Soccer ball!

I bought a soccer ball today! That should be fun. There is a Marshallese  branch up here in Spokane so there are several Elders from the Marshal Islands. They are SUPER good at soccer! Every P-day we either juggle or play a game. Well last P-day their ball was flat so i bought one. Its probably a piece of junk but thats ok i only need it once a week. 

Last night Bishop Holland and his kids came by the apartment and dropped off some brownies for me for my birthday. It was pretty awesome! It was actually a pretty big surprise. I should have seen it coming because the bishop kept texting us and asking us when we were going to be home that night but we just assumed that he wanted to ask us to do something for him or something. The Hollands are great! I was pretty glad that they remembered me. 

Elder Johnson of the Seventy came and taught us missionaries as well as our Bishops and Ward Mission Leaders. It was a really great training. We learned a lot about member missionary work. one of the things that hit me the most was when he told us about how members have the right to receive inspiration about what to do to help nonmembers accept the gospel. As members it is our responsibility and privilege to help nonmembers do the most important thing that they will ever do in this life, which is to accept the restored gospel. It isn't solely the missionaries' responsibility. Missionaries simply play a part by teaching the gospel and helping them be know how to become converted. Elder Johnson also said some really bold comments. He said missionaries are the reapers not the sowers! our job is not to plant seeds but to harvest! He also talked about how the hastening of the work is like us using combines instead of sickles to harvest. Our bishop and Ward mission leader are both pretty excited so hopefully we can work together to help the ward be more active in finding and fellowshipping people. 

Miracle:

This week Ed and Heidi made some good progress. At the beginning of the week it was really rough. He was really stand-offish with us. And also very drunk so it was hard to teach him. But we stopped by several times during the week and realized that he was feeling shame and like he wasn't good enough to be a Mormon or affiliate with us. We were able to have a really good conversation friday night and we invited him to come to our ward BBQ on saturday. Well He and Heidi both showed up and they brought 2 friends with him! They had a great time! Ed made friends with a bunch of people at the BBQ. And as a plus, i couldn't smell any alcohol on him.

The church is true! Happy Birthday to me!

Love, 

Elder (Andre) Johnson