Words from Elder Garrett Hollembeak in West Virginia

"I'm glad to hear you guys are doing so well. Sarah emailed me and said
she loved having you guys in Albuquerque this week. Tell the little
ones I'm proud of them, it sounds like Coulson is tearing it up in
basketball. It's kind of funny, we had a fireside last night too. We
had a couple of recent converts and one girl who will get baptized
soon talk about their conversion stories. It was really moving and we
had a great turn-out. We'll be praying for Eli and Garrett, they'll do
awesome. I'll make sure to get pictures for you guys, my camera screen
is broken so I'll make sure someone else takes them and I'll send them
to you. We met a guy tracting named Markus. We met with him once and
then invited him to a baptism, which was great because we were able to
set him on date for April 25th. He came to church and reads everything
that we give him. Elder Sorensen and I were talking about how much
word is done that we don't see. With Kate and Markus you can see how
well they've been prepared to receive this gospel, they're just
waiting on a little bit of encouragement. Thank you for the scriptures
you send me, a couple of weeks ago Kate was having a tough time and we
could see that she was just being put through the ringer by life. I
shared the scripture from Kings I think, about Elijah. It gave her a
lot of comfort to know that those who were for her were much greater
than those that were against her. Its been a great week to see
miracles. The work is going forward quickly and independently. Haha.
We'll be praying for you to have a dinner with a non-member and the
missionaries. One of the things we've been trying to do better in our
area is ask for referrals. I don't think I ever gave the missionaries
referrals when I was at home but the way it works in our mission is a
member will give an address of a friend that might want to hear the
gospel and we'll knock on that door. Whether they are interested or
not we'll knock on four more doors around the area, that way God can
begin to prepare the hearts of people around our friends and family.
Normally one or two of the doors open and we can set up an appointment
from that referral. It's not always the people we think it might be
but it does build a pattern of trust between us and God where he knows
that He can get people ready and we'll be there to meet with them.
Thank you guys for doing missionary work there, it makes a huge
difference. I love you and can't wait to hear from you again. Give
everyone a big hug for me. Thank you dad, I love you."