Meet Me In St Louis: Pray, Read and Receive (March 13th 2017)

I don’t believe time could go any faster than it has already gone. We had a great week. We had transfer calls last night and Elder Atterton and I will be staying together here in Cape Girardeau. I am super excited to stay this is a great area and things are beginning to happen. It is currently snowing here in Cape Girardeau which is weird because it’s March. No snow in January and February

Monday, we had preparation day. We played some basketball and had a lesson with Anthony Lewis on his porch it was a good mild temperature. We also saw Jimmy Evans. We had a quick visit with him. We read the first chapter of the First epistle of John. It was short but really good. We saw James McNew as well that night. He has been dealing with some neck pain so we offered a blessing he didn’t want one which is okay.

Tuesday, we gave a King James Bible to a preacher in the morning. Then all that afternoon we walked around downtown Cape Girardeau, which isn’t really a downtown but it is a downtown. So we began to walk and we began to see some people in the area, which is all ghetto. We walked a lot. We began to walk down a particular street and there were four black guys outside. Three were on the porch and one was a little farther distance away. He had a beer bottle in his hand talking to a lady. We were going to talk to them but we just got this bad feeling. They seemed up to no good. I could feel them staring at us, thinking we aren’t supposed to be here. It doesn’t help that we walked past all of them and not on the other side of the street. Not a minute later this car pulls up and these girls get out and start a fight with a girl that was outside the house with those guys. We continued to walk. If we had stopped we would have been in the middle of that. It was not good. We continued to walk and saw more people. That night we saw Ben Pinkerton, it went well. We are helping him return to activity. Ben is awesome, he was baptized in May. I really like him. He knows his scriptures because of how much he reads.

Wednesday, District Meeting was great it was the last district meeting of the Transfer. We worked on having a Gospel Study for the past few weeks. We were able to make it a reality this week. We had a few people there for the first discussion. We had a discussion on "Is there a God?". Now we know there is a God. Well, I do. How could there not be? We read Alma 22. Also shared many scriptures on how the Holy Ghost and living the Doctrine of Christ is how we can continue to know that there is a God. We had exchanges that night with the Jackson Elders who share the Ward with us. I went to Jackson.

Thursday, I was in Jackson and we started off the day by locking ourselves out of the apartment. So I scaled the apartment to get back in because they live on the second floor. Worked at a senior center, then we walked and walked and walked and stopped by people. We exchanged back that night at Brother Sparks because we had coordination. Then we played basketball at the church with some nonmembers it was fun to get out and play.

Friday, we went up to Perryville to help with a shelter and unload food and other things. It was fun, we went up with the Baird’s. They are the best, I love them. We did so much at the shelter, we organized a bunch of things and brought in loads of food and supplies. It was fun and also really cool to see the community come together. Then we saw James McNew and had a lesson with Libin. It went well, nothing really has changed with him.

Saturday, We helped Brother Perkins with his Farm. We helped feed his cows it was fun. Made me want to be a cowboy and have cows. We loved it. Then we went to Bishop Shipley’s house and had lunch and discussed missionary work with him. It was really fun he is great. He reminds me a lot of President Bateman. We had lessons with Ben and Anthony again that night just preparing them for church.

Sunday, We had a great Sunday! Ben Pinkerton who hadn’t been in months came to church! Along with a few other less-actives. We met with Joel, he has been off the radar for a while. We had a super powerful lesson with him and set a date for April 2nd. Had dinner with the Caldwell’s. They are awesome, we shared a message on the doctrine of Christ and receiving counsel from the Lord. After the thought, Brother Caldwell asked them what they felt as we spoke and there two girls who are under the age of 12 said "I knew in my heart that what they said was true.", and the other one said "I want to have a testimony like them." it was heart melting stuff, I loved it.

I know this Gospel is true. I know Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the World. I know that as men and women come unto Christ they will feel of our Heavenly Fathers love and receive peace in their life.

Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Washburn