of town. Worked our way back into town and had some good contacts to close the night. Pretty fun.

My watch glowing

Sunday was a great and wonderful day. Woke up and had an early meeting. We then had church from 9-2. Really spiritual. Also got to confirm our now new member a member of the church and it was so amazing. Words just can't really express what I want to say. She's so awesome and I know that she'll do great things. Had all this church and we were exhausted. This girl also gave the both of us a gift with a letter and it was so amazing. I love getting that feeling that there is a reason for why you're somewhere. I just love getting that feeling. As long as I don't get transferred out of here...again. After that we had a good time contacting people and it was fun. Had an appointment and it went well. Made our way back to our dinner and it was really good. We then tried some names then had our studies. Then concluded with another meeting. Really good night and it was fun.

So there is a little cliff hanger that I left and that is because our teaching tool just got updated. Preach My Gospel, which is basically a guide that was intended to help missionaries learn how to teach and all this other stuff, got updated and it is no longer just for missionaries. It is also for every member of the Church. It is so awesome and we've been challenged to read it everyday. It is awesome seeing all the changes that are in it. It is really remarkable. If you have the time, I'd encourage you to read it. It's amazing seeing what advice it gives all members of the church. I know I've learned a lot already. This week was just awesome and I'm excited for the ones that are ahead of me!! I love you all and I miss you all!! Take Care!!

Elder Ruesch