WASSSSUP
EVERYBODY,
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| "Do you understand the challenge I face?" |
HAPPY
EASTER! I hope everyone had a special weekend celebrating with friends and
family. It was an amazing week here in Georgia because all of the churches
focus on remembering the Savior's Atonement and everything He sacrificed for
us. For once, all the people that claim to have been "saved" actually attend church! YAYYYYY!!!
Let me just focus my thoughts this
week by addressing the fact that today is my eighth month mark in the mission field!
It's been the fastest eight months of my entire life! I love how everything goes by
so quickly when you get lost in the service of the Lord!
Even though I wasn’t able to find any
homies to play ball with this week, Elder Flake and I saw some amazing miracles!
I don't think I've ever been busier than I was this week! The Lord is blessing
us with tons of people to teach right now and it's amazing. Let me tell you
about a few of them.
One of our investigators, Patrick, has been smoking for
the last twenty-one years and he wants to get baptized but he can't until he
stops smoking. So this week we taught him about the Word of Wisdom and set up a plan
for him to quit. I was able to give him a blessing to help him have the
strength to quit and it was such an awesome experience. The next day we went
over to his house again and Patrick had reduced from twenty-five cigarette's a
day down to just three! For the last couple days he's been smoking under five a
day, so he's making huge progress! Please keep him in your prayers!!
We also found a lady named
Sophia Johnson who was taking the missionary lessons about six months ago, but
she was going through a lot in her life and couldn't really handle it at that
time. Sophia is African American and she's like your typical Southern girl. We
went over and taught her this week and she expressed how excited she was to
start going to church again and take the lessons while her life was under
control. She pulled out her old Book of Mormon and said, "See, I bet I
didn't even get to read this. That's how busy I was." Then she started
looking through it and saw that she had actually taken a ton of notes and had read
quite far after all! I wish you all could've heard her reaction to looking at
her Book of Mormon. She started yelling
and said, "OOOOOO LOOK AT THIS BOYS!!! I WAS ALL UP IN THIS BOOK!
YEAAAA BABY!!!" I'll never get tired of the Southern people and their
enthusiasm!
In the Georgia Atlanta North Mission
we have to try and make seventy meaningful contacts a week (that’s ten a day)
outside of our teaching appointments. On Sunday night Elder Flake and I needed
five more contacts. So we started walking around our apartment complex and talking to as many
people as we could. At about 8:58 p.m. we needed one more! Just then, we saw this African American guy in
a tank top walking across the yard, so we started sprinting towards
him! I have to say, I was scared out of my mind because he was LITERALLY
TYING HIS DU RAG AROUND HIS HEAD when we approached him. We learned his
name was Brandon and that he was actually looking for a church to attend. So, he invited us to meet with him last
Saturday. When we went over to his place we met his fiancé, Emoy, and
her two kids, Kamari and Aaysia. We taught them about the Restoration and it
was SWEEEET. Then, less then twenty-four hours after meeting with them, they
all came to church yesterday. It turns
out Kamari and Aaysai know several of the kids in our ward from their school. It
was so perfect! They also committed to attending the ward talent show this week
and Brandon and Kamari are going to perform in it! I can't even tell you how
ready this family is for the gospel! The only problem is, (Do you see the
pattern? There is always a problem.) Brandon and his fiancé, Emoy, aren't
married yet and they're living together. So, if they're not willing to get
married then we're going to baptize the kids before them. But we're hoping they
are willing to have a quick little marriage ceremony at the church because
everyone in Georgia knows that Elder Flake and I would put together the best
wedding ceremony and reception they’ve ever seen! The flowers, food and décor would
be from Walmart and the total cost wouldn’t exceed our monthly budget. Ya,
baby!
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| Elder Roderick models his "Eye of the Tiger t-shirt." |
On Easter Sunday our ward had an
amazing service which was focused on the Savior and His Atonement. The choir
sang some gorgeous songs, and instead of individual speakers, a family in our
ward narrated the ministry and Atonement of Jesus Christ throughout the
program. I wish you all could've felt the spirit that I felt! I'm so lucky to
be able to serve right now and experience that spirit every single day!
I love you all! Thank you so much for
your support.
Have a great
week,
Elder Roddy
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