Testimony Growing

Hey Family!

My week was pretty good. I hope all of yours were too. We were able to see mostly everybody except for Chris. We haven't been able to see him the past two weeks but I don't think he's avoiding us or anything. There are some people that you can tell and it's like they think you're totally stupid. But anyways we hope to get to see him this week. As far as my knowledge goes, the baptism is still on so I'm not worrying yet. 

We were able to see Dan this week was well which was a real treat. He is probably my favorite person I've met so far. The only problem was he forgot we we're coming over so he was drinking a little bit before we got there and was a little buzzed. He seems super interested in the scriptures and stuff. He was trying to start reading this past week but things got a little crazy for him since his daughter is starting college so they were getting her all situated. But I honestly think he is genuinely interested and he just needs to start reading which I'm hoping he will. 

Oh and I'm not sure how promising Annie is but we'll have to reevaluate when we see her on Tuesday. To my knowledge she hasn't read. She says she has friends that are Mormon. I think I said that before, but hopefully that will help. 

 That brings me to Robert. We still are meeting with him and everything I just don't know if he is truly seeking. He's really tough to get to keep commitments but we did get him to say the closing prayer so that was some progress I suppose. We'll keep working with him and hopefully something will change. 

And the last investigator I'm going to talk about is Steve. Steve is a 60 year old brotha. He actually looks quite a bit younger than 60. Anyways he is awesome. He's a really funny guy and to my knowledge has read a little. He is also interested in coming to church so hopefully we can get him there. I think he'll come one of these times. He says he really enjoys talking to us and boy does he talk haha. I really enjoy talking to him as well. 

And Mom as far as what ways I've grown to me I'm still myself so I don't notice ways I've grown as much but I would say I for sure have grown in the aspect of talking to adults and carrying on conversations with them. I've needed to with Dan and Steve. We've had some pretty good and long conversations. And of course my testimony has grown. I wouldn't be out here if it didn't. I left on my mission with virtually no testimony but Alma 32:27 is true haha. You can't do this work effectively without a testimony. And with that said I do struggle with it occasionally but most people do. How quick humans are to forget. Well anyways I hope you guys have a wonderful week! I love you all!!!

Love,

Elder Ballif

Bapstism Set for the 14th

Hey Family!

My week wasn't too bad. Didn't get as much done as we did the past few weeks but whatever we've been preparing to move. We did get to see some people though haha. 

We got to see Robert again and that went pretty well. The thing is the Lord isn't going to answer his prayers, if he's not truly seeking and he's not reading or showing a whole lot of effort on his part. Hopefully that will change. He's a good kid though but just needs some motivation I suppose. 

We also got to see Dan! I really hope Dan can get baptized. He is such an awesome guy. We will keep working with him and I'm pretty sure he'll start reading. I got Gospel Library all set up on his iPhone haha. He's got a really good head on him. He has looked at some things about Mormons on the internet but his conclusion is and he said in a joking manner "It's on the internet so it must be true" and he also thinks you shouldn't get information from sources that isn't the source of what you're looking up. But yeah I hope he has been reading. Especially since he can listen to it now on his phone. He said that would help a lot. 

We didn't get to see Chris this week because he had to work late on the day we had scheduled but they still came to church. He even went out and bought some ties and a white shirt and black plants to have all the church garb. He is doing well though. The baptism on the 14th is still set so I'm excited about that. I'm sure I'll still be here but hey I guess you never know. 

We also were able to see Chan and it went pretty well. We read Mosiah 2 and I had to explain a couple of times Mosiah and Messiah are 2 different words haha. It'll take some time with him. I believe his native language is either Arabic or Denke or however you spell it. 

And we also saw someone new named Annie. We taught her basically the full restoration but we'll probably go over it again. I think she can definitely make progress. Well that's basically all of the news about the investigators. 

We weren't able to see Steve but we'll try to see him again this week. And yes Mom, I got the care package. Actually a couple of weeks ago I just forgot to mention it. It was good. There were some Hi-Chews and beef jerky. And some other treats and those cards you guys wrote and 15 bucks to Walmart. Thank you guys! It was even nicer since it was unexpected. 

