Alas, as it sometimes happens, this week has been a 'regular' missionary week. Nothing weird has happened, nothing abnormal. Of course, to a non-missionary, this week would have been absolutely incredible, full of all kinds of amazing things. But when you've been out for as long as I have (Ha ha. Have I really been out for such a long time? People keep telling me that I'm a kid when it comes to mission-age), you start getting used to things.

One thing that I can say without a doubt is this has been my favorite area yet (sorry, Lebanon and Pittsburgh; I love you too. I just love Washington more). One of the biggest reasons is a man who I mentioned several months ago, when I first came to Washington. Brother Anderson, the ward mission leader. I would recommend that you go back to that entry (probably the beginning of June or something) and re-read how warm and devoted to the Lord this man is. He's got a lot of trials himself though. Being a convert to the church, his family wasn't so thrilled about it. His daughter and son-in-law (actually, boyfriend-in-law, as I came to find out. But that's too long to type) are pretty against it. Well, they put up with it, but when I first met them they specifically said "We'll sit down with you, but we won't talk about God or church or anything." And aside from that, our conversations with them have been pretty pleasant.

Well, all of that changed. Since I've been here, we've been giving service for Brother Anderson and his son-in-law. The son-in-law has been working on a house and is having the floor dropped by a few feet. Which means the concrete needs broken and the dirt underneath needs dug out (that's the way people talk out here. They forget the "to be"). We've been helping them out a couple of hours every week with the son-in-law working beside us, lighting up a cigarette to do his work, etc. Well, this week, we went over to visit Brother Anderson and have a little missionary correlation meeting. His daughter was there. Halfway through the meeting, she sat down and started talking to us, asking us questions. She divulged that she and her husband were looking for a church. And yes, they've already considered this church. But she talked about how important it was for her to be more spiritual, to actually be married to her husband, and to do things right. I talked to Brother Anderson afterward and asked if she's ever opened up like that. "No," he said. "That was an unusual event." So, the moral of this story: Service softens spirits.

All of our investigators are doing well, except Dave and Peggy. For privacy sake I won't go into too many details. This much I will say - prayers on their behalf are welcome, especially for their daughter named Hope. We were fully expecting all three of them at church, but they didn't show. So we stopped by yesterday to find Dave all alone - his wife and daughter had gone over to Grandmas for a few hours. It was probably best though, because that man needed some support. He was in a frenzy, talking about how bad his week was, flaring up in anger, cursing. In his defense, though, it was incredibly dignified, and was probably justified. We listened to him, felt his pain, and tried our hardest to comfort him. I'm confident that in that moment, the promise in the scriptures to us missionaries was fulfilled that we would be able to say exactly what needed to be said to him in the very moment that he needed it. As we started to speak and teach from the scriptures, his anger melted. He calmed down. He listened intently and was obviously touched by the spirit. Near the end of our visit, both myself and Elder Colvin felt impressed that this man needed a blessing. Like I said, for the seasoned missionary, this was a common experience. But I can say for certain that it was a miracle, a tender mercy of the Lord, and one of the most spiritual experiences I've had since coming to Washington.

That's the gist of my week. We taught a lot, we knocked several doors. We had training with our mission president. I'll write some notes about that further down for you future missionaries. There's a lot there, though, so don't feel obligated to read it all. For everyone else, though, I hope that your holiday is wonderful, that your week is pleasant and peaceful, and that those of you traveling will be safe. Take care, and be grateful!

Love,

Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim