The Lord will Provide a Way

Hey! Fam and Friends, 

Well, obviously this week was great because every week in Georgia is amazing! It was only 95 degrees with 90% humidity yesterday and I was wearing a suit all day long! YAY! It's okay I'm used to it now, which is kind of weird. Anyway, this week was extra busy. I went on two exchanges.  One was with the YSA Elders and the other was with one of our Assistants, Elder Coleman. Both of the experiences were great! I went to the YSA area and got to spend the afternoon talking to kids my age and knocking doors in apartment complexes! I just pray that I won't be put in a YSA area because I would have WAY too much fun. When I'm with kids my own age, or a little older, I completely go back to my old self and just joke around and laugh the whole time. So that's what I did. If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong, in my opinion! On top of the fun, we had a really cool miracle happen to us, and it wasn't even spiritual. Our dinner appointment for that night was cancelled so we decided to go to a pizza place. Funny enough, none of the other Elders had more than $2 on their pre-paid cards so they weren't going to eat. But, I told them, "Don't worry guys the Apostles got by without anything so we will too!!" (I was really just going to pay for everyone with the money I had on my card, but whatevs.) So, we sat down and ordered and ate and I kept telling them, "Don't worry guys The Lord will provide a way!" So, when the waitress came to give us our check I was planning on just paying without them noticing but then she walked up and said, "Hey, Boys. Good news! That sweet old lady that walked out a few minutes ago paid for your meal! Have a great night!" Ha! I couldn't believe it! It was so sweet! S/O to that old lady. Hopefully I see her again so I can give her a big hug! The Lord will always provide a way, even if it just involves pizza!

The next day while I was on exchange with Elder Coleman, Elder Flake was in Lilburn with the other Assistant. While they were knocking doors, they met this young guy who answered the door but when he saw who they were, he didn't give them the time of day. Elder Flake said they walked away from the house just really frustrated because of the way he acted toward them. This is where it gets interesting.  Yesterday we didn't have a dinner appointment so we decided to take our dinner hour and go to the Bronkema’s church because they kept inviting us but we could never go. They went to the morning service and we couldn’t go with them but we still wanted to attend, so we went to the evening one. We went and it was pretty good. The band was awesome (LOL!) and the preacher gave a decent sermon about not judging people. When it was over, we were on our way out and the preacher approached us to introduce himself because he recognized us as Mormon Missionaries and he wanted to talk to us. He was a really cool guy named John. Well it turns out, this preacher was the guy that Elder Flake met in Lilburn, and here he was preaching about not judging anyone! So, he proceeded to apologize to us and say how sorry he was for his previous actions. It was actually really cool and I have a lot of respect for him! I thought the whole coincidence was hilarious.

Kamari was confirmed yesterday! It was amazing but it was also the scariest thing of my life because they were late and literally walked into the chapel right as it was announced, "Now we will have the confirmation of Kamari Underwood." Elder Flake and I were worried that they weren't going to make it. Elder Flake provided an amazing blessing and God used him to say some pretty incredible things! In the blessing Elder Flake told Kamari that he was going to be an example in the gospel for his family for the rest of his life.  Elder Flake also told Kamari how he needed to continue to develop spiritual strength so he could lead and guide them. It was amazing!

Aaysia is right on track to be baptized this weekend too. During the week, while we were teaching them, we talked to Emoy about the growth of the Church and the resources it has. (By the way, she is progressing with her testimony too. They should be moving out by September, if not October, into another apartment so she can get baptized. Yayyyy!) So, while we were talking I realized how much the Lord has played His hand in our relationship with Emoy and her children. For example, the way we met them through Brandon (her old boyfriend) and how Emoy broke up with him on the day after Kamari committed to baptism all worked out so perfectly. I also found out this week that Kamari and Aaysia usually go out of town every summer to their Grandma's house and stay there ALL summer long, but since Aaysia made a competitive gymnastics team they had to stay in Loganville, which meant we were able to continue to teach them. Little happenings like these are just so cool to me! Emoy even told us that when they go to the Virgin Islands or Maryland to visit her family she knows which church they are going to attend. Yah, Baby! She also told us that when she was growing up in Jamaica she used to ride her bike by the LDS church every morning on her way to school. Those aren't coincidences, PEEPS!!!

I’ve gotta go now but everything else is great! I'm going to go play basketball with a recent convert who played college ball at Florida! Thank you so much for all of your love and support! I love you guys! Have a great week!

Elder Roddy