The Best and Worst Week

Family,
As you can tell, this past week was awesome/terrible! I couldn't believe that none of our investigators came to church! They all backed out! On Saturday 6 of our 8 appointments backed out or weren't home. Then yesterday after church we had appointments from 3pm to 6pm, but none of them were home! Then we had our dinner appointment, and our appointment after that wasn't home! It is really frustrating when we ride our bikes to people's homes, and they aren't there when we have an appointment with them. And on top of that, it was raining last night. I was way excited to set seven baptismal dates this past week! But it was devestating that none of them came to church. We will try as hard as we can to get them to church this next week. Yesterday an investigator called me and said that he had been reading his Book of Mormon a lot! I was really happy to hear that. His is on 1 Nephi 7 now! He said that his family was trying to get him to drink alcohol with them, but he said he remembered reading about temptation in the Book of Mormon, so he had the strength to resist! The Book of Mormon has POWER!
Guess what!? I ate HORSE MEAT last night! We ate with a Tongan family and they made really good horse meat for us! It reminded me of elk meat. It was kind of tough and gamey tasting, but it was pretty good. Apparently it was a horse from Utah! The Tongans get their horse meat from Utah!
This is the most trunky time of year! I really like the picture of you all in the mountains in the snow! I wish I could be there, but I have a work to do. The weather is really nice here. It is still warm enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt during the daytime. It gets kind of cool at night, but not enough to wear a winter coat.
My new zone is really awesome. We played dodgeball today for a p-day activity. Our zone is really successful right now, and we are finding lots of people to baptize.
I am making a big map of our area right now. You know how I love maps! I'm a map guy. And I'm planning on marking where all the members, less-active members, investigators, and potential investigators live. Maybe I'll send a picture after I'm finished.
I hope December is going really well for everybody! It sounds like you are going to have a ton of fun in Missouri. (Hey, while you are there, you should think about reserving a part of grandma and grandpa's backyard so we can build our house there when the saints are called to gather in Missouri). FIRE IN THE HOLE! Send me pictures! And Marty and Christy's family will be there too! Tell Sam and Jake Hi! Or maybe I'll just tell them hi when I call on Christmas! Send me grandpa's phone number. We will probably be calling in the evening, because we have free minutes after six I think. But I will find out.
Mom, Dad, I am working really hard! We are trying so hard to do this work, but it has been really really hard lately. We are having a hard time finding people at home and having set appointments. But we won't give up. Because I know that God has a work for me to do, and I will do it, no matter how hard it is at times. I know that Jesus is the Christ. God's plan is perfect. Hey guess what? I'm speaking about temples in Sacrament meeting next week. I'm excited. I really hope our investigators can be there next week.
I love you all. It was really good to hear from Emily and Lindsey this past week! Lindsey always has really funny letters! And that is awesome that Emily is so consistent in going to the Temple. She will be blessed a ton for that. It is really great to hear for dad too. I CAN'T BELIEVE AMANDA IS GETTING MARRIED! I got a wedding announcement from them. That is crazy! She will have a kid by the time I get home! She is too young. Oh well. That's life. I'm really glad she's getting married in the temple! That will be really awesome! Are you planning on going to that? I would. I'm glad to hear that the whole family is doing so well! I love you all. Keep working hard and doing the Lord's will, because it is so worth it! I had an experience with the Holy Ghost that I want to share! This past week we got a phone call to go give a blessing. So I grabbed my oil, and got ready to ride of on our bikes, but then I felt like I should grab my backpack. I didn't want to, so I ignored the feeling. Then Elder Doh, said that I should grab my backpack. But I ignored him. Then I felt impressed a third time to grab my backpack. So I went inside and put my backpack on, then left. We got to their house, and I got my oil out of my pocket to give the blesssing, and it was empty! Thankfully, I had an extra vile of oil in my backpack! It was awesome! I love you all! Bye!
Love, Elder Ross Watkins