A Mighty Change...Onward Ever Onward....

Monday, Apr. 25, 2016                                             Port Arthur, TX 2016  
                                                                                              Kingwood, TX 2016

" Today we got a phone call from Sister Tegtmeier and she told us that Brother Tegtmeier was very ill and under quarantine. She wanted to let us know so we wouldn't go by and see him. We felt impressed to go by anyways and asked a nurse if there was any chance we could go in. So she gave us a gown, breathing mask, and gloves. We entered in and Sister Tegtmeier was surprised to see us. We told her we were here to give Brother Tegtmeier a blessing! So I gave the blessing and man there are some blessings that are hard to give and others where the words just flow from your mouth, faster than you can think. This blessing just flowed. It was kinda weird cause I've never given a blessing in gloves and talking with a breathing mask. It was a super cool experience especially cause it is the last time I'm going to see them.

We were told today that transfers have been changed to tomorrow not Saturday! The day goes by pretty quick. At the end of the day we are going through the part member list and we started visiting them. We were on the name Konjoyan. We go to their house and they don't answer. We knock on the neighbors door and he answers and we ask him if his neighbors moved and he said yes. We ask him if he knows where they moved to and he answered YES. He proceeds to give us southerner directions. Like- Well, go down the street and make a right. Follow the street for five minutes and turn at the giant tree that is bigger than the rest. Then you will see Nederland High School. There is a street across from that-turn off that street and you will see these huge houses and one of them has a giant lion in front. Then make a right and his house is a big house and he likes sport cars. We try to follow his directions and eventually find the big lion. We get to the street and it is a pretty big street and all the houses are mansions. We start knocking down the street and are having no success. Elder Strong was like, "Man! Why can't they just have a giant 'K" on their door?" So we go to the next house and there is a giant K on their door. We look at each other with a surprised look and eagerly knock on the door. A guy answers and looks at us with a surprised look and says, "Come in Elders." So we went in and he tells us he has company over or else he would show us around. He said, " Well, my wife was a member and we talked about it and well...Let's just say, I'm so glad you stopped by." He asked for our card with our number on it and he asked for our names-like our first names, too. (I am surprised I remembered it!). He said he would call us next week. 

It is late so we were going home and we were in the parking lot and a person waves us down and says she came from California. She was taught by missionaries there and she wanted to know if there was any way she could finish being taught by them? We asked her where she lived and she said Orangefield. It so happens that was my last area, so I give her their phone number cause I still had it memorized. She thanked us so much. 

There was a person we helped move a couple of days ago. We taught her and she said she would like to learn more so I told her we have friends in Montana where she is moving to. I told her they could stop by and teach her. She said thank you but I live in Nye, Montana and there is no way any missionaries can be in that area. We we called the missionaries there and told them to give her a call and tell her it was her friends in Port Arthur. At about 10:00 p.m. we get a call from the Montana missionaries and they told us that they called her and she was BLOWN AWAY that we actually have friends that can cover that area. She told them she would be happy to have them come by and teach her and show the missionaries around her small town. So that was our day and I finished up the night packing and kinda wishing I was staying cause things are starting to pick up and honestly I feel like I shouldn't be leaving, but it is what it is! 

So I packed my bags and we're headed to transfers. The rain started in again and it rained pretty good for a while. We arrive at transfers and I get put with Elder Moos in Kingwood 3. I'm pumped even though Kingwood is a biking area. It has green belts, which are sidewalks that go though these forests and keep you away from traffic. The ward I am in is amazing, like one of the best wards in the mission. I'm in one of the richest wards in the mission, ha ha. The area I am in is full of mansions-you gotta have money to live here. Since it rained super hard, half of my area is flooded, so we have a lot of service ahead of us!

It took me a little bit to figure this out, but our apartment smells really weird. I was trying to think of what it smelled like and then it hit me today. Our apartments literally smells like weed. So I turned to my companion and I'm like, "Elder, does it smell like weed?" He said , "Yeah it has always been like that." Honestly, it's super weird because it is the richest area. 

After that we went and taught some people and then we visited some members and one of their recently baptized converts. Man, people in Kingwood are solid. The members are the best I've ever seen and even the investigators are solid. 

