Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Nov. 23, 2015 in Catawba, South Carolina

Hello!

Things in Catawba are just peachy. Peachy as in R___ accepted a baptismal date for the 19th of December! Woohoo! And she came to church again this last Sunday and loved it. We had a lesson Wednesday with Brother B___ (Ward Mission Leader) about the word of wisdom and it was super good! So yeah, R___ is pretty much the best. At the end of that lesson, Brother B___ told her the story of the Catawba Tribe (he is an Indian, though kinda distantly) and she was super amazed. She really likes Native Americans. Keep praying for her! Thanks for all the prayers already! 

Church on Sunday was wild, cause we had something going on all the time, plus ward council, plus choir at the end. We got to share a training in ward council on Vision, Goals, Plans, and Accountability. It was pretty fun. Then in church we helped pass the sacrament, as well as give the opening and closing prayers. Elder B___ taught the Gospel Principles class the second hour, and the 3rd hour we stayed for part of Relief Society so that Elder B___ could play the piano to accompany Sister R___ while she sang a song. It was good!  After church we went to choir. The Sister who conducts is super nice, and makes good apple crisp.  ;)  The piano player is the actual choir director, but he is usually playing the piano. Elder B___ helped people get some things worked out  and it all turned out good.  That was our crazy Sunday to cap a crazy week. But that is how I like it!

On exchanges this week I went to Monroe where we were feeding the homeless. Some other highlights this week include seeing the C___'s.  During our lesson with them this week we were teaching their 10 year old son and 8 year old daughter, and the son totally wants to get baptized soon and at the end of the lesson the son volunteered to pray and prayed that he could be baptized! So please pray for them too.

We saw Brother S___who we are going to start teaching. We also saw Brother P___  and the C___ Family. Brother C___ makes Catawban pottery, and he had some sweet pieces he showed us! We had a good lesson with them, gave them blessings, and at the end they invited us back when we didn't have a dinner sometime, so nice of them.   :)

On Saturday we went to Sister C___'s (yes, they are related somehow) and raked her leaves from her huge backyard into one gigantic pile. Here in the fall, everyone out in the country rakes their leaves into piles, lights them on fire, and let them smolder for the next 3 days. We made a huge pile and then jumped into it. It was a blast! (Elder B___ had only jumped in leaves a couple times before, so he really enjoyed it). Afterwards she fed us homemade soup and banana pudding! (Banana pudding is my favorite! :D) It was well worth it. I'll include some pictures.  :)

We are always praying and fasting to find more friends to teach. We found a couple good leads this week, so we are looking forward to this next week, especially with it being Thanksgiving. I've realized even more than before how thankful I am for my mission, and the longer I am out the more I feel this sense of urgency and excitement for the work.

I am ponderizing 2 Nephi 2: 25-28 this week.
Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

Thanks for the emails and fun stories! I sure love ya!

Happy P-day! 
From Elder Branch














So I have always heard about the infamous doughnut hamburger, two Krispie Creme doughnuts for the bun, burger in the middle. This week, thanks to the anonymous kind gift of a whole box of doughnuts and buying hamburger meat, I decided to give it a whirl. It honestly tastes a whole lot better than it sounds, but it is definitely the messiest and probably highest calorie hamburger I've ever had.
 










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