Update from Tyler

This week was full of mixed emotion.

First of all, we met with Kelli and found out that she has not quit smoking, so she wasn't baptized yesterday. It's really sad to see someone get so close, but not go that last step and not be able to be baptized. Also the fact that her mom is a huge smoker doesn't help her trying to quit. With that, and along with some other mental issues, Kelli might not be baptized for a while until she can get the help she needs overcoming it. However, Kelli has changed remarkably since I've met her. We taught her about charity yesterday and she really understood it well. We read her the scripture that says that "charity preventeth a multitude of sins". It was really good for her to understand.

We've also had a lot of car issues....

Last Monday we took the car into the shop to replace the wheel bearings and also fix an overheating issue that just sprang up. We were supposed to get the car back on Thursday, but they found that a head gasket 'might' have blown, and they will have to take it to the heavy engine department to fix it. Basically we are now a biking area again. However, on our way to get the car on Thursday, elder Kohler's bike broke. So we are now actually a walking area :)

Thursday was a pretty awesome day though since it was my 19th birthday! It was very different from the past 18 birthdays that I've had, but it was good. It's also weird to think that I only have one more birthday on my mission. Time is flying by so fast it's crazy! On Friday I received a package in the mail from my Mom and Dad that was full of candy! There was also a homemade cake in it and some candles. I really didn't expect that at all. I wonder how they got the idea of sending me a whole cooked cake. It was pretty fun.

On Saturday we had exchanges. I was in a different area and we had to give the Spanish elders a ride to their dinner because they are a bike area. After we picked them up, they mentioned to us they just had the most disgusting dinner ever. So we all went to McDonalds and had some real food.

Sunday was pretty cool. Kelli came to church again which was really good. After church we got a text saying that there was a lady from Dayton in the hospital who needed a blessing. So Elder Kohler, the Beaumont South Elders and I went to give her a blessing. She was SUPER old, and she had super bad Alzheimer's. She was almost completely unresponsive as we walked in, and she couldn't reply to our questions or anything. We went ahead with the blessing. After the blessing she seemed really normal. She thanked us and said that God loves us and how God is more interested in us than we are in Him at times. After she said that the Alzheimer's came back and she wasn't really able to talk. It was a pretty cool little miracle.

Also in church, we got there a little early, so we didn't know what to do. We went to the empty primary room and I started practicing piano. After about 10 minutes a lady walked in the door and said that us being there was a miracle. She said she had to setup all the chairs for primary in the whole building herself, and how this morning she
had prayed to God and asked him to send missionaries there that morning to help her. It was a pretty cool experience.

Anyways, it's been a pretty cool week. There's been a lot of miracles happen.

-Elder Jones

 

 

Here is elder Kohler when he got locked behind this gate at the church