So we are knocking on doors and we knock on this one door and this lady comes out and tells us that she hates religion and she is not that happy of a camper! We talk to her and she told us she was a Catholic but some stuff happened, like really bad stuff and she goes off. She then told us that her husband passed away a week ago. We talked to her for about forty-five minutes and she was almost in tears. She said she couldn't come to church this week  but she would come to church next week. She had some pretty crazy ideas about Mormons, but she kept saying that maybe this was a sign that she should join y'all! So yeah, so far I love Kingwood except for the fact that I left my bike light in mid county and it gets dark, like pitch black on those green belts cause there are no lights, just trees! The sidewalks aren't straight, they're wavy, so it has been a challenge. 

I had a baptism in my last area, so I got a member to drive us there so I could attend. It's weird that it's only been three days since I left, but it seems like forever ago! My old district said that they want me back! So we did the baptism and I remembered to get my bike light. We drove back and ate dinner. 

We had church today, and our congregation is big like there was 260 people and we also have 60 young women and about 12 young men. Like this is a good ward. After church we ate lunch and it started to drizzle rain, so we grabbed coats and rode out thinking that it would stop, but nope it started to pour. We were riding our bikes for about 25 minutes in the pouring rain till finally we were sick of it and were soaked from head to toe. We stop at a members house and they invite us in and the husband gives us clothes to change in to. He threw our wet clothes in the dryer. We visit them and then ride to our dinner and eat there and right when we were about to leave, it starts to pour again so we stay at a members house and they let their kids ask us missionary questions and then we rode home when the rain cleared up again. 
Love, 
Elder Saunders

Flooded area in Kingwood on my way to transfers. The big circle is a home up on stilts and the water is half way up. The smaller circle is a mailbox and it is 3/4 of the way under water.  April 2016

Baptism in my old area that I was able to go to. Elder Strong, Justin-9 years, Elder Saunders. Port Arthur, TX 2016

 

                                                                                             

Transfers, Flooding and Delayed Transfer

Monday, Apr 18, 2016                                                   Port Arthur, TX

" We went on exchanges today. We taught some people and had some time left over so we went into the area book and found this one former that lived close by in this pretty big apt complex. So we pull up and I hear, "Elders! Elders! " I turned around and see Ram(my homie who is about nine years old and he's from India, so he has that cool accent). I walked up to Ram and said, "What's up my homie?" and I gave him knuckles. We talk and he asked what we were doing here. I told him we were trying to find Apt #35 but we couldn't find it. Ram said, "I can find it." He runs back to his friend group and tells them to find Apt 35. These ten kids are running around the Apt complex trying to find 35 and they are asking everyone outside and then Ram asks these two girls and they go into the office and ask the person there. Haha, it was so funny.We ended up finding the apartment, but no one was home. We had some time to spare so we showed Ram and his friends a video and talked more about Jesus. Then we met a member at an Italian place and I had the best Lasagna that I have ever tasted. 

Today our friend, Derick(The Pentecostal preacher) drove us around all day, cause we were kinda short on miles. He drove us and sat in on lessons with us. He didn't teach with us. The only words he used was to introduce himself or to fellowship the other person. Pretty awesome. 

Last week when I was on exchanges, Elder Strong stopped by Justin's house (Justin is our investigator). Elder Strong told me how he went to see Justin. They knocked and Justin answered and they said he looked half asleep so Elder Strong is like, " Sorry, did I wake you?" Justin didn't answer so Elder Strong asks him another question and then Justin looks backward at his mom. He then looks at Elder Strong and then back to his mom again and back to Elder Strong again. Then he hands Elder Strong his Book of Mormon and closes the door. So Elder Strong is thinking that Justin just got anti'd by his parents. Fast forward to today and we stopped by Justin's house and he is outside so we talk to him. We found out Justin's story on what happened that one day. He said he worked the night shift and he was super tired and sleeping when Elder Strong knocked on the door. He was still half asleep so he didn't talk. When Elder Strong was asking him if he was tired, he said he looked at the chair he was sleeping in and then back to Elder Strong, then the chair and back to Elder Strong. He then handed Elder Strong the Book of Mormon and closed the door, and went to put on a shirt. When he came outside, he looked around and there were no missionaries. He was like, Shoot man, maybe they thought I was mad at them. So he went back inside. So we taught him some more and gave him back his Book of Mormon. After that we did our 'Hour of Power' and met this sweet Baptist couple who actually invited us back and said they would check out our church!!

