Man, Chester! Alex's Mission Adventures: October 2016

Hello everybody!

It's been such a CRAZY two weeks! There have been many miracles happening here in the Concord area. I will start with General Conference. WHAT AN AMAZING CONFERENCE!! There were SO MANY incredible talks, but what's even more unbelievable is what happened between sessions.

Sister Hallam and I have decided that every single day we will do what we call the "Fourth Floor- Last Door". Which means that we will knock and street contact every day, all day, until we find SOMEONE who is ready to receive this gospel. We said that we would give up our whole night which consists of 12 week training, planning, dinner, etc until curfew. So far, we have found a new investigator every single day. I know that as we continue to lay things upon the alter, that we will be blessed in one way or another. Heavenly Father doesn't just say "too bad for you", He will always toss you a bone.

So that morning Sister Hallam and I had a feeling that we should go out and street contact during our Lunch hour. However, we were supposed to be having lunch with our Ward Mission Leader's family, and the Elders. After much prayer between Sister Hallam and I, we decided to break our lunch appointment. As we told that family we wouldn't be able to make it, they we're extremely kind and told us to stop by after conference and they would send food home with us.

We took our leap of faith, we went down to Main Street and started contacting people. We got the usual "I'm well off ", " I have religion" or my favorite " Are you Mormons? Then, no." As we started to doubt why we skipped a wonderful home cooked meal, we saw a man sitting on a bench all by himself. I told Sister Hallam we should try talking to him. As we did, I don't think I have ever seen a heart be softened SO quickly. We asked him if we could share a message about Jesus Christ and the love He has for us. He said, "Sure." He told us his story and how he felt he was abandoned by God, and that God must not care for him. As we both continued to testify to him, this man began to cry. He said "I had begun to think that nobody cared about me." We then asked him if we could walk him to a building to watch General Conference, which was a good 2 miles away. He did. We talked. And I don't think I'll ever forget some of the things he told us.

I want you to ALL to know right now that YOU ARE LOVED BY A DIVINE BEING WHO SEES YOUR DIVINE WORTH! There is never a time that He has forgotten you, rather it is us that forgets Him. We must never forget that He is there with his hands stretched out to engulf us in his love and compassion. You were worth Him sending his Son, and you are worthy of his infinite atonement. He loves you!! And I do too!! Always remember that.

As for my funny experience for the week, I can't really pick one.

Went on exchanges, and this old lady wanted me to sing to her. She couldn't remember my name so she just called me "Sister Strange Name."

There's lots of crazy people in this world. I guess the most mild experience was when this woman was noticeably stretching outside of her van. We stopped, and just started asking her questions and out of the blue she says " I can't talk to you. You might blow my cover!" We were like "WHAT!?" She didn't look like someone who was undercover. (Might I add that there are lots of mental institutions here in Concord.) Just then, she hops into her "office" (meaning her car) and says she has to go. We put our hand on the window so she couldn't roll it up, and simply ask her if she would be interested in our message, she said "No," but THEN she says "now if you'll excuse me I have to get to work." And hops over the seat into the back seat. It was weird. People are weird, and what's even more weird is to think that I may be the most normal person here. Which is saying something!! 😂

On Saturday we had the opportunity to go to the Boston Temple. It was beautiful, wonderful and so peaceful. The Spirit is a powerful blessing.