No, it's not a picture at daytime. This is the effect of lightning when it hits less than 1/4 mile from your house at about 10:45 pm! We are all safe, but it was a nasty storm.
Hi everyone! Hope you are doing well. Here is the latest news from my mission!
On Monday
we didn't really do anything too major. It rained a lot of the day so we
couldn't really go anywhere. In the evening we went to see an elderly less-active
who paid more attention to The Voice than to us, but that's all good -- haha.
Tuesday
was kind of interesting. The day started with us hunting down a less-active member of the church who
lived literally in the middle of nowhere about 15 miles south of us. Some dude
came out without his shirt on and at first he
looked pretty menacing. He was pretty muscular for sure.
After
some light conversation we found out he is the father in law to the guy we
were trying to find. He helped us find where he actually lived and we thanked
him for the help.
We then
did some less active searching over in Carrier Mills (about 7 miles south of
us) but struck out repeatedly. Rejected, we headed up to Harrisburg again where
I felt prompted to stop by an elderly member who lives in a nursing home. We
had an awesome visit with her and learned how she joined the church. It's so interesting
being in a branch filled with converts. The boost to the day helped us teach
one of our progressing investigators later on about the tree of life. We will
be bringing a member with us next time we go.
Norwegian chocolate that we got from a member's foreign exchange student. It's pretty much a creamier Kit Kat bar--REALLY good.
Later
that evening we went over to the Russell's (Branch Mission Leader) and we had a
fun conversation and dinner with them. They fed us steaks which were really
really good. After that we went over to see this guy named Carmelo with Brother
Russell.
Carmelo's
son, RJ who is 7, started talking to us about baptism. We told him that when he
turns 8 years old he can be
baptized. He piped up "Well I turn 8 on May 7th! Can I be baptized on May
17th?!" We set that as a date for him. And then we started talking to his
father about it. He had been on the fence about baptism,
but actually agreed to plan May 17th as the day HE gets baptized too! We were
so stoked and Bro. Russell has gained a lot of faith in us now.
The
miracles didn't stop there. The next day I felt prompted to go to Long John
Silvers... I literally have never thought I would ever write that, but it turns
out, there's a less active who's a manager there! We set up
an appointment with him for Friday. And in an amazing turn of events, this less
active is Facebook friends with the less active we were trying to find the day
previously!!
Thursday
we had interviews with our mission president, which was great. He told me how
proud he was of the changes I was making as well as the improvements in the
area. He was pleased with how well I am
doing and sees big potential for me and the area. The assistants were also pleased
with my planning capabilities and attitude. By the end of the day I felt very
blessed and humbled.
Friday
was kind of interesting. We met up with the Long John Silvers manager and found
out he was actually in the process of moving in a few weeks. We had a great
conversation with him, though, and he and I personally connected since I worked
in the food industry for a little while when I was struggling with my faith,
too.
Later, we
went to see an elderly investigator who was very interested in what we believe.
This guy was raised
Pentecostal but now associates himself mainly with Quakers, which is really
amazing ‘cause for a while I just thought that group died out and the only
thing remaining was the Quaker Oats products--but he was cool and came to
church later in the week.
Saturday
was kind of interesting cause it went back to a slow roll. We weren't able to
see Carmelo or his son again because they had gotten sick. However we had a
great lesson win a recent convert. He told us the big reason he joined the
Church was because he felt needed instead of wanted. He also gave us a kitchen table that he had
gotten for free. We were in need of one and we're grateful for the help.
Sunday we
had 7 investigators at church which was a new personal high for me--even our
elderly investigator came. I sat next to him and helped him with the hymn book.
At the end of sacrament meeting he complimented my singing voice which was
awesome. Elder Stange gave a good talk on President Hinckley's talk "Find
the Lambs, Feed the Sheep." The branch was really excited at the news of a
father and son setting a baptismal date.
Later
that evening we went over to see our investigator with the kidney problem and
watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" with her since she
didn't know too much about church history. She loved it,
and there was a great spiritual boost in the room. Everyone felt it. She's
making great progress on quitting smoking too!
The area
is finally starting to pick up. We love serving and teaching the folks here. They are so wonderful! I am looking forward towards the month of May
for many reasons.
BIRTHDAY WISHES: Thank you all for asking me what I would like for my 21st birthday, on May 3rd. Honestly, I don't really need anything here. The majority of the stuff I
would like would be stuff I would use when I go home, but I suppose if there is
something I could ask, it would be a letter or email from each of you telling
me a story about how you helped out someone, or were kind to somebody else, or
when you saw the hand of God in your life from now (April 13th) till my birthday
on (May 3rd). I'm interested to see what happens here.
Thank you
all so much again for writing to me -- or even just saying hi.
I sincerely
appreciate and cherish every email I do get.
Elder Peery
Please
contact me at:
Elder Andrew
Peery
Tennessee Nashville Mission
105 Westpark Drive, Suite 190
Brentwood, TN 37027
Email: Andrew.peery@myldsmail.net
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