AUG_6_18_GROUP_PITT

 Hello everyone!!

It's been QUITE a while since I've sent out a weekly email, and I feel absolutely TERRIBLE about it. I wish I could tell you that I've been really busy on P-Days, too busy to sit down for 10 minutes and write a quick email. In reality, these past few p-days have been primarily composed of... napping. And I don't just mean casual cat naps. I mean hardcore 3 hour naps. In proselyting clothes. I feel so bad for my companions over these past few months. They're left to just themselves in a large apartment with no television or internet. 

In reality they're probably just grateful for the few hours relief they have frome each week. 

But things are going GREAT here in Pennsylvania!! For those of you who have forgotten, or simply don't care , I'm currently serving in Downtown and the Northside of Pittsburgh!! Which means that I CONSTANTLY have people to talk to. Both normal and... not so normal. I had a Jehovah's Witness try to Bible Bash with me this past week. Another woman asked me for bus fare because she had spent all of her money on drugs. I saw somebody else pick up a piece of spit out gum off the street, and proceed to put it in their mouth. Oh, Pittsburgh. But these are all God's children, and it's MY job to help them realize that!!

Oh yeah!! How could i forget?? I have a new companion!! His name is Elder Daniel Taylor, and he's from West Hills, California. It's always priceless to see the look on people's faces when they say, "Oh look, it's the Utah Mormon Boys!" and we just look at them square in the face and tell them, "We're from California." That shuts them up real quick. 

But in all seriousness, I love my companion. We're definitely very different people. He loves baking, rodeo-ing, and heavy metal. But despite our differences, we still manage to have a lot of fun together as we're about the work of Salvation. 

Just a really quick update on the people we're teaching: *cricket noise*

Haha just kidding, we are teaching a few people!! But they ARE very few in number. You'd think that due to the number of people in Pittsburgh, we'd have a proportional teaching pool. But no dice. However, the few people that we are teaching are AWESOME. 

The first one is Alisa. She is one of my favorite people that I've met in this area. Elder Stock and I tracted into her a few weeks ago on exchanges. She is a middle aged African American woman who watches her six nieces and nephews on the weekdays in the Northside. She reminds me so much of the sassy Black Woman in "The Help" who puts a turd in the white woman's pie. My companions and I have been teaching her twice a week for the past few weeks or so. Last Tuesday, we were able to teach her the Plan of Salvation, and it was honestly one of the best lessons I've been a part of my ENTIRE MISSION. Prior to the lesson, she had TONS of questions about the afterlife, and the injustices of there being only a heaven and a hell. The Plan of Salvation was able to answer all of her questions, and the best part?? She understood all of it!! At the end, she was like, "So it's kind of like the Olympics. Everyone on the podium is a winner, but obviously, you want to get a gold medal. Not a silver or a bronze one." We were like YES, EXACTLY. 

The best part?? She told us she would come to Church this last week, and she ACTUALLY CAME!!  The ward did a good job of fellowshipping her, and inviting her to come back. Alisa told them that she'd definitely be coming back!! So that was awesome!! We invited her to be baptized during the last lesson, and she said she'd think about it. We think that getting her to continue coming to church and developing a testimony of the Book of Mormon is going to be crucial for her. Please keep Alisa in your prayers!! 

We were also able to find a new investigator named Tammy this week, and have a really good Restoration lesson with her as well. She's a single mother from the Phillipines who is looking for a church. She is honestly one of the nicest people that I've met in this area. We have another lesson with this evening, so please keep her in your prayers as well!!

Anyways, I've got to go. My companion made me some stroganoff, and I only have like 10 minutes to eat it! I love you all!! The church is true!! 

Elder Jake Gonzales