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!