Hello from Fishers for one more time

Hey Everyone!

If you couldn't figure out from the subject yet, it is official that I am leaving Fishers. Wow. I can't believe 3 months has gone by here. It's hard to believe how much I have grown the last 3 months. This has been a hard area, but I really have loved it and it's hard to leave. Things have started to pick up, and now it's time for me to pick up and leave. Seems like a pattern for my mission so far.

This last week was packed with stuff, I hope I can talk about all of it! On Tuesday we had a lesson with Steve, our less-active we've been working with. I'll probably miss him most out of everyone. We met with him consistently for 12 weeks. And now he's  gone to church 3 times in a row and started to break some of his addictions. I believe that we are sent to every area for a specific reason, and usually for a specific person. I know we were sent here to help Steve. I look forward to the future when he can be completely sober and fully active in the church and temple. After Steve, we had a lesson with Melvin, who is 76 years old. He's a funny old man, and in some ways he reminds me of Brother Garber in Brazil haha. We could tell he had some major concerns, so we just kept digging the whole lesson. It was pretty fun. Finally, we got it out of him that he had some books of anti. He brought them out to us, and we boldy testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I told him, "Melvin, I looked through this book for 5 seconds, and I already found something that was false. I've also looked through the Book of Mormon for my whole life, and I've found nothing but truth. It's done nothing, but bless my life."

On Tuesday night, we had a really cool experience. In Fishers, there are all sorts of cultures. It's really a melting pot. The other Elders knocked on a door of a Muslim guy. He told them that if they came to his mosque, he would listen to them and come to church with them. Well, we had nothing to do on Tuesday night, so we went with them. What an experience! They went through their prayer, and after that we sat in a room with some of their leaders who told us about Islam and we told them about our church. It was super educational, and also very effective. They said they would all come to our church sometime, hopefully next week. They were super nice to us and very respectful; I gained a lot of respect for their religion.

On Wednesday, we taught a guy named Jordan who had a really cool beard. He listened and was respectful, but at the end of the lesson went off about how the Bible is a closed canon of scripture and the last verses in Revelation. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I love how the opposition against us and against the truth is so complicated, and how the answer is so simple. It definitely adds to my testimony. People are really smart out here, and they also really know/love the Bible. It's made me stretch and grow in my knowledge of the gospel and of the scriptures. It's also really strengthened my testimony.

Speaking of people being smart and opposing our beliefs, we met with a guy named Daniel Friday morning at a deli shop. He seemed nice at first, but then he went off about how there's so much evidence for the Bible, but not very much for the Book of Mormon. He asked us why we say we're Christians, when Joseph Smith said all of the other churches were wrong. He just kept talking, and didn't give us much time to talk, but we bore testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. We told him that if he actually reads and prays about the Book of Mormon, he will see the evidences of its divinity and gain a testimony of it. I asked him if he was just meeting with us to prove us wrong or if he actually wanted to know if the Book of Mormon was true. He said he would like to know if it's true, but we'll see if it goes anywhere.

Friday evening, we also had a lesson with Mark and Anita. They are way deep thinkers. They really stretch our knowledge of the scriptures and ask tough questions, but we feel like it's moving in the right direction. The power of the Book of Mormon is amazing, and it is starting to resolve their concerns.

I've just written highlights of the week to spare you from boredom, but investigators are starting to come out of the woodwork and the teaching pool here is really building up. Like I said, just in time for me to leave. :) Haha

Well, I'm excited for the new adventures that lie ahead. I hope everyone has a great week and I love all of you a bunch!!! :)

Love,

Elder Tom Hill