Words from Elder Garrett Hollembeak in West Virginia

"I'm sorry I didn't write last week. This week was really good. We have
an investigator named Gary who is progressing really well and came to
church this Sunday. We've been teaching him for two months and he was
hesitant to make or keep any commitments. On Wednesday he came to the
church tour and from there out he's been doing great. Here in
Lexington on Wednesday nights they have a church open house and do a
tour around the building. Its an opportunity for missionaries to show
investigators the building and a really non-threatening way for
members to invite their friends. We show two videos, one is an eight
minute overview of the church and the other is a video called None
Were With Him that we show at the end. I would definitely recommend
looking into doing a church tour in St. Johns, its made such a huge
difference here and a lot of people come away knowing that Mormons are
Christians, that we serve one another, and that family is huge to us.
That's awesome about Coulson doing Hunters Safety. A lot of the
practical stuff that you learn there comes in handy in the mission
field. I like reading about Elijah too. On Sunday I finished reading
the Old Testament, it took me about a transfer but it was worth it.
The biggest sentiment that came out of it was that God's work would
not stop. He didn't put in thousands of years of work into His
covenant people for a thirty three year stint to be the last time the
the Savior spoke to us. Covenants are still important, they are the
most important thing we do in this life. After reading it I wanted to
read more, and I'm grateful that the New Testament is there but I'm
certain that after I'm done reading that I'll still want to have more
of His word. The work is going well, its going forward. this week
Elder Wagstaff and I got bicycles so we've been testing them out
today. It's a little different riding a bike in dress slacks and a
backpack but its about progression. A couple that we were teaching
Rebecca and Salvador moved back into our area this week so we'll get
to teach them and I'm pretty excited about that. On Friday we're doing
a hymnal event in a park here in Lexington called Joyful Noise at
Hopkins Green. A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a pastor of a
local baptist church and he asked me a couple of questions about what
I believed. After talking to him about how we view God, that we are
saved by grace, that Christ died for us, and that the Bible is the
word of God he was a little bit confused. He paused for a minute and
said "If I didn't know any better I would think that you were an
ecclesiastical Bible reading Christian" I responded by saying that all
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are
ecclesiastical Bible reading Christians and that we sound similar
because we believe the same truths. The sticking point was the Book of
Mormon and the Prophet Joseph Smith. He asked why I wouldn't join a
baptist faith if we believed the same things and I told him that I
knew the Book of Mormon to be the word of God and that any church that
didn't use accept it as scripture would be causing me to turn away
from His word and that didn't sit well with me. Nobody can know if
something is true, even that Jesus is the Christ except by the power
of the Holy Ghost, the scriptures teach us this. So if by the same
witness I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet then I can not deny one
portion of truth and honestly say that I believe the rest. It all goes
together in a way that is unique and divine. Thank you for everything
that you do for me, I really appreciate all of the insights you send
and for the prayers. Tell everyone there that I love them and give
them a big hug for me. I love you dad."