We had weekly planning today, so we planned some and then went to this pretty ghetto apartment complex to teach one of our investigators. When we went there he wasn't home, but he had three chairs outside his house....So we resumed weekly planning right there. It was actually a lot more enjoyable just planning outside not trapped inside!

I went on exchanges with Elder Tukuafu and then we got a call to do more service in Deweyville. We helped gut more people's houses, one of which we hit a water line and had to get water out again. After that we went to 'Chucks' again and got some more 'Redneck Nachos'. We came back to Port Arthur and me and Elder Tukuafu biked down to the ghetto and did some service to one of their less active members. We put up Sheetrock and took out some wood and made a huge bonfire. So huge that it almost lit the trees on fire, so we ran and grabbed some water to put it out. We biked back and then we got transfer calls and I found out that I am leaving my area. I was pretty mad! I really wanted to stay here in Port Arthur, even if it was for 6 months, but I get no choice, so I got over it. Plus it is kinda cool but now I've been to 5 outta 6 transfers.

Today was Sunday and it was a sad day cause I'm leaving, but we had church so ya. We ate at an investigators house and he asked me if we could have girlfriends. I told him yes but not on a mission. He was like, dang! I do this bowling league thing every Tuesday and there are some young pretty girls that go there and I thought you looked like some cool guys so I could set you up with some. We said thank you but we can't do that. Then I went home and packed. 

So it's transfer day and I got all my stuff packed and then the rain came and they postponed transfers. It is flooding bad down here so I took pics and videos.

Love,

Elder Saunders

Elder Tukuafu and me at our district planning meeting. April 2016 Port Arthur, TX

Bro. Matney and his son, me and my boy, Robert. Port Arthur, TX Apr 2016

My district in Port Arthur- Back row, Sis Madsen, Sister Rawle, Elder Ludlow, Elder Strong, Elder Bigler, Elder Goettsche. On the front row-Elder Tukuafu, Elder Saunders, Elder Rosenlund, Elder Hepworth Apr 2016

Sisters Madsen and Rawle, Elders Ludlow, Strong, Rosenlund ... In front, Elders Tukuafu and Saunders, Bigler, Hepworth and Goettsche. 

Flooding outside of our apartment in Port Arthur, TX. We quit driving after our car nearly sunk as you see the first car heading into deep water.  April 2016

Our beloved Houston Temple surrounded by water. The water came up to the gate and did not come farther even though the houses surrounding were half  way under. April 2016

We Taught as We Walked and Walked and Walked and Walked.....

Monday, April 11, 2016                                                         Port Arthur, TX

" Okay, So I had an exchange with a Spanish Elder. We went to our investigator, Justin's house, to teach him. When he answered the door he told us he had to go to work. Now, Justin walks to work, so we're like, " Hey, well can we walk and teach?" So we end up walking and teaching and his work is 2.2 miles away. We teach him about baptism and the word of wisdom. We finish just as we come up to the building. After that we have to walk 2.2 miles back to get to our car in the heat! That kinda sucked but hey at least we taught him. 

Then we taught Joann again. She had a question about 1 Nephi  chapter 4, when Nephi kills Laban. Honestly I was thrilled when she said she didn't understand why Nephi killed Laban because if she didn't have a question, it would probably be because she didn't actually read it. So we taught her and she understood! The coolest part is after we taught her, she's like, "Can I have a blessing?" She explained how eight years ago she had some health problems so the missionaries gave her a blessing. So....I gave her a blessing. Man, when I was giving her the blessing, I have never had words come to me that easy. I've given tons of blessings, but for some reason with Joann, I couldn't spit the words out fast enough before another line came to my head. It was a pretty long blessing.

