twas the p-day after christmas (or what has been happening this week)

Hey all,

  first of all I would like to thank everyone for the constant support and everything that you sent to cheer me up.  it really helped.  this week has seen many miracles now that we are finally gaining the members trust again.  It has seen us nearly triple our goals for receiving referrals and we have gained a couple of new and returning investigators thanks to that.  It was awesome to talk to the fam on friday and I  am stunned at how fast the littles have grown up. 

thats all for now, see y'all next week

Elder Strunk

While we were Skyping on Christmas, Maclane found out that the members where Grayson was Skyping lived on a farm.  When he found that out, he asked if they had a tree house.  Low and behold, they did.  so Grayson took a picture of it and sent it home for Maclane to see.

'twas four and a half days before Christmas...

hey all,

  this weeks email is going to be short and sweet as we get ready for Christmas.  it has been a week of contacting and we have seen miracles from the referrals that we have talked to.  we have one appointment set up for tomorrow with a woman named Tami and she has been going through a hard time and was very receptive when we knocked on her door.  other than that everybody is getting really excited for christmas and the holidays.

  Oh and before I forget, we had a mission story moment this week: we were tracting down a street by the local high school, and were teaching someone who had answered the door when we hear the thudding of what sounds like hoof-beats and turn to see a rottweiler the size of a small bear pounding toward us, fortunately we didn't get bit but it was loud.

see y'all friday

Elder Strunk

Crazy and Awesome all rolled into one letter

hey all,

  so you can stop holding your breath because yours truly is staying in martinsville for another transfer *does a happy little dance*.  this week has been crazy and awesome all at the same time.  reasons for crazy,  we have been getting nearly a referral a day and it's transfer week (as shown by the email on Wednesday) so we've been driving from heck to breakfast to contact them and start our area picking up again.  Reasons for it being awesome (and a little bit frustrating) the Alleys, who are a part member less active family, have been coming to church the past two weeks and have been staying nearly the whole time.  sister alley is amazing she is a member and has an amazingly strong testimony despite having had one trial after another.  Brother alley on the other hand is the reason for my frustration, he is not a member and has been taught by not only his wife but at least a hundred other pairs of missionaries as well.  he has a testimony and the only reason he is not a member is because he can't give up his morning coffee.  *head hits table and eyes roll toward heaven*  so any suggestions would be welcome. 

see y'all next week

elder strunk

P.S.  We will be skyping on christmas and If you can get me your account I will let you know the time so that you can join in or just gather together.

Week of Miracles

Hey all,

  this week has come and gone faster than any of it's predecessors and I still can't believe that it is monday.  the last week we have been transferring all of our contacts over to our new phone and calling them to let them know of our new number.  that has gained us many potential investigators.  As I think on this week we have seen the hand of the lord in our lives and in our area.  the first thing happened on wednesday,  we were going to visit a less active family (the Alens) when we were stopped by a woman as we were walking down the street.  we were a little wary at first but then she told the guy she was talking to "it's O.K., I'm mormon"  so we walk over to her and start to talk and come to find that she is a less active that is not in the branch directory (Sister Boone).   she then after talking with us tells us "I'd like to start coming to church again, and I would like you to teach my boys.  they are both old enough to be baptized"  which is awesome in the extreme.  then we exchanged numbers and parted ways.  the next thing happened on saturday as we were contacting some Media Referrals.  the brother's name was Lerone Vinson, and when we knocked on the door he came right up and started talking to us.  when we asked if we could share a message he told us he was just getting ready to leave, but if we could call him at another time he would be happy to listen to us.  so I'm kind of on a spiritual high right now and this week has been great.

Hope y'all are having a great season

Elder Strunk

Internal Fist Pumps

November 30, 2015

Hey all,

  this week was pretty dead due to the fact that it was thanksgiving and then black Friday... yay.  We did see some miracles come out of the service that we did to fill the Thanksgiving day. The service was helping serve a thanksgiving lunch to people who could not afford to buy one. I hope that this all finds you well and happy hand that you aren't buried in snow.  the weather up here has been fifties and sixties ... I WANT SNOW... anyway, as we were leaving service we happened to see a former Investigator (Earl) that was coming to get some dinner for himself and his daughter.  We said hi as he passed and he stopped us and talked for a while before giving us his number and telling us to call and set up an appointment.  *internally pumps fist* I'm glad that we saw a miracle from not just treating the holiday as another P-day.  anyway I'll let y'all know how it goes. 

November 23, 2015

hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and good night all,

  I think that covers it ... right?  Well anyway, this week has been a lot of knocking and talking so there isn't really much to write, but I'll give it a go.  the first thing that I shall do is answer the questions that have been posed to me about my companion.  things are going great, we get along pretty well and have a few common interests to keep us busy and entertained while on the not so fun duty of tracting.  he is from Murry so we were practically neighbors, and he knew Joe, so that is cool.  other than that it has been pretty calm.  though the Jehovah's Witnesses are starting their door blitzes so ... yeah it gets interesting sometimes, though we haven't had any confrontations yet. 

hope y'all have a great thanksgiving

  Elder Strunk

Drums and a Jazz Organ Funeral

Hey all,

  this week has been pretty cool.  we have been visiting members throughout the week and have been lucky enough to find the lovely members that are within walking distance from each other (yay less miles on the odometer)  they mostly didn't answer and so we will keep trying.  As for Bonnie, I think that she was just being nice when she first answered her door, because we haven't seen hide nor hair of her since we first saw her.  then there's Chris, he was just kind of there to state what he believed. as soon as we started to teach him the Restoration however, he dropped us |(. (grumpy face)  we have and appointment today @ six for a less active that we knocked on earlier this week.  we were told by the members that her husband was atheist, so this should be fun.  the weather here is definitely changing,  the temps are now in the thirties every morning and the days are usually in the sixties.  no snow yet but a lot of frost.  other than that it has been a week of knocking, talking, and "just keep walking"

Oh! before I forget.  one of the members of our ward passed away in her sleep this last week and the funeral was on Saturday.  which since most of her family is black (and Pentecostal) it made for a really interesting funeral. The first part was the fact that they played a jazz organ and drums whenever a musical number was played and then the preacher burst into song in the middle of his sermon so, that was interesting.  the message was good, though you had to be listening really closely to the preacher in order to hear it.  and then there were the 1'x3' speakers that were lined up above every Pew which made it so we left with cotton ear. (A liitle different then funeral services that he is used to attending.)h

hope to see y'all next week

Elder Strunk

Same Area, New Companion

Hey all,

  it's P-day again and I am having a good time with my new comp Elder Fidel (pronounced Fie-del).  this week has consisted of basically tracting and less active work so not really many updates.  Though while we were tracting the other day, we walked by this house and as soon as they saw us they slammed the door.  So we just kept on walking. 

  I love doing Less-Active work out here.  The people are just so nice, and it makes me happy to talk to them because they have a sincere desire to come to church but their health keeps them from coming.  sometimes I think that Satan knows how strong their spirit is and works Extra hard to keep them from seeking safety, which kind-of backfired with them because they all ended up just inviting us over and we strengthen them in their home. 

Hope this Finds Y'all well

Elder Strunk