Words from Elder Garrett Hollembeak in West Virginia

"It has been a great week in West Virginia, the leaves have mostly
changed and its gotten down into the thirties this past week. It is
transfers week again so today is our P-Day. Elder Mackelprang will be
going to a different zone and I'll be staying here in Charleston with
a new companion Elder Degooyer. Eventually I think they'll send me a
companion with a normal last name. We taught a family this week for
the third time. The guys name is Greg and we're teaching him, his wife
Donna, and their grandson Drake. The first time we went over we taught
some of the Restoration and the second time we saw him we cleaning out
his gutters. He recently moved into his new house and that's been on
the forefront of his mind so we're trying to make it so he can come to
church and not have to worry about the house. The next time we taught
him we read 3 Nephi 11 with his family and they all really liked it.
The coolest part of the lesson was when at the end Greg asked Drake
how he felt as he read from the scriptures. Drake said that it felt
different, and he didn't know how to explain it, but that it was good.
Greg told him that that feeling was God getting you to keep doing
something good. It was great to see him feel and recognize the Spirit.
At the mission office they have an engraving machine so we put each of
their names on a copy of the Book of Mormon, it was a good way to
motivate them to read because it isn't just something the missionaries
tell you to do, its got your name on and its your Book of Mormon. On
Monday we went with Brother Foote and taught them again about the
apostasy and the restoration. Brother Foote knew Greg previously so it
worked really well to have him bear his testimony of knowing that
Joseph Smith is a prophet. We also went up up to Boone County this
week to follow up with a couple of our potential investigators. The
whole county doesn't have a single member that we know of living
there, and missionaries haven't worked very much up there so we're
hoping to start a Boone Branch. It is super rural and you hear a lot
of stories about crazy things happening there. The great thing of it
is the people are prepared. We knocked on maybe a dozen doors and
placed five copies of the Book of Mormon with return appointments.
There's a scripture in Alma that talks about angels coming down from
the heavens to teach the gospel from the very beginning. We don't
always see those angels or recognize them for who they are but you can
tell when people have been looking for the truth. We also taught a
really neat guy named Ernie. He's from Florida and currently is
homeless but he loves the Book of Mormon. He left home when he was
eighteen and is twenty two now and just goes from place to place. We
normally teach him at a day shelter or under the bridge where he stays
when the weather is nice. We are confident that the more he learns and
accepts truth, the more his life is going to improve in all aspects.
It was a really great week and we were able to get things prepared for
this next transfer in our zone. We are removing all of the programs
and fluff and extracurricular stuff that seems to pile up in the
mission field and inviting our missionaries to become converted to
Jesus Christ through the scriptures and Preach My Gospel in a way that
will move them to find, teach, and baptize regardless of how cold it
is, or who their companion is, or how much they have to tract. It's
been really great to have that inward reflection and ask "How
converted am I" I think Alma Chapter 5 is a great test for that
standard of conversion. The work is going really well here. I'm
excited and happy for the opportunities and challenges up ahead. I
love you guys and hope you are safe and happy. I love you."