Email 24: New Address + New President + Ernie + Natives + Dog Attack

Received on July 1, 2013

Wiatse!!! What is up everyone :) thank you for all of your emails, they were the greatest! Hopefully I will be able to cover everything I want to in this email!

First off, the new mission home address (its a sweet adress by the way):

23175 224th Pl SE Suite E

Maple Valley, WA

98038

send those letters!!!!!! :)

President Eaton and Sister Eaton are here! The Washington Federal Way Mission has begun! Glorious :) We havent gotten to meet them yet though. But President Eatons dad was in my ward in White River and everyone there knew him so I have been hearing a lot about him ever since he was announced! I am super stoked to meet him and serve with him and Sister Eaton!

This week was a great one! Let me tell you though, I thought they had mild summers. Wrong. Its a sauna here. Haha we have been sweating our faces off for the past few days! Temperatures have been in the 90s plus humidity. I love it though. Summer has always been my favorite!

We had a miracle this Sunday! We had three committments to come to church this week and we stopped by all of them before church and no one was anywhere to be found. So we prayed for miracle that someone would come to church and feel the Spirit. About 30 seconds before the meeting started, in walked Ernie :) I love Ernie. He is an investigator that has been taught off and on for the past couple months. He has been to church a couple times before. We hadnt talked to him in 8 days and he just walked in for church! We went over to his house and had a lesson on his porch last night. He is a great guy and he knows this is all right and good. He committed to pray lst night and today about being baptized this Saturday!! We are praying for him to get those answers from God and commit himself to this gospel! Pray for Ernie!

There is also another solid investigator that we found this week tracting one morning! Her name is Chase and she is 16 years old. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she comitted to read and pray about it. We went back last night and she hadn't read yet, but we talked to her dad as well and he told us and her that it was her choice if she wanted to learn and come to church, and she just lit up. She committed right after that to read the Book of Mormon every day! We are going to get the Young Women involved this week and she is going to get baptized and recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost in her life soon! :)

 I love the Natives so much. I will tell you I have never been around anything like this. There is a lot a lot a lot of drug abuse, and other abuse. There are a lot of people that just don't know how to find happiness. I love these people though, and I know without a doubt that the Atonement is so powerful. It can and it will change these people. We are working with two Natives right now, and have met a lot of others. Pray for Robert John and Joey. Robert really has a desire to change his life. He has so much to overcome, but he can and he will overcome it all. I love them with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength!

I know without a doubt that God is with us right now. I have never had to rely on Him more in my life. He is leading and guiding and blessing us every single day!

Oh, and my back is getting better! My shoulder is fine! All is well!

Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I get to drive a sick new Ford Fusion (in the picture). Boom. Its great :) I miss the bikes though.

Well, I am more than excited for all of the work that is ahead. Can you believe it is July? What? Things better slow down. But they won't. I love this work so much! I have never had a greater testimony of letting God's will be your will. There have been so many challenges the past few months, my life has never been so hard and many times I have no idea what to do. But I know that if we are keeping our covenants, if we are being obedient and faithful, and if we are humble enough to accept all things and seek the Lord's will, then His will WILL be done through us. And the things we experience and learn will all be for our own good. I love every day trying to submit myself to the Lord. I love being a part of the great, glorious, marvelous, WORK! I know it is true with all of my heart and I will never deny it.

I love you all so much! Continue to be a light for the rest of the world. I love to hear about all of you and the ways that the Lord is using you to perform His work on the earth. I love you all. I love this gospel and I love my Savior! :) Til next week! Hoit!!

Elder Cook

Clarks request:

First time on my mission that a dog has almost killed me. We walked in a gate and this nice brown dog starts to walk up to us, then all of the sudden, a dog that looked like her twin comes steaming around the corner, barking. My first instinct was not to run, but instead I reached down to try and pet it or something to calm it down. I went straight for my hand, inches away from severing it at the wrist. I jumped back (Elder Erekson was already out of the gate by this point), and then it went for my leg. I did the farthest standing side ways broad jump of my life back to the gate and slammed it shut before the dog reached me. That was the only time so far that a dog has almost gotten me! Great experience :)