Fighting the Battle

Hey y'all!!!!

This week in Hickory Flat was so awesome!! It was super busy which meant Roddy got all stressed out, of course, but that's just the life of a missionary!!

            We had a lot of amazing experiences this week! I'm going to tell you about a couple that really standout because they are so inspiring.

            For the last couple weeks, we have been teaching a kid named Kenny Morris. He is extremely intelligent and he knows the Bible like no one else. He has an intellectual and in-depth way of thinking and he hates it when we just teach him the “basics.” Ha Ha. He wants to know EVERYTHING. For the last few months, Kenny and his sister, Amanda, have been living with some members in our ward. When they were in high school, their dad took his own life and their mom was addicted to drugs, which led them to have crazy lifestyles of their own because they didn’t have any support from home. Kenny ended up in jail, which is where he actually had his first conversion to God and came to understand His importance. When Kenny got out of jail, he and his sister were homeless and they walked the streets of Atlanta in search of food and shelter. He also spent his time preaching to the homeless people and sharing his wisdom with them. Ha Ha. Well, through Facebook, Amanda found the Wymans (the members) who invited Kenny and Amanda to live with them. Teaching Kenny has been hard because it's always complex and he's stubborn about a lot of his beliefs. This Thursday he called us and told us to hurry over to the Wymans. So, we did. He sat us down and told us that the night before while he was praying to find out if what we were teaching him was true, God spoke to him as if he was right next to him and told him that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was His kingdom on the Earth and that he was to be a priesthood holder one day! It was the most amazing thing I've ever heard!! We all had a huge group hug in the living room.  Ha Ha. We set up a baptismal date and everything, but then I got sad news from my Mission President that Kenny couldn't be baptized until he was off of probation, which is in a LONGGG time. So, who really knows when Kenny is going to be baptized? In the meantime though, he is coming to church, with holes in his shoes and all, and he plans on being the best "member" he can be. I can't wait to fly back to Hickory Flat one day and see him get baptized into God's church!

            I had another inspiring spiritual experience this week. Right now we're teaching the bishop's next doors neighbors, a family named the McFaddens. They are Catholic but don't really know much about what they believe and their children are especially interested in learning more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the parents not so much). Anyway, we taught them on Saturday and after our lesson we went next store to talk to Sister King (the bishop's wife) about our experience. Sister King ended up sharing her conversion story with us, because like the McFadden children, she was once a 12 year-old Catholic girl who was able to find truth in the Mormon Church. I won't tell you her whole story because it's personal, but she said something to us at the end that will stick with me forever. She explained that the McFadden kids have so much potential to be great in our church, and Satan knows it.  So, he will do everything he can to stop us from converting them. She said, "You guys have to realize that the adversary is going to do everything possible to draw those kids away from the Spirit. He knows their potential. Once, that was me over there.  So, I know their potential too. Every time you walk over to that house, you are going to battle. It's you against him, and he knows he can't win." Do I need to add any commentary to that?

            I'm so grateful that I have this opportunity for a couple years to represent Jesus Christ and bring people the happiness of the gospel! I know the adversary is always trying to stop us and distract our investigators, but it's a battle that I'm happy to be fighting in because I know I'm fighting on the right side!!

Have a great week everyone!! Love and pray for you all!!

Elder Roddy