Yes, Officer, We Would Love to Baptize You; Snow Covered Mountains and The Best Brisket Outside of Texas

So...we got someone on date for baptism now. His name is Officer }{, and he's a police officer. He's currently going through a divorce, and his ex-wife is LDS. He was raised [in a different church], but had been consistently going to church with his wife. Last transfer, he approached the Elders and asked for a Book of Mormon, and a time to meet up. We had a lesson with him on Thursday (his day off) and taught him the Restoration. He told us he already knew most of that and that he's been reading the Book of Mormon and praying a lot recently. I asked him if he's prayed to know if the Book is true, and he said he hasn't yet, just because he's assumed it's true. He was in church yesterday, which is great because you know when a cop says he'll be somewhere, he'll be there, and he'll be dressed sharp and on time. He said that now that he's on his own, he knows he's doing it for himself, and for his three-year-old daughter, who he wants to be able to baptize when she's eight. He said he's decided it's time to fully make the commitment, and at the end of the lesson was the one that asked us when he could be baptized. We've got him on date for the 12th of December, because that's the next Saturday he has off. The guy is golden and he's really cool. He was telling us cop stories and how the reading the scriptures and praying helps with stress even better than hitting the gym does, which is saying a lot for guys like us. Anyways, I'm pretty excited about all that.

    Last Friday we had Elder Bednar come speak to us. That was a really cool experience. It wasn't him standing up there and lecturing to us; the whole thing was interactive. The meeting was based off three talks that he told President Hansen to pass out to us a couple weeks ago, before we even knew he was coming. The talks were "Ask in Faith", "Seek Learning By Faith" and "Converted Unto The Lord". The entire three-hour meeting was him having us stand up and talk about something we learned, or ask a question based off those talks or other related things. He would almost always answer our question with a follow-up question, letting us figure it out for ourselves. The whole theme revolved around being humble, using faith, doing our part, and accepting God's will over our own. I would highly suggest reading those talks, because they're really good, and it's mostly what the meeting was about. 

     I guess the only other things I wanted to mention were that mountains completely covered in snow are beautiful, Famous Dave's has the best brisket outside of Texas, and 6-month old purebred Boxer puppies are absolutely adorable.

     Oh yeah, I also wanted to say that this work is absolutely amazing. I love seeing the joy and light the gospel brings into people's lives. The Atonement is real. Christ Lives, and this is His church as restored though the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Love,

Elder Lusk