Another good week in Shalu! It rained so much this last week. From Wednesday to this morning, all we saw was rain, all day. However, we seem to have passed that little rain patch and I hope we can have a sunny week ahead.
I don't know if I have told you, but we have one of the youngest districts in the mission. Besides Elder Fox, no one in our district has hit their year mark yet. The two senior companions, besides Elder Fox, are both first-time senior companions, and they are both basically white washing the area, so there has been some stress in our district. However, over the last week we has seen so many miracles in Shalu, including people self-contacting us, asking us if they can come to church, and also people walking into our chapel to see "what kind of activities we have". We have also been receiving calls from less-actives asking us if they could "still come to church." It is basically a land of miracles!
Elder Fox and I have also seen our fair share of miracles in our companionship. We have been teaching a boy by the name of Jonas and it has been a very interesting situation. (I think I told you about him before, maybe?) We met him about a month ago. We were having family home evening with the ward, and after, while we were riding home, we got a call from the sisters. Basically they said they had a stalker, who was hanging out around the apartments where they lived. They told us he was at their house that night and they wanted us to come talk to him. So Elder Fox and I rode out and talked to this "stalker". His name is Jonas, and he is 13 years old. It turns out that he lives in that apartment complex, and he usually just hangs out outside. So we did what any missionary would do- we told him to stop following the sisters and we got his phone number and added him for Saturday! We usually don't teach kids, because we like to focus on getting the whole family involved instead, but we quickly learned that this kid didn't really have much of a family. His mother and father work until about 10 every night, and when they are home they are usually not the best influence on him. However, we were still cautious to teach him, because we didn't just want him to come because we were his friends. So while teaching him, we asked what his motivation was in meeting with us. He then told us he really desired to change his life. He (already) had had some really hard trials in his life and he was seeking the help of Jesus Christ. He then told us he wanted us to help him change his reputation, he didn't want to feel like a bad person anymore. So we continued to teach him. We got the ward involved as much as we could, trying to get adults to help us teach him. He is a good kid, with a great heart, but like any 13 year old, he can be pretty loud. We had to teach him to stop punching people in the arms as a joke and also to stop swearing in lessons. We also had to help him become well-behaved in Sacrament Meeting and to treat people with respect. It has been an interesting experience, but he has a spirit that you can just tell is great. Yesterday he came to church again. He doesn't have any church clothes, so this week Elder Fox and I went out and bought him a white shirt and some church pants. So he wore his new church clothes and he actually acted really obedient. Then after church there were a bunch of members who gave him some things, such as ties and shirts, and he had a short meeting with the bishop. He is really changing. It is an awesome privilege to get to work with God in the salvation of souls, especially the salvation of a soul like Jonas!
This is definitely the best thing I have experienced on my mission so far, being able to see the Atonement of Jesus Christ change someone's life. The joy you feel when you see someone who once had no testimony, changing and trying to be an active member of the church is a feeling that I have never experienced before.
The mission life is awesome!
Love you all,
Elder Quist
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