Small and Simple Things

Hello everyone,

This week was another average week of missionary work.  The main highlights included a lot of service in various places, as well as a few great lessons and an exchange.  To start on the service side of things, the senior couple, the Woolley's, were gone for a funeral most of the week, so us missionaries got drafted into all of the projects they signed up for.  This included packaging frozen dinners at a local food place in the community center, digging large holes and transporting plants for an older lady moving next door, and serving people lunch.  The service took a while, but people definitely are seeing the missionaries helping the community which will ultimately cause them to trust us more.  The work should go back to normal next week, and we did still have plenty of time to knock doors this last week as well.

The exchange that happened took place in a nearby town called Coquille, with my district leader Elder Finlinson as well as his companion Elder Wikan.  It was a fun time and we contacted quite a few people and invited several less active members to come back to church. Coquille is a very hilly town that involved a lot of tiring walking. Towards the end of the exchange we then ran into some members who we knew from Medford that were coming through.  On the note of random people stopping by, since Bandon is such a huge tourist town we have come across many members from Utah stopping by, as well as a member of the mission presidency, President Cropper, coming to church while at a family reunion.  Bandon is the place Oregon comes to for vacations.

Finally we had a couple great lessons.  One was with a woman named Nancy where we talked about the Restoration.  The discussion turned to her talking about how she sees a light and difference between members of our church and others, and how she wants that for herself and her family.  She hasn't committed to baptism yet, but as time goes on and she learns more I believe she will definitely make it.  We also talked to several less active members, and taught about the importance of faith to others.  It has been great seeing the Gospel of Jesus Christ bless others, even if it is only in small ways at first.  Through small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

Thank you for all of the support and have a great Fourth of July!

Elder Baxter

From last week's zone activity