This week has been amazing! Let's start off at the beginning and work through the week chronologically.
Wednesday Elder Boynton got transferred to Plano and you would never guess who my new companion is... Elder Duke!
If you don't remember him, he was actually my first companion. Elder Duke is from Farmington Utah. He has been out for just over a year. He has served in Quitman, Rockwall, Plano, and now Lake Highlands Garland 1st.
Wednesday night we met with a young man named J.C. Prieto. He is 15, and he has been to church a few times already and his extended family are all members. He wants to be baptized so we taught him a lesson and set a baptism date with him. Then also, that evening a man and his son (Israel Sanchez and Israel Sanchez) showed up to the church and asked us to teach him the lessons.
Thursday Elder Duke and I had a great evening with a few investigators and taught some great lessons.
Friday Elder Duke and I biked to the far reaches of our area, and as we were riding and stopping by people, we met a man named Robert Cerna who was really interested, and asked us to come back and teach him Monday (today). Then, we ran into a lady named Lenore, who used to be taught by the missionaries and is going through a really rough time. We shared a message with her and she asked us to come back. We also ran into a less active, new member that just moved here from Las Vegas. Running into those people was a major blessing, and it may not sound like much but it really was incredible to witness.
Saturday we taught a man named Greg Metcalf. He is in his late 40's. A few Elders before us taught him and we decided to start teaching him again. He opened up to us a lot this week and told us that he is going through a hard time and needs some peace in his life. We promised him The Book of Mormon would help him find that, if he read from it every day and he seemed really excited at the opportunity to read it. It was really awesome. Then Saturday night we had the baptism for Ray Rowell. We have seen him progress and grow in the gospel. He has been so hungry for the gospel and since we started meeting with him about two months ago and he has read through The Book of Mormon 1.5 times, he read through The Gospel Principles manual, through The Pearl of Great Price, and almost all the way through The Doctrine and Covenants. Seeing him grow spiritually has been awesome!
Then, last night was the baptisms of the Howell family. It was something special seeing a family be baptized and accept the gospel. Going to other baptisms have been great, but when a family is baptized together, it really is special! The Howells had an amazing turnout and they were so excited to be baptized. John, Isis, and Christina got baptized. The comment was made after their baptism how they were the cleanest and purest in the room, and looking at them, you really could sense the purity and the cleanliness. As a missionary, seeing a family get baptized and feeling the Spirit there makes it all worth it. All the tracting, all the days in the hot summer, it was a wonderful baptism. Then after the baptism, Elder Duke and I rode to Fry's Electronics just behind our apartments to talk to some people. We met a guy named Anthony from... guess where... Royce City! The same place Elder Duke and I were companions! He was a great guy and we almost walked away from him, but decided to stay and keep talking to him. he kept telling us "the Mormon is not for me" but after we kept talking to him and addressed his concerns he agreed to have Elder Lyman (my last companion) and his companion teach him a lesson.
All in all, this week has been wonderful! Elder Duke and I are looking forward to being together once again and looking forward to a lot of success.
Elder Riley Layton
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