Monday, February 29, 2016

Transfer 10 Week 1

So we started off this week in Baraboo with no car.. We spent our P-Day relaxing at our apartment for the most part (and packing) because we didn't feel like walking anywhere.. and there was nothing really to do anyways.. Monday night we had Dinner at the Ricks home where I was able  to say goodbye and then Mason drove us to the Dance family's home where we went to say goodbye as well. 
Tuesday was spent walking around town saying good bye to people we visit. I wasn't able to get to everyone but it was still good. Brother Andrew's Son had his baptism Tuesday night so we walked an hour and a half all the way across town to see it before we had to have a member drive us down to Madison for transfers. 

Wednesday was transfers. We drove from Madison, up to Oshkosh, had a little devotional, where I was able to see Elder Santos (my trainer) before he was to go home, (he's home now) Then we got on the Car that was going up to Green Bay, Got to Green Bay, and then met our new companions. From there we drove from Green Bay to our separate areas. It took 1 hour to get to Oshkosh, 1 hour to get to GB and then 1 hour to get to Chilton. So it wasn't too bad. 

When we got to Chilton, we had to go to this Care Center that we do service for. We help out the old people by playing games and interacting with them. After that we visited a couple investigators and visited a couple members, went to the Young Women activity to talk about our missions to the young women (there's only one young women in our branch) and then finished off the day by visiting our next door neighbors who are recent converts. 

Thursday we met Vince, Vince has been meeting with the missionaries for about 6 months now and has totally changed his life around. We have his baptism scheduled for March 19th but he has to quit smoking first. He has an amazing desire to quit and to be free from this addiction. So far, he's gone from needing a smoke every 30 mins to about every 4 hours now. We've met with him twice now and he's tried so hard to break the habit. Yesterday he was able to make it 32 hours before he broke. He'll be able to make it soon though. He has a very very hard home life that is on the brink of breaking up so its really really hard for him right now. Hes strong though, he'll be able to do it.

On Friday we had the care center again, helping out with the old people. We were also able to see this investigator named John. John has had a couple of meetings with the missionaries, they've taught him the Restoration and Plan of Salvation so far but he hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon. When we saw him, we took a step back and explained the BoM to him and really tried to teach at his level and at his pace. We were able to invite him to be baptized during that lesson and we set up a date for him on March 26th. He wants to know if this is all true but he wont be able to know until he starts to read. So hopefully he'll dive into the scriptures. 

Saturday is when we met with Vince again for the second time. Had a really really strong lesson with him. Where he prayed so sincerely for God to help him quit smoking. He gave us his pack of cigarettes and his lighter before we left. He was able to make it 32 hours on that attempt. Later that day we had a dinner appointment with the Guest Family who have us over every Saturday. They're super nice. Also that night we had an appointment with a Less Active that went missing and was just found. His name is Ryan and he is about 26, he said he doesn't remember much about the church and even forgot he was baptized even though it was only like 8 years ago. He agreed to taking the discussions again with his fiance. Where excited for him.

Sunday we had church, members here say its more like a bundle of twigs than a branch, I counted 14 people there including all the kids. Elder Amann says that there normally is more people there than that and that there are a lot of members our of town but they're still lucky if they get 30 people to show up. We rent the building from the local boy scouts in the area. I was informed on Wednesday that I was to be giving a talk on Sunday, so I spoke yesterday on How to Love and Serve one Another. I think I did a pretty good job for so short notice.. We also blessed the sacrament AND taught Sunday school. hahah Lots of duties when there's barely anyone there.. After Church we met with this investigator named Katelyn. They've only met with her once before   I got here. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she had SOO many great questions and even asked us to be baptized! So we set up a Date for her on April 9th to be baptized! She still has a lot to learn and come to know but that's super exciting!
So yea! Chilton is a really small town with lots of little towns surrounding it but there's a lot going on here! We live in a duplex right next to the recent converts so we have a pretty big apartment! The Address is 472 Cedar St Chilton WI 53014. I'm excited for the future in this area and I'm glad to be here! I love and miss you all!

Elder Stevens

First Pic is Elder Santos and I (my trainer)
Second pic is Elder Amann



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