A Visit From An Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ

It's been another quick week. Time flies by and then I can't think of what to write, so... how about the weather. About a week ago it was 70 degrees with a nice breeze and not a lot of clouds in the sky. The next day it was 30ish degrees and it dumped 5 or 6 inches on us that night. The next day it was in the 30s again and no snow, but lots of wind. It then jumped back up to about 60 for a couple of days, and then yesterday it was a warm overcast day until about 5 o'clock and then it started pooring cats and dogs. It rained the hardest I have ever seen for about and hour, and then it just rained regular for another couple of hours. We drove to our dinner appointment in the rain and in one section of road we had water up over our bumper. It was crazy. Today is a pleasant day with a nice breeze and it's nice and warm. I have been told if you don't like the weather in Texas wait 5 minutes because then you might.

     We had the traveling AP's (Assistants to the President) up in Gainesville on Sunday. They were probably up here to meet Elder Oaks, but it was really good. They helped us tract and gave us some pointers. One of them had served up here previously and we were able to connect with some of the people who he and his companion had been teaching. I was able to learn a lot from them and we now have a few new investigators.

     We also had the special stake conference on Sunday. The stake president, our mission president and his wife, a member of the Seventy, and Elder Oaks spoke. They shared some great words and the spirit was definitely there. Elder Oaks was surprisingly casual, and taught a variety of subjects. He had himself laughing quite a bit. I really enjoyed a story that the Seventy told. When he was young, he and a friend found an industrial dryer barrel out in a field and decided to push it back home. They were going to let neighborhood kids climb in and then push it down the hill and charge a nickle a ride. When they got it to the top of the hill he suggested to his friend to try it out. His friend then told him, "No way. You climb in!" He decided to do so. He climbed in and then his friend pushed him. He said it didn't take long to realize that it was a bad idea, but he had no way of stopping it. He compared it to making poor decisions in out life. Once we decide to do things we cannot avoid the consequences. 

     I'm loving life. We are working hard and seeing progress in ourselves and our investigators. I love the Lord I know I'm doing his work. Pray for me and all the other missionaries. We make it look easy, but it's not.

Elder Rindlisbacher

Obedience and Blessings

     It's my Birthday!!! I'm officially 4 now. Another week has flown by. I'm really enjoying myself now. Elder Cooper and I have been working hard and trying hard to be very obedient, and we are starting to see the fruits of our labor. We had a very successfull day of tracting this last Saturday. We were able to give out 3 Book of Mormons in one tracting session. Two of which were back to back doors. It was very good. Hopefully they will turn into teaching apointments, then investigators, and then baptisms.

     We were able to visit with Kelly again. She is the lady that had bone cancer and let us in the rain. We had an awesome lesson. We taught her about the plan of salvation, she was especially interested in what happens to her after she dies. It was sad. She had a "friend" that had told her that she was going to Hell, and she was nervous. I am very glad that we know that we have a loving and just God that will judge us based on our works and desires. She is comming along very well and even asked for a reading assignment for our next visit.

     We went back to see Jerry. He was waiting for us, but seemed very stressed out. He asked us to come back in a week or so. His daughter was in town for spring break and he had to run her somewhere and his mother had had a stroke. Please pray for them both, that they will feel the spirit as they read and pray, and that they will be willing to accept our message.

     This coming Sunday our stake is having a special stake conferance. Elder Dallin H. Oaks has requested to come and visit, and we are all very excited. Having an apostle of the Lord visit creates a great invitation for everyone that we contact. He will be down in Denton, but it will also be broadcast to our building in Gainesville. I hope we get a lot of people there to feel the spirit that will be present.

     The mission as a whole is doing very well. In a zone meeting President Thurston showed us some of the stats for the last couple of years. Our best month ever was in '07 when they had 67 baptisms. For the last couple of months we have not only smashed the previous record, but have been increasing consistantly. Since December we have been over the old record, and last month we were able to bring over 80 people into the waters of baptism. Pray that we will be able to continue this upward trend and help bless that lives of more people.

     I know that the Lord is blessing us as we strive to be more obedient. I know the message that we bear can and is blessing the lives of the people that we contact. I love the Lord for the sacrifice he has made for all of us. I love all ya'll that are out there supporting me.

