Onward, ever onward

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Clifton.  Because he was a ZL we got to go out of our district in the morning and play basketball in a park. There were a lot of homeless people there, and they all sort of formed a crowd and watched our game and cheered us on. One of the men came up to me afterwards and we talked for a while.  He said that he was from North Carolina too and that he used to play basketball with Michael Jordan and David Robinson.  I don't know if I fully believe him, but it was great to talk to someone who had lived in NC.

I could talk all day about the cars in Reno, NV.  Everyone has a nice car. It doesn't matter who they are--and it is a cultural thing that brings everyone together.  Outside my apartment, there has been a guy trying to replace his engine for weeks. He has Indiana license plates even though he has been here for years, so our nickname for him--Indiana Joe.

We struggle with finding new people to teach. Because there is no street contacting, we are using Facebook and the white pages to find people. It's tough. I remember thinking that there had to be a better way of contacting people rather than knocking on doors. Well, this is a new way, and the key to success is members. Members have opened all the doors for us this week and and hopefully we will keep finding new people to teach. My Facebook teaching skills are improving. Interestingly, people from the Philippines add me on Facebook every day. Without exaggeration, it's probably 100 follow requests a day and so many are from the Philippines.

This week has been super busy and I don't have time to write more. There are so many stories I can share and I promise to write more next week.  I was happy to get to teach a lesson 'on my own' this week and when someone accepts the invitation to be baptized, it is amazing!

"Pray to have eyes to see God's hand in your life and in the world around you." Russell M. Nelson

So excited for General Conference this weekend! Watch it on the website: churchofjesuschrist.org