What a crazy week! As you may know, this was the last week of the transfer. We did get a call from the assistants on Saturday night, but for the first time ever, it wasn't for me! I will be staying in Rockwall/Heath and Elder Layton is being transferred. I will also remain District Leader. This transfer will be pretty interesting. I've never taken an area on as my own before. In my small district, the 2 Elders that are remaining(2 of my best friends on the mission) will both be training new missionaries. I'm pretty anxious to find out who my next companion will be! Elder Layton is pretty sad to leave his first area. After accomplishing our goals last night, we took some time to drop by a few members and investigators so he could say goodbye.
Elder Layton and I set another baptismal date yesterday! Lily, who I think I introduced last week, will be baptized on June 18. She is still very nervous about how her mother will react, but her prayers have been answered in such a forceful and blatant manner, she doesn't dare disregard her need for baptism. She shared a few experiences with us of how her prayers have been answered. It's so incredible to get to see the influence of the Holy Ghost in the lives of individuals.
We had some pretty cool lessons this week. One of them was with our investigator named Jeremy. Jeremy has a tendency to spend too much time looking at anti-Mormon websites and not enough time actually reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. He has a pretty hard time in general keeping his commitments. The spirit was very strong as Elder Layton, our member, and I testified of the reality of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We each shared our own experiences of how we've come to know that the Book of Mormon is true. Jeremy sat silently for a few moments, and we kept our mouths shut in order to allow the Spirit to do the teaching. He was obviously touched and committed to stop looking for other opinions on the Book of Mormon and just to read it and ask God. He then offered one of the most sincere prayers I've ever heard as we closed the lesson. He apologized to Heavenly Father for trusting others more than Him. He asked that if the Book of Mormon was true, and if this was the Church he was to join, that his prayer would be answered. He expressed that he would do whatever was asked of him. I have been praying a lot for Jeremy and I really hope that he will follow through with the promises he has made. It would break my heart to have to drop him from our teaching pool.
The other really cool lesson that sticks out to me was with a man named Bill. Elder Layton and I tracted into Bill on Saturday.When he opened the door, he invited us in before we could even introduce ourselves. Bill explained that he has family and childhood friends who are LDS. We had a great conversation in which Bill asked us to clear up the misconceptions that are commonly circulated, particularly in the South, about Mormons. We did so, and then testified of truthfulness of our message. Before we concluded, I invited Bill to come to church with us. He said that would be great and asked us what time the meetings started. We then briefly explained the organization of the Sunday meetings and he told us he'd be there. Sure enough, come Sunday morning, he was there in his suit, with his Bible and the copy of the Book of Mormon we had given him, in hand. He seemed to love every minute of Church and expressed to every member that talked to him that he wants to come back. I'm really excited to begin teaching Bill.
This week should be pretty crazy, but I'm excited to see what happens. I love you all and I can't wait to hear more from you about how things are going. I hope everyone is happy and well. You are all in my prayers. Enjoy your summer weather y'all! Remember, it could be worse, you could be in Texas! Just kidding. But seriously. Until next time; be good, stay safe, and keep the faith!
Love,
Elder Michael P. Lyman
Texas Dallas Mission
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