Love Elder Rindlisbacher

PS: Thanks so much for the package, it was a lot of fun and a special thanks to Nicole for the cookies. Let her know she can send baked goods whenever she would like.

Rain or Shine -- A Positive Door Approach

     Time continues to fly by. Elder Cooper and I have been comps for just over a week now. It has been great. We have been working hard. We tract for a couple hours a day now. We found that a lot of the people that Elder Taulanga and I had been teaching were not progressing, or progressing very slowly. We have dropped a few and have been focusing on finding new people to start teaching. We have been tracting a couple of hours a day, rain or shine, and at a lot of our dinner appointments we have been challenging members to give their friends copies of personalized Book of Mormon's and invite them to meet with us. We haven't heard back from any of the members yet about their experience but we have found two new solid investigators.

     We were tracting out in the rain and not a lot of people were home and the ones who were home weren't very excited about seeing us. It was a bit rough, so I decided to make a game of it. I challenged my companion to see who could tell the most cheesy jokes at the door about the weather. At the next door I said "We are taking advantage of this beautiful weather to go and speak to you and all of your neighbors about Jesus Christ." The old lady who had answered just frowned and told us she wasn't interested. After a few more doors I used the same line and the lady who answered chuckled and let us in. We sat down and were able to talk with her about the Restoration and the purpose of the Book of Mormon. We left her a copy and a challenge to read and to pray. She was a woman in her fifties and she had cancer in her bone marrow, but now it was stable. She told us that she had never been very religious. When she had overcome her cancer she decided to go searching for it. She was very kind and the spirit was definitely there.

     Then last night we went to follow up on a Book of Mormon we had lent to someone two weeks prior. His name is Jerry. We were able to sit down with him and had a very good discussion. He had already read until Alma, and had some simple questions. We answered them for him, which lead to more and more questions, and by the end of it he asked us, before we asked him, if he could come to church. Hopefully he will be there. My only worry is that he lives with a girlfriend and smokes, but if he gains a testimony, then I know he will be able to fix those problems fast.

     We also went to the temple as part of the mission yesterday. They took the mission in three seperate sessions. It was a very good experience and it was fun seeing some of the guys I had served with previously. I can't wait for when I will be home and able to attend more frequently.

     It is amazing how quickly the Lord blesses us as we make small changes to be more obedient. I'm working hard and loving life. Keep us in your prayers.

Elder Rindlisbacher

A New Companion

     It's been a pretty good week. Transfers were yesterday and............................... I'm staying in Gainesville!!! I am very glad to be staying. The members are amazing here, and I still feel I need to accomplish some things before I leave.

    My new companion is Elder Cooper. He is a 6'11" black man from East LA. I'm kidding. After transfer calls I asked another missionary in my district about my new companion and all he said was he is black. I told a few people in the ward, but when he showed up I was a bit dissappointed. He is actually white, about 6 foot and from Sacramento area. He has been on his mission for about 7 months now and seems to be a very good missionary and a hard worker. He spent some time up at BYU-I and then worked back at home at      In 'n Out. Speaking of In 'n Out, if you could figure out how to keep a double double fresh through the mail that would be amazing.

     Elder Taulanga has been sent to Arlington and was called to be zone leader for his last transfer. President Thurston said that people are never called to zone leader for their last transfer, but he wanted to let Elder T gain some leadership experience. He will be missed, but I was ready for a new companion. Before he left he wanted to say good bye to a bunch of members, so now me and Elder Cooper are playing catchup for the week. I am finding out about a lot of things that Elder Taulanga did that we probably shouldn't have. Nothing major, just a lot of time wasted. It is great that I have an opportunitiy to serve with a companion with a bit more of a work ethic.

     Last night we tracted for a bit, and ran into a lot of Spanish speakers. I'm able to use bits and pieces of what I picked up working for the bee keepers. I know how to apologize for not speaking much Spanish, and how to tell them to call a number to get a DVD or Book of Mormon for free. I would love to serve in a zebra, so I could pick up a bit more Spanish. After tracting we went to check on Junior. It had probably been about three weeks since we had spoken to him and I was ready to drop him, but he answered the door and was excited to meet with us again and he is still excited about baptism. He had been really sick recently and had been in and out of the hospital. I'm very glad that we found him again.

Love y'all very much,

Elder Rindlisbacher