What a week, what a week...

Dear Family of mine,

What a week, what a week. Heavenly Father does a really good job of putting us in places and situations that help us grow. It is not easy, it usually never is, but it is worth it. But sometimes it can also be pretty funny haha. 

We went on a couple exchanges this week and that was really cool. The first one was with Elder Jacildo, a brand new missionary from the Phillipines. He is a convert and is so enthusiastic about doing the Lords work. It made me motivated to see him motivated! We had a couple cool experiences, but the coolest one was with Roxanne. We went to go look for a media referral, and she ended up not being there, but her friend was. Her friends name is Roxanne and she knew exactly who we were. She then explained to us that she used to meet with the missionaries, feed them dinner and that she still has her Book of Mormon and reads it from time to time...MIRACLE! She said that she is pretty busy but she gave us her number and her address and told us that we could come over sometime. We are going to try to get in touch with her this week. We also met with Russel, a potential investigator that we have and he and Elder Jacildo hit it off pretty quick. I will send you a picture of him. I also got to go on an exchange with one of the Assistants, Elder Asuao and I loved that. Elder Asuao was in my first district on my mission and we got to know each other pretty good. It was fun to catch up and just talk to him. 

We got to go to the temple with Patrick on Saturday and that was a special experience. Patrick was so prepared and I know that it was cool for Elder Bracken because it isn't too often that missionaries get to go through the temple with someone that they helped to baptize.  I am so happy for Patrick that he gets to enjoy the blessings of the temple. 

Well we better get going. I will send a few pictures quick and end with a little something from my Presidents letter:

I know that this thought isn't from the Book of Mormon, but I still wanted to share it. I was reading in the Topical Guide today looking for something that would help our District grow close together like a family. I found a scripture that answered my question and answered a lot of other questions that I have had as well. The scripture is in 1 John 5:2 and it says:

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

The way we will grow closer as a district or as a companionship which in essence is learning to love each other, is increasing our love for our Heavenly Father. When we love God, we love his children. And it goes the other way as well, when we learn to love his children we begin to love Him more too. And also if we focus on being obedient to God and his spirit that is another way we show our love for him which will in turn increase our love for those around us. Pretty Cool.

I love you guys. Thank you for everything!

Love,

Elder Devin Soper