Week 15 - Investigators

My Dear Family,

I'm glad that things are going well back home! An investigator family that we've been teaching ever since I arrived finally came to church this past Sunday for the first time! I believe it was, in part, because we actually gave service to them the day before. We stopped by and we saw that they were cleaning the kitchen, so we decided to jump in and help them! They're planning on coming to church again this Sunday, and yesterday, the husband told me that he started reading the Book of Mormon from the very beginning that morning. He read the Testimonies of the 3 and 8 witnesses and the testimony of Joseph Smith as well. As he told us, he had such a big smile on his face, and he said that he felt so good all throughout the day because he read the Book of Mormon.

Also, we have this family of investigators that we are teaching, and they seem super ready for baptism! the young boy who's 7 says that he loves reading the Book of Mormon with his mom way more than doing his homework! The mom agrees and accepts everything that we're teaching her and the family! Tonight we're going to go see them and make sure that they are willing to be baptized on May 31. Hoping and praying that all goes well! :D

One thing I learned is that, it doesn't matter if I know the language perfectly, all that matters is that I have the spirit with me when I teach, because that's who truly teaches people and tells them of the truth.

I did get the box with the shampoo, ties, mints, and cookies! I loved them so much! I was so excited about the mints haha you know those are my favorite! I've worn all 3 ties now, and we already ate the cookies! haha

This past week was also hard because of the anniversary of Dad's passing. There was one day, I think Tuesday morning, I was struggling missing Dad. I was praying in my heart and telling Heavenly Father the concerns and desires of my heart. I told Heavenly Father about how I really missed Dad, (especially because of the 10 year mark,) and about how I really wanted to see him again. At that moment, a vision came to my mind of me standing in front of a mirror wearing my missionary attire. A voice came to my mind and heart saying, "He's here, Patrick. He's right here. You look at yourself in the mirror and you see him. He's a missionary, just like you. He's doing the exact same thing that you are doing. He's preaching the gospel just like you, bringing souls unto Christ. He's here with you always." and after that, the scripture came to my mind where it says that the son doeth nothing but what he seeth the Father do. I'm really grateful for that experience, because it testifies to me that Dad truly is here with me, that he's proud of me, and that we are working together to help bring souls unto Christ. I consider that the best thing to happen to me this week.

Please continue to write and email when you can!

With much love,

Elder Patrick Wockenfuss 

[Here's an excerpt from his e-mail to Mary, too.]

God has worked in many ways this week! Some of which I shared in the family email. But another experience is when we gave service in helping someone get his stereo system installed in his car. We spent a good amount of time working on it, but at the end, we told him what we do, we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, and he said he got chills once he held it. He said that's how he feels the spirit. We told about the promise in the book of Mormon about praying to know it's true and knowing by the power of the holy ghost. He said that that was probably the answer right there! miracle!