The mission is going well, I love the area I'm in at the present time. My companion is kinda weird...but he's a great missionary. He's older than I by about 8 months. The area I'm in is kind of sketchy in some parts. As for the weather...It's been clear skies ever since I got here. HAHAHA! *points finger and laughs. Sorry I had to. The mission is challenging, it gets me out of my comfort zone, I like it. We have a baptism coming up this week. Her name is Susanne Bernstein. She's AMAZING. She's getting baptized on the 7th. She's SO ready. She was ready even before I got to the field. But I enjoy teaching her. Her testimony is SO strong and she's very receptive to what we have to say.
There is this other investigator that I have good feelings about. His name is Brian Kough. We're actually going to see him this Tuesday and watch the Joseph Smith Movie with him. He had a baptism date set before but he just doesn't come to church. He needs to come to church!!
We visited a man named Roger in the Hospital. He's a less active member. He's been diagnosed with cancer and he's in a lot of pain. He tries so hard to put on a good face. He does a good job of it too. He has a fantastic sense of humor. We shared some scriptures with him to give him comfort. He got a little emotional. We also left him with a priesthood blessing. After the blessing he opened his eyes and just pondered the words of the blessing. He started to cry, he looked up at me and I could see a lot of pain but also happiness in his eyes, as well as gratitude. He was SO grateful for what we did. I'm so glad to be out here, to be able to bless people's lives. I know the spirit is guiding me and supporting me in everything I do.
We ran into a man in the street working on his car. We asked if he needed help and he said (not unless you know anything about cars) That's when I laughed and said "actually..." long story short we had a 30 minute conversation with him about our religion and his beliefs as well. He believes a lot of what we do as LDSs. We gave him a Book of Mormon and gave him our contact info. Sadly he wasn't in our area so we had to refer him to some other missionaries. So we'll see how it goes.
Anyway, that's my first week here in Napa, CA. Let everyone know that I'm doing well and tell them to WRITE ME. Geez. lol. I'll be writing letters home when I get back home. So tell Josh and Cara that they'll get letters this week.
I love you all!!
Elder Graeme Newman
