ALL THE EXCITEMENT AND AWESOMENESS!

Hey all,

this week has been one amazing experience after another.  first off the weather has been AH-MAZING. the days are in the 70s and at night it cools off to about 50 (the only exception to this is when it is raining).  we have been walking a lot and have seen so many blessings because of it.  there are opportunities for teaching opening up and we have been doing that with gusto.  

now for the reason on the title.  if y'all can remember back that far we have been meeting with an investigator named Robert Ross daily for almost two weeks now and he has progressed exponentially since the start.  he is reading and praying and has felt the spirit numerous times we have invited him to watch conference and he has accepted the invitation and will be streaming it through his tablet (technically it is his Granddaughter's tablet) and is really excited for his baptismal date on April 16.  and frankly, so are we.  he has almost completely stopped smoking and has been looking for alternatives to coffee as well.  his wife, who would usually leave when we first started teaching, has been sitting in on some of the discussions.  we have high hopes for the entire family and are praying continually for them.

we did have someone tell us not to come back at the moment. but that is behind and honestly I am on a continual spiritual high from brother Ross.

see y'all next week

  Elder Strunk

Today felt like and ugly tie day...

explanations and epic people.

hey all,

  

  this week has gone by so fast that I am still reeling from it.  we have seen many miracles and a lot of wear on shoes.  we started out the week with an amazing visit with a new investigator and taught the restoration to him (he was kind of drunk at the time, so it was a blessing that his granddaughter was there (he is taking care of 10 of his grandchildren) to listen as well and help us talk with him and set up a date to return).  we saw him three more times throughout the week and he has progressed amazingly since then.  we are currently helping him through the word of wisdom and he has an honest desire to be baptized.  

  we also met with the Taylors who are a less active family who attend another church and are very scripturally minded.  they are not as strong on the authority part of the restoration and  we have a meal before talking about the scriptures and they fill us to bursting.

  now onto my pharisee comment in the last email.  He is a person who likes to follow the letter of the law and sometimes does not feel the spirit of the law.  his heart is in the right place but he is a little stiff.

the new area is booming an the shoes are falling apart (it's a blessing to have super-glue) but I am losing weight and am getting used to walking, as we have zero miles at the moment and are trying to save them for meetings during the upcoming week.

see y'all next week]

   Elder Strunk

greenie breaking, 12 new investigators, and a whole lotta walking

hey all,

  this week has been quite the amazing week (even if most of it was tracting...) we had a whole bunch of neat experiences and put a few miles on our shoes.

  A few things about our area.  It is centered around Galax Virginia (pronounced Gae-lax) and covers a fair bit of land.  it is a more rural area and we count it as basically a walking area as our miles only go so far...  it doesn't help that they left us with about 400-ish miles and we are not even half way through the month.  

my new comp is Elder larson.  he has been out four months and it is an interesting relationship.  he has just finished training and is kind of a pharisee when it comes to the rules.  he is a nice guy however and is easy to get along with.  

and now for the other part of the title 12 NEW INVESTIGATORS! this week we did do a lot of walking and we saw miracles from it as we picked up 3 families and a couple of single individuals  (one family speaks Spanish though so it is kind of hard for me)  Anyway as we were tracting the other day we knocked on a door and a man answered and asked us how we were and what we wanted.  after stumbling through a door approach I asked of it was something he and his family would be interested in and he nodded and asked us to come in where we met his wife Kirsten (or something to that effect) and her dad Donald (called duggie, or duckie I can't remember exactly) and as we talked with Andrew and his family they seemed interested and we shared a thirty minute lesson with them.  a day later we were looking for a less active member and had the general area of her residence and felt prompted to stop and ask for directions at a house.  (keep in mind that it was dumping buckets on us at the time.) and a nice mexican family answered the door.  Pres. Nielson, the member who was with us spoke to them in spanish and quickly got us directions, though at that point it had started to rain fairly hard so they invited us in,  as we talked they invited us to share our message and we did, opening with a word of prayer.  Pres. Nielson served as our translator and we had a great lesson.

see y'all next week

ELder strunk

fast transfer and unexpected news.

Hey all,

  well this transfer has gone by really fast and I have had a lot of fun in christiansburrg.  as you can probably guess by my first sentence and the title of this email, I am the one that is hitting the road.  I will be staying in pembroke zone and will be able to see a new part (Hillsville, VA).  I have seen many people and am leaving a part of my heart here.

  this week we focused on finding and were able to start brewing some referrals for elder hartwell and elder sorenson. nothing really new other than that.  

the weather out here is so bipolar it is insane.  last week it was cold and snowy and this week it is in the 70s (see what I mean?) 

see y'all next week

Elder Strunk

P.S.  this transfer will be seven weeks with transfer day on WEDNESDAY April 27th and preparation day the day before on TUESDAY April 26th. 

A little Something extra...

I got this today from Gray...

I found this while going through the bags in the box that you sent.  and was wondering if this was intentional.