So after I was done with one exchange, I had another one planned with the Elders in Bridge City. I took my stuff from the previous exchange and we drove there. When I got there I realized that one of their bikes was broken, so that means that we would be walking around all day. So we walked, and knocked and walked and knocked and then knocked some more. We literally had a horrible day! We had no set appointments and no one wanted to hear us out. However, there was a tender mercy. We were walking back to our house and we were about 5 miles away. We are tired and it's hot and honestly I am not the most happy camper at this point. So we were walking and this truck is coming down the road. He pulls over and rolls down his window. So we walk up and the guy said, " Man, do y'all need water? Y'all look like you've been working hard." I told him ha ha. We sure have been. He asked us, "Where y'all going to?" My companion tells him the street and the guy was surprised we were going down there. I said yeah that's what I thought when he told me we were going there. The guy laughed and then he said, "Okay, my house is around the corner and I'll get y'all some waters." Then he took off and we were standing at the street corner watching him leave and he drives and drives and drives and it's a really long road. He turns off and he's gone for like 10 minutes. Then he comes back and gives us two ice cold waters. I asked him how far away his house was and he tells me four miles. I was kinda taken back and he told us, "Hey it was worth it. Y'all work super hard and do a heck of a job. Y'all really make a difference in this world and I appreciate you." Honestly, he had the most sincere voice I have ever heard on my mission. I looked up at him and I was like, " Hey, man, God Bless. You have no idea how much you have helped." He then drove off but that changed how I viewed that day. It like pumped me up. So we finished the day and my companion has a watch that tracks the distance we walked... We walked 14.4 miles that day. Which I don't know what Brazil gets in a day, but I'd say that's pretty good. 

Today we saw some people and then went to the church because Elder Strong had to give a baptismal interview to two of the investigators that the Spanish Elders taught. The interviews went longer than expected and we had a lesson set up, so we took a member with us. Since the baptismal interview was taking longer, I took Elder Tukuafu(a Polynesian Spanish elder) with us. Man just going out and teaching with him made me want to be his companion. It would be a bomb transfer. He is so positive! We had a dinner scheduled but the Spanish Elders had a little league game scheduled and they invited us to go, too. We picked up Chinese food and watched the game. It was a cool game even though it was just little kids, but they were really good!!

I must say that today was one of the best days of my mission. Elder Strong is fixin to leave( that is not why it is one of my best days) and he got hurt a while back and he's been feeling not so good. He got permission from President Drake to leave the area and go to President Harris' house in Vidor. Now, President Harris is the most scriptural sound guy I have ever known. Every now and then he invites the Vidor missionaries over and he feeds them  and lets them ask him any doctrine question and he answers them all. It just so happened that it fell on the day we went! So we went into his house. We sat down at this giant table filled with doughnuts, fruits, cereals, etc. He came in and there was us and six other missionaries and his daughter. He asks us if we have any questions... So I asked him about the resurrection and the first and second Resurrection. I asked him where resurrected bodies go and someone else asked about judgment. President Harris thinks for a minute and answers all the questions so simply and easy so that anyone can understand them. Missionaries asked him question after question about super deep gospel doctrine stuff and about what it says in Revelations in the Bible. He answers all of them and proves them by quoting prophets and apostles and books written by them. After we were outta questions, he starts to tell us about Joseph Smith. Let me tell you he had thirteen points about Joseph Smith he wanted to cover. He spent an hour and a half on one of those points telling story after story about Joseph talking to angels and doing some amazing things. The amazing thing is all of those stories  I have never heard before. He still had 12 points left. He asked if we had any more questions and he answered some more questions. Then he closed the meeting. Man, I wish I could have taken notes, cause there was so much information that I learned in those three hours. 

So then everyone but us left and President Harris(who is also Dr. Harris) went and checked Elder Strong and evaluated him and his problem. It was cool cause he told us a lot more things, not gospel related but medical and how to work out, how to stretch, overall just how to stay healthy. So that was cool.

Our ride showed up and we drove to Liberty, Texas, which is about an hour and 20 minutes East of Vidor. Elder Strong got permission from President Drake to meet his sister's birth mom who is not a member. So we met in Liberty at this burger place called Jax. It was super good. I've heard it's the best burger place in the mission. I wouldn't be surprised if that was true. I had the Diablo burger that had deep fried jalapenos, spicy mayo, bacon, hot sauce, and a giant patty. Their fries were also the bomb, too. So Elder Strong meets his sister's  birth mom and they were talking so I tried to stay outta it and let them just talk to each other.
Love, 
Elder Saunders 

Missionaries On the Porch at Chucks in Evadale, Texas. Evadale has a Paper Mill that makes the town smell like a Septic Tank according to the locals, ha ha.  Hence the Sign above our heads: "We're the best smelling thing in Evadale."