And yes Dad I will start reading the NT. I was reading a bit of Revelation this past week. And quit it with your man crush with John ;) Hey you could probably meet him some day in this life since you know he is still here ;) 

Oh and yes please Mom that would be awesome if you could get that book for me. I'm pretty sure it is on amazon. That would be awesome. Well I need to get going. We're going to play basketball again today so that will be fun. I love you guys! 

Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Elder Ballif

Got to go to the Temple Again

Hey Family!

 Things are going pretty good here in Bellevue.

We weren't able to see Dan this week but we did see Chan, Robert, Chris and some others.
Chan is so darn hard to understand. There is definitely a language barrier there but I try my hardest to piece things together. He usually just read out of the Book of Mormon and that can be rough sometimes. I think we should look into getting him a copy of it in his native language.

Robert is still atheist/agnostic. He doesn't really know. But we keep working with him and have been reading scriptures with him and leaving chapters for him to read. I don't think he's actually read any of the things we have left
him with. But we're not giving up.

 Chris is awesome. His last name is actually Brosnan. The ward directory says differently but yeah. We taught him the restoration and everything is going great. They came to church and he definitely is ready. September 14th. Hopefully I'll still be here.

We also taught Steve. I don't know if I've mentioned him. Well we basically got to know him. He's a super cool dude. He used to be in the airforce doing maintenance and he mentioned he's worked with Avionics so yeah I
definitely mentioned what you do, Dad. We talked for a good hour and a half haha. Super nice guy and he started reading the Book of Mormon so that is great.

 Another person is this lady we met named Anny. She has Mormon friends and says she wants to start taking the lessons. She seems super friendly and she seems like she could have some potential.

We're actually going to play basketball today and Chris said he'll try to make it. I hope he can.

And as far as reading goes I will probably start reading through Mosiah again and will definitely start the NT.

 We got to go to the temple again this past Friday and I got to see the new video. It's definitely better in my opinion. And that's all I'll say about that.

Well I should probably get going. Sorry for the shortness of email. We'll it's not like any of mine are long but it's kind of hard having to email multiple people in an hour. Some missions you can take as long as you want, but not here.

Oh well. I love you guys! Stay safe everyone. May the Lord be with you!

Love,
Elder Ballif

Taught 12 Lessons and set Baptismal Date for Chris

Hey Family!

My week went pretty well--probably the best week numbers wise here in Bellevue. We had 12 lessons and everything is great with the Brosmans. Chris the husband is the only one of age but he's pretty darn solid. He's actually set for baptism on the 14th of September. He just took everything in and he is really awesome. He is a mechanic for the military and works on Amtracks. Video games helped me out with this one. :) They're the tanks that can float and go into water as well. Thank you Battlefield haha. So yeah I actually knew what he was talking about haha. I have high hopes for him. He is a really cool dude. 

That brings me to Robert. Things are still going well to my knowledge. He continues to meet with us and we'll see tomorrow where he's at. He is a really nice kid. Actually could you guys look into getting this book for me called Reflections of a Scientist. It's by Henry Eyring (not the apostle but he was LDS and a very renown scientist) and it helps connect science and religion very well I hear. Reason I'm asking is I think it would do Robert some good as well. But I think he has great potential he just needs to understand and recognize the Spirit. 

And Dan. Dan is awesome. Arguably my favorite person I've met. It will be a challenge to get him to church seeing how he works on Sundays but Heavenly Father can help out in that aspect. Sorry if this is a short email but I need to get going pretty soon. He showed us one of his AR-15s and boy was it cool. It had a tactical light, a laser sight and a mounted red dot sight. He used to be in the military and actual combat. And don't worry Mom, we're careful. He is really serious about gun safety especially after what happened to his son. We got to watch Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration and it went pretty well. He said he really enjoyed it. I did too haha. 

 I hope everything is going well back home. And yes Tori's birthday is on Thursday and you can do whatever. I'm sure she would appreciate anything you guys got her. I'm working on getting some stuff for her myself. 

And I hope I get to catch some of the BYU season as well. It's all about Adam Hine, Dad ;) I've also been getting really close to a recent convert named Dean Harris. He's actually around your guy's age and he really funny. 

Well I love you guys! I hope everyone is doing good. I haven't heard from/about Austin in a while. 

Have a great week everyone! The Church is true! The Savior lives! Stay safe everyone. Love you guys.

Love,

Elder Ballif