Finding a family, Brandon and Hives!

Dear Family,

I am sorry I was not able to write a letter last week. This week we are emailing from the office at our apartment and there is no time limit so I think all will be well this week. Last week I was praying for the opportunity to teach a family that lives in our area. We worked hard all week but nothing was coming from it. It was Sunday and we still had not found a family. When we came in for dinner Sunday evening, I was a little bummed because I had not reached my goal. Elder Bjarnson took a nap during dinner, but I was determined to put all my efforts into finding a family. I decided to check the former investigators and read the information that was left from previous missionaries to try and find one that may have potential. I picked out two names that I wanted to go and see, and then we went out to work. We had planned to see a media that evening (who bailed on us) and so I was curious to find out where the former investigators lived. One of the former investigators lived fairly close to where we were at. The former investigator's name is Stuart and he lives with his grandmother who is a less active member. We reached their house and talked to the grandmother and she was interested in having us come back by and she was interested in coming back to church. We were not able to teach them right then because it was getting dark and they were going to bed. As we walked down the street, I noticed a man sitting out on his porch, and the thought came to my mind "don't talk to that man." When I recognized what I was thinking, I knew the thought was not coming from God, so I was determined to talk to the man. We walked up to the door and introduced ourselves, and he let us into his house. We met Jimmy and Tikesha who are a couple with four kids. Tikesha's sister, Hope, also lives with them. We taught them about the Book of Mormon, and committed them to be baptized. They told us they were not living right to be baptized, but that they are trying to straighten out their lives. We told them that as missionaries our purpose is to help people come unto Christ. They are interested in having us come by and help them keep the commandments and follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. At 7:45 Sunday evening, I had reached my goal. Elder Bjarnson and I found a family. :) That was last week's highlight. On to this week.

This week Elder Bjarnson and I were on the bikes. :) The highlight for this week was Brandon. We were out tracting on Thursday and we knocked on a door and a grumpy old lady came to the door and told us to leave. We politely excused ourselves and started to walk toward our bikes. As we were walking away, a man came out of the house and yelled at us to stop. The man introduced himself as Brandon. He is the caretaker of the old lady. He was interested in hearing our message. He told us, "I want to know why you are so excited." We set up an appointment for the following day. Friday we taught Brandon a first lesson and he soaked everything up. He fell away from church because of his "scientific mind," but he recently realized that all things "denotes there is a God" and he loved the idea of another prophet on the earth today. We set up a return appointment for the following day. Saturday we brought Jackson, a member from the ward, with us to the appointment. We arrived and a lady answered the door. She told us that Brandon was on his way home, and she invited us in. We talked with Jessica and when Brandon came home, we invited her to join us in our discussion, but she said she was not interested. We began to teach the Plan of Salvation. As we were talking about our pre-earth life, Jessica piped in, "so you are telling us that God knew me before I was born?" :) We had her. We told her that she was a daughter of God, and that He knows her personally and cares for her. This caught her attention and she joined us for the rest of the discussion. We have a return appointment with Jessica and Brandon on Tuesday. Those are two miracles I had the past two weeks.

Oh one last story. On Saturday it was raining really bad so Elder Bjarnson and I wore our rain coats. When we came in for lunch, I had hives on my arms and neck. By the end of lunch they had disappeared, so we went back out to work. By the end of the night, I had hives all over my body. :) The mission doctor called a pharmacy and ordered me a prescription. I am allergic to the polyester material that my rain coat is made out of. :) It has not bothered me in the past because I normally wear the fleece lining within my coat. The temperature was not very cold so I took the fleece out! :) It was quite a funny experience. Well I need to go. I love you all and I hope this email will suffice!

Love,
Elder Cowan