Eating my amazing potato skin Nachos. I love this Hole in the Wall restaurant called, 'Chucks' in Evadale, Texas. April 2016

Helping with the cleanup in Deweyville, TX after the flood. Apr 2016

Sign at Chucks in Evadale, Texas-Apr 2016

Chucks in Evadale, TX It is actually quite famous for being in the middle of nowhere!! Apr 2016

Come Listen to a Prophets Voice

Monday Apr 4, 2016                                                  Port Arthur, TX

" We started out our P-day shopping at Ross and then we went to Chili's and saw our Stake President there so he paid for us. We were so thankful. 

We were doing hour of power and we come across this lady who tells us that our church is false and we are going to the Devil and stuff like that. So we are still nice while she is attacking us and she had the cutest kid with her. He was about 6. We finally get away and when we were walking away we hear the kid say, "Mom, those guys were really nice and I like them!" Ha ha. We knock on some more doors and then we are walking past her house again and she comes up to us and wants round 2, I guess. She wants to ask us a question and I said okay. She starts in again on how our church is false and I honestly am fed up with it. So I told her I know that the church is true. She then said that she will pray that we find Jesus because we are wrong. I told her we were right. We still are being nice and she said she did not mean to argue( oh, she was arguing, alright). I told her trust me, I am not arguing. She keeps on going and her kid comes up and gives me knuckles. She goes into all this anti-mormon stuff and I'm thinking man we need to end this. She then looks at me and says," I don't know how y'all can believe that John Smith was a prophet." I looked at her and said," Honestly if you really want to argue with us you should do your research because we believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet and John Smith married Pocahontas. She was taken aback and Elder Strong had enough time to come in. So he asks her question after question and she can't answer them. Her kid comes up to me again and starts blowing kisses, ha ha. He asked me if I can come back and play with him another day. She keeps arguing with Elder Strong and says the Book of Mormon is false and Elder Strong asked her if she had read it. She said no and then Elder Strong said asked her how do you know it is not true then? She said that she didn't need to read a lie to know the truth. We pressed her a bit on that and she said she has researched it....Big mistake....I asked her some names in it, where and when does it start and she couldn't answer it. I look at her and said, " You really should read the book and not just believe what your church tells you." 

Her husband comes driving down the road and in a last desperate attempt she tells us that if anything she has said has caused us to doubt, we should look into that because that means that your church is not true. I looked at her smile and said, " Well , I guess that means that our church is true because not only did I not feel one shred of doubt, but I felt confirmation that what we said was true." She was about to say something but I asked her a question. I told her now when we die and we go before God to be judged and one of us is right and one of us is wrong, I have had God tell me that this is right and so where do you stand? We then walked away. 

We then walked to the next house and a guy answered and we were able to teach him. Yeah! 

After that we went to a place called, Gangis. (It is a Mongolian Grill that a member gave us cash to go to cause they signed up to feed us but couldn't at the last minute). We went there and there was this 18 year old waitress from New Zealand. She was funny. She is down here for college and so we talked with her and her boss got mad so she had to go. We got our food and we were eating and it was getting late so the place was almost closing. She comes back and pulls up a chair and wanted to ask us a question. She told us that she has some friends that are Mormon and she was always too scared to ask them what they believe. We answered all of her questions. She went to help some more customers and finally we are ready to leave. She comes back and invites us to this college party and we told her that we can't go to parties. So we were able to teach her more about what we can and can't do and more Church doctrine. Elder Strong then said that there are missionaries at Lamar and when you see them promise us that you will go and talk to them. So she promises us and we head out.

