Hiking, Biking, & Blessings

Hey Everybody!

It's been a pretty good week. A lot has happened and I'm excited for the next week to begin. I know that even though some of our numbers were lacking last week, we are set up for a good week to come and our prayers are being answered in very obvious ways.

This last week started off pretty slowly. We didn't have a lesson until Wednesday, and then we had half of our weeks lessons in that one day.  Monday and Tuesday were pretty dull. Not much happened, and not many people seemed interested in listening to what we had to say. It was our last day with a car for a week, so we tried to make the most of our time. Unfortunately, like I said before, we weren't able to make much happen.

Wednesday was pretty eventful. We didn't have a car anymore, so we had to make do with biking and walking. I wish I could say it was easy, but with my area being mostly located on the foothills of the nearby mountains, it seemed like it was uphill everywhere we went. We've started biking for a bit in the mornings so we can condition ourselves and get used to the climb. It's been slow progress, but we're getting better, and by the end of the transfer our calves and thighs will probably be huge.

The rest of the week went pretty quick. We had a few lessons here and there, and we tried to contact as many of the more promising names in our area book as we could. With it taking us nearly half an hour to get from place to place, there was only so much we could do. But, we made the most of our time and actually got a good amount of work done. We met some more great families, there are no shortage of them out here, and they were kind enough to help us out when they could. I think the help of the members really made up for our lack of mobility, that definitely being an answer to our prayers.

Sunday was pretty eventful. We ended up going to three different fast and testimony meetings. We were sitting in one chapel waiting for the third to start when we got a text that there was a nonmember couple attending sacrament in the other stake, and the ward mission leader wanted us to go to their meeting, meet them, and bear our testimonies. We were about a 20 minute walk away, and we had 15 minutes to get there. We booked it over and made it just in time for the meeting to start. The best part is that the nonmember couple just decided to go to church. We hadn't taught them before, or even met them. I believe that they have certainly been prepared by the Lord to be taught, and their change of heart has been an answer to our prayers.

That brings me to this morning. We got up extra early so that we could go hiking with one of our member friends before the sun came up. It was a difficult climb, by far harder than we had anticipated, but it was well worth it. Not only was it a great workout, but it provided an amazing view, and I got some great pictures. After that, we came home, showered, and commenced p-day as usual. That's been the highlights of this last week. I'm always grateful to hear from family and friends, and I appreciate the thoughts and prayers dearly. I look forward to hearing from you all, and until next Monday, have a great week!

Elder Orchard