20 Year Old Tattered Book

Dear Mom and Dad,

-Congrats to Tanner Hatch on the wedding!!!! Thanks so much for the pictures! 

-Also congrats to Matt and Julianne Wheatley on the great news!

It was an incredibly challenging week, one of the most challenging I've ever had! We had tremendous success last week in finding new investigators, and we found even more this week. However, a lot of the investigators we teach we only get to teach twice and then they don't want to be taught anymore. It's been really hard to find people to teach here. Another challenge we face is because there aren't many male members here, we aren't able to teach some of our investigators because they're female and we can't get another male adult to come with us. We're really committed to being obedient to that rule, but it's been frustrating because we haven't been able to spend as much time as we would have like to with our progressing investigators. We had 4 investigators at church this week, and three of them could be ready for baptism the day before I go up to the mission home to end my mission! Their goal date is for the 29th of June. I go back to the mission home on June 30th bound for home on July 3rd.  The other one is a referral from a member, and is progressing well and should probably get baptized in July.

This Sunday from Socorro their were 15 people that went to church, and the District Presidency and the Branch Presidency of our mother branch, Pinamalayan Branch. They announced on Sunday that the group is close to becoming a branch, and that all the group needs is two total more active priesthood holders and they will become a branch. 

We found a really good new investigator this week, Brother Hernandez. We met him at around 8:30 PM one night, and have taught him a couple times. He is really eager to learn and has been reading the Book of Mormon. We have another appointment with him later on tonight.

This week on another night it was around 8:00 PM and a man called us into his house, and sat us down. He had been drinking a bit, and wasn't all there. But he went over to the bookshelf and pulled out an old tattered book. It was a Book of Mormon he had been given 20 years ago. It was actually only selected chapters from the Book of Mormon because the full translation hadn't been completed yet. He told us that he's been reading it for the last 15 years, and he said it never gets old! We told him we'd like to visit with him when he wasn't drunk, and he agreed!

The Book of Mormon has made a big impact on me this week. It amazes me that a Book of Mormon from over 20 years ago is still having an impact today. The Book of Mormon was custom built for our day and time. It was custom built to disperse the Gospel to the whole world. It contains the fullness of the Gospel, and anyone who reads it will come to know of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Plan of Salvation. I add my testimony, that I know it is true. It contains the words of Christ. It is as a voice speaking out of the dust, inviting us to come unto Christ and be perfected in him.

Love,

Elder Yost