July 11, 2007 from Elder Graham

July 11, 2007

HI FAMILY

I hope everything is going well. Everything is well up in Elliot Lake. But a lot more has happened.

So, do you rememeber that only 9 people came to church the first Sunday? Well, we had 21 this past Sunday. We were able to get less actives and investigators out. It was awesome.

We have been working really hard with the less actives. We already have two more that are coming back, that is to add to the ones that we had this last week. A lot of them are not coming to church because they have been offended. It is really bad, because they are all getting offended by the same person. We are really having some problems with this one person. We are writing President Ashton and telling him all that has been going on and he is talking to the Stake. We are praying that something changes, because we have been finding that this has been going on for a long time. But we have a problem; she is the Branch President’s wife. She thinks she can run everyone’s lives and she doesn’t see anything wrong with what she is doing. The branch president is telling her things that she should not know and she is taking matters into her own hands and she is really causing some problems. But we are really doing well and pulling the branch back together.

We have 4 prospective families that we may be able to teach. We are really happy. Nothing has happened up in this place in a long time, and we come and we have 4 families that we are going to start teaching. One of them is a part Jamaican family that has two kids, 18 and 16. They are really nice and we are meeting with them on Saturday. Another one is a woman that has 2 boys. She is living with her boy friend but we can change that. When we were talking with her, I got this wonderful feeling that I really can’t explain. I had a love for them that just overwhelmed me. I almost started to cry. I know it sounds weird, and we just met them and talked for a few minutes. O yes, the 11 year old son looks like Bo but with dark hair. It is really weird. He acts just like him too. Another family is the Fishers. They are a part member family with 3 boys, I know there are a lot of boys, but we prayed for priesthood and that’s what we are getting. But, the Fishers are awesome. She was baptized about 6 months ago but was chased away by this one person. We are really making some progress with them. The husband has read a lot of anti Mormon literature though. But we are fixing that. The last one is a young guy with 2 kids. We just met him briefly and he told us about his family. He is really nice and loves his family. So as you can see, we are really being blessed. It is hard though. A lot of people in this town really don’t like us. But what can you do. That’s their opinion. Personally, I think we are pretty cool. Just kidding. But the Lord is really looking out for us.

So there is a new twist on things. Two nights ago, we were called and told that we were taking over Manitoulin Island. Yes, we now cover all the way down to the island. It is about a 2-hour drive to get there. When you are on the island, it takes about an hour to get anywhere. It is also a little branch. The missionaries were moved and we were told that it was know part of our responsibility. It is going to be really hard to run both of these arias. But there is a reason for everything. Nothing has happened in that place for a long time too.

So we now have two apartments and we will be running two areas. It is going to be fun, but a lot of work. The Lord is really streching me. But all the more to learn, right.

Well I got to go, I love you all so much. I know that this church is true. I know that we really need to read the scriptures. If we don’t, we will not make it in this world. You have to read the scriptures. Just like Nephi said, if you will read the word of God and hold to it, the fiery darts and temptations of the devil will not over come us. We will over come and have eternal life. What is more important?

Love,

Elder Graham