President and Sister Thurston

Experiencing Some Success

     We had a pretty good week this week. Since I've been it Temple that finding has been pretty slow and it has been a tad bit frustrating. However we had a series of fortunate events this week that made it wonderful. Last Sunday after stake conference we had James, the young man we've been teaching, interviewed. He passed! It was a relief. We thought there might be some things that would hold him back for a bit. So on Wednesday evening after the mutual activity we gathered all of the young men and young women to watch James get baptized. It was a good service, nice and brief with lots of people in attendance. He asked that one of the Spanish missionaries, who was a marine before the mission, be the one who baptized him. It was good for him because he's only been out for 3 weeks in the field.
     At the beginning of the week we had two other baptismal dates set. We were able to see one of them and to solidify everything, since then we haven't been able to get in to contact with her. She works nights at the local WalMart, and has been in and out of the hospital with seizures. She is also planning on moving in the near future so we worry about her a bit.
     Our other baptismal date was really hard to get in contact with this week as well. He in the past has had a problem with smoking and drinking coffee. We thought he might be trying to avoid us. Then last night we dropped by his place. He wasn't home. We were driving away and I saw him a few streets down. We stopped and asked if we could meet with him. He agreed. We visited with him for a while about the role of the Holy Ghost. He let us know how he knew the Book of Mormon is true. So we set another baptismal date and set appointments for the rest of the week. He is getting baptized on Halloween.
     Also at church on Sunday we had 3 new people that we will be able to start teaching this week. One just had his wife pass away and she was a member of the church. The other is the wife of a less active return missionary. And the last is a friend of a recent convert. It is awesome to see the blessings flow.

Love,
Elder Rindlisbacher

A New Stake Created

     Well another week is past and gone. We had some history going on here. The Killeen Texas Stake was split this weekend. There is now a Killeen Texas State and a Waco Texas Stake. We had a wonderful stake conference and we were able to have a few of our investigators there. We had Elder Malm of the First Quorum of the Seventy visiting. He was a very powerful speaker, and he had a fun accent. I guess he is from Sweden.
    The messages were great, but a lot of the meeting was dedicated to business. Dividing the stake and lots of testimonies from the old and new stake presidencies.
     After stake conference our mission president interviewed the young man we have been working with. He passed and will be baptized this Wednesday. I feel that he is prepared, but it will take some fellowshipping to keep him active.
     We saw a few tender mercies this week. It seems like this area isn't much for tracting. We seem to just run into a lot of retired Baptists that are happy to tell us they are satisfied with their religion. We got a phone call from a lady that we had seen my first night here and hadn't seen since. She had been out of town and also in the hospital. We were able to meet with her again and set a baptismal date. She is pretty excited. She also had a 10 year old son who is a lot less excited. He doesn't really talk to us. When you ask him a question or teach him something he doesn't agree with he just moans and wont look at us. It is pretty funny really. I think he'll come around.
     We were also invited by our bishop to go and teach a friend of his daughter. He is an older man. In the conversation I asked if he had felt he had ever had a prayer answered. His reply is "you're sitting there." He is searching for truth. It's awesome.
     My companion and I are getting along a little better. We just have differences in opinions a lot. Especially on how we should use our time. I'm trying very hard to love him and not cause contention. I'm trying to keep my joking to a minimum.
     Well the church is still true here in Texas. I'm loving life, even if it throws trials at me every now and again.

Love,
Elder Rindlisbacher

Learning to Get Along with My Companion

   Yes another week is gone. They just fly by. I'm still loving life and having a great time. Temple seems to be a good place. It is weird to think I've almost been here for two weeks. General Conference kept me from meeting the ward for an entire week, and then this coming Sunday we have stake conference. Before I know it another transfer will have flown by and I'll have a new companion. Things are moving crazy fast.

     Our area is a little rough. We cover the entire city of Temple and we're on bikes. I really don't think it'd be that big of deal, however there are not a lot of sidewalks and the streets we travel seem to be busy all of the time. We have been doing a lot of walking, which slows us down a bit. It also gives us a lot of street contacting opportunities.

     There is a huge hospital and a medical school in town. It seems like about a third of the people in the ward are either med students or residents. It is kind of fun having so many return missionaries to work with. They are good about feeding us and we have exchanges almost every night.

     We have a baptismal date with the 16 yer old kid that made it out to one session of conference. We also set a date with another individual that attended two sessions. The man that attended for all five sessions is a really good guy, but he is still stuck on some of his old Baptist doctrines.

     I'm not a district leader this transfer. I'm pretty grateful. That sure seemed to keep me super busy and on the phones every night. I'm follow up training Elder Bevan. I have to be careful with my words around him because he is easily offended. I was asking him questions and then playing devil's advocate just for the sake of conversation this weekend. Apparently he felt I was being really rude and didn't talk to me until I had apologized. I'm trying real hard to keep off his toes. I'm sure we'll get along great if I can keep from being a tease.

Love Y'all,

Elder Rindlisbacher

Star Valley Wyoming Companion

     The weeks just keep flying by. I'm in Temple TX and I am serving with Elder Bevan. He is from Star Valley WY, and he has been in the mission field for two transfers. I am his second companion. He seems to be a really cool guy. He is fairly quiet in the lessons. I'll have to push him a bit to be a bit more outgoing. He seems to have a pretty good grasp on the gospel. It should be a good transfer.

    The work seems to be going pretty well. Conference was great. We had three investigators attend. One of them attended all five sessions. His name is Mark. He is a guy that is a little down on his luck, but is very smart. He has a degree in accounting, but moved down here durring a recession and can't find any work. He was raised Southern Baptist and knows alot about the Bible. He has read about half of the Book of Mormon. He is a great guy with a few concerns. I hope we'll be able to help his with them. The members are very supportive. We've had rides for all of our investigators, and exchanges every night.

     I really enjoyed conference for myself. There seemed to be a lot of talks on gratitude and also revelation. I really enjoyed Elder Oaks talk. It always seems like there are talks specifically for me, and I noticed that some of the talks were perfect for our investigators.

     I'm loving life. The work is rollin' along.

Love,

Elder Rindlisbacher

PS: CONGRATZ RICHARD AND BRITTANY!!!!!! I'm excited for y'all I'll get a letter in the mail for ya today.