Today we had a choice to watch Saturday conference or go to Deweyville to help out with the flooding. We felt we should go to
Deweyville and help out more with the cleanup. It wasn't just us that went, they called everyone in the Texas Houston East Stake to come and help. We all met at the Deweyville High School. There was like 1,200 volunteers who showed up wearing their yellow Mormon Helping Hands shirts. It was so cool. They split us up and told us which houses to go to. So we hop into this members truck and head to these houses in the deep, deep woods. Three of the trucks got stuck and we had to get them out. We finally got there-all thirteen of us! We helped gut this house. About half way through, they pulled half of us and we helped with this other house. It was a disaster. There was mold all over the walls and clothes. The clothes were soaking wet so we got trash bags and gloves and breathing masks and cleaned up everything. We took out the floors, cabinets, sheetrock, everything. We had time to go to a third house and did the same thing. It was so sad to see all the devastation. 

We left and ate at Chucks-this hole in the wall BBQ place. The have these things called, Redneck Nachos. They are baked potato skins with bbq sauce, brisket, cheese, jalapenos, onions, and special white dressing. It is this huge plate and honestly it is the best thing I have ever had( Okay, I know I say that a lot) It is super famous down here even though it is a small shop. We came home and showered and headed to the Priesthood session of conference and it was super good.
It was especially cool to hear President Monson. President Nelson's talk was so cool because a couple of months ago he told us the exact same story! After that we had Blue bell ice cream, blackberry cobbler and I think I got fat, today.

On Sunday we had the last part of conference and after some members gave us these boxes of MRE's(which are military lunchables- pretty much). So us and the Spanish missionaries tried some of them....And they were pretty gross! After that we saw the afternoon session of General Conference. 

After Conference we went and taught Joann and we had a sweet lesson with her. She told me that if I got transferred then she wouldn't get baptized. I told her well she better get baptized quick and she said a prayer that I would stay in the area cause she feels that if I stay she will maybe get baptized. So that was pretty cool. Joann by far is one of my favorite people that I have ever taught. After we taught her she gave us some hats from where her husband works. They are pretty sweet hats. I got this camo hat. Yeah, pretty legit.
Love,
Elder Saunders

Our Lady of the Guadalupe Shrine in Beaumont, Texas. It pays tribute to the Mexican American culture. It is believed in the Catholic religion that the Virgin appeared to St Juan Diego. One of the artists was a man from Port Arthur, TX Apr 2016

There were 1,200 + volunteers that showed up at the Deweyville, TX High School to help with the flooding cleanup The yellow shirts are Mormon's helping hands that were given to the missionaries and others helping out. Apr 2016 

Lead Us, Guide Us, Walk Beside Us, Help Us Find The Way....

Monday, Mar 28, 2016                                                          Port Arthur, Texas

"We went on exchanges today with the zone leaders. We met a girl name Alma and that was pretty cool. We contacted her and she said her name was Alma and I was like, "Well, Alma, we got the perfect book for you!" We then show her the Book of Mormon. 

After Alma we went to see Justin , the guy who got kidnapped the other day. I was like, "Man, what happened to you on Sunday?". He was like man, let me tell you a story. He told us how he got in the truck with his boss and he's following us. Then he sees us take a right and his boss takes a left. So he asked his boss what was going on and his boss told him that someone didn't show up for work so he's taking him to work. Justin was like man after I heard that I was mad. Like really mad cause I wanted to go but then I realized I couldn't do anything or else I would get fired, so I worked on my day off. After I heard that I was like at least he didn't get anti'd.

The last thing we did for the day was teach the Tegtmeiers. They told me they were moving to New Orleans. They don't know when but it is pretty soon. So I made them promise to call us before they leave. We showed them the Mormon Message, "Mountains to Climb". Sister Tegtmeier lost it, she was crying so much. We talked about enduring to the end and being resurrected. It was super cool. 

So yesterday we finally got to teach Joann again! We asked her when we could come back and she said tomorrow at 4. We said we could do 4 , but we might be a little later like 4:15 or so and she said that was fine. We also said that we would bring Sister Borton with us. Fast forward to the next day and we are having this lesson at 3 and it is going pretty well, but we end faster then we expected so it's now 3:35. We have Joann at 4:00 so we thought

about what to do. Either we try someone else in the area or go to Joann's home sooner. After thinking this over, we both felt strongly that we should go to Joann's house sooner. We get to her house and park in front. We start to make phone calls. It was not but 5 minutes and Joann comes out and asks us if we're alright. We tell her ya, we were just making phone calls. So she said okay and and asked if Sister Borton will be here. We told her yes and that she should be her anytime. So Joann smiles and says okay I will meet you inside. We finish the calls and head inside and Sister Borton and her kid arrive. Now Joann has never read the Book of Mormon so we read it with her. She loved it so we read three chapters. We talked about them and she wanted us to go on, but we had a lesson prepared (that wasn't reading) so we quickly shared it. After that she wanted to share a story with us. She said that today was a rough day for her and it seemed like everything was going wrong. Then she remembered the missionaries were coming over so she felt some comfort. She remembered that we were coming at 4:15 so she prayed and asked God if the missionaries could come by sooner so she could have a whole hour and not just 45 min. So time goes on and it's 3:58 and Joann looks out her window and we are not there and so she said she prayed again. She bowed her head and asked if the church were true, let the missionaries be here by 4:00 and let them bring Sis Borton. She got up and looked out her window and there was our car sitting out front! So that was when she came out and talked to us. She said she was so happy and instantly felt comfort. She told us that we might of thought that it was a boring story but to her it was a prayer answered. Especially cause at the end of the lesson, Sister Borton asked Joann if she could pick her up for the women's session of General Conference and Joann said yes! 

We then taught a guy who has cancer and only has a month to live. He rejected us. We told him that in the afterlife two missionaries will come up to him and teach him and we asked him if he would accept their teachings. The guy said that he will never accept anything we say in this life or the next. We pleaded but he was set in his ways, so that was sad.

The next day we taught a guy who lives in a mansion. He was a super nice guy. We also got his wife to listen. We went to teach Mohammed after that. We were discussing things back and forth when a thought came to me. So I asked Mohammed, " So you believe in the Bible, right?" He said yes. So then I asked him if he had ever read the Bible and Mohammed said no. Suddenly in my mind everything made sense. All the Bible stories he knew came from the Quran-which are actually pretty close. We once again show him scriptures that say that Christ is the son of God. He is a super smart guy and remembers the first time we taught him and when we went over the restoration. We told him that the Bible has been translated or changed over time.. So every time we pull out a Bible verse that contradicts him, he says, "Well guys, as you said yourself, the Bible has been changed." Haha it is funny yet so frustrating! We ran outta time so we are coming back for a 7th time to explain the Atonement to him. When we were driving home my companion was like, "Man, I cannot figure Mohammed out! I said that in about four more visits he will understand what I am saying cause he has a hard head. Every time we go over the spirit slaps him right on top of the head, so it's only a matter of time till his head gets so sore he will be able to feel the spiritual slap.

So today we dressed in street clothes and went to Deweyville, Texas to help the people who lost their homes in the flood. They put us in three groups and sent us to some houses. Our group had three houses that we had to help. I drove our car into Deweyville and it is just sad. I mean there is house after house that was destroyed. Peoples furniture, clothes, and sheet rock all mixed up, laying on the ground cause it is all ruined. It was weird to me cause this was my old area. Some of the houses I saw were some of the houses I knocked! So we go through these back roads and find the house and all of our convoy hop out. We go in and everything is destroyed. The family has taken all of their possessions and they probably saved about 20% of what they owned. We saw the water line from where the water was and it was 5 feet high and everything has mold on it. The owner of the house tells us to get rid of everything but the frame of the house. We put on our breathing mask and suit and gloves. We started tearing up water soaked carpet. We tore out the sheet rock and took out the rest of the furniture. It took us 7 hours to finally tear the whole house down except for the frame. We were covered in...I don't know what. Everyone starts to leave because they are tired. We were told to re group and and join someone else's group. They took us down this sketchy back road that is flooded. Keep in mind we have a van and not a truck and we have three and another huge white guy and two others. So I am driving and it is taking extreme skill for me to not get stuck and scrape up the van. Eventually we get to the end and the house is literally surrounded by a lake! One of the other convoy people in a truck hops out and tells us that we won't make it and to turn around and go home. So after pleading with him for a bit we...turned around and went home. We tracked the distance we went today and it was 214.3 miles!
Love,
Elder Saunders

Oil Tanker in Port Arthur, TX out of Singapore. Eagle Kuartan Mar 2016

Deweyville, Texas flood damage March 2016 So sad!