"Miracle story of the week"

Email #13
Area: Grange area of the Firle Zone
Companion: Elder Hamilton

Excerpts from Mom's email:

So this week has been absolutely crazy and busy. So a little about the investigators at the moment. First off, we have M......, who is basically a dry Mormon at this point. He is going to be baptized on June 3 for sure as soon as he is married to his partner. She is a member, so everything there is going as well as you could ever ask for. Next there is D...,  who is a slow process, yet has amazing potential. Elder Hamilton has been teaching him for four months and when they first met, he told them to get lost basically. However, my companion is relentless haha. He ended up getting the foot in the door and now we have seen him ever since. D... is amazed on the fact that we have helped him as much as we have. Months ago he said he would never enter a church again, but actually we had him in the church yesterday! It wasn't during church hours, but we did a church tour. One step at a time. He even said that even though they have been small steps, he has grown more then any of us could really explain. I have a feeling that he will be baptized in the future, there really is no way he won't be, but it may be a ways away.

Now for the miracle story of the week. It all started when we went out on our bikes about 6 at night to go finding on Tuesday. A couple K's (kilometers) down from our flat, we see a car just sitting in the middle of the road. Apparently this couple had drove all the way from Melbourne to here and their car died ONE STREET down from their home, RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! So we helped them move their car out of the road and guess what happened. They said thanks and were on their way... Don't worry, it doesn't end their though haha. So we were pretty shocked that God stopped them like that for no reason at first. Then we moved on a couple of meters and this kid comes around the corner right when we get to it. If we had been going on our bikes at the pace we were going before we were stopped, we would have been Miles away by the time he got to that corner. Anyway we start talking to him and he says "Aren't you the Elders?" Turns out his mom when he was very young saw the missionaries and was baptized. He is now fourteen, his parents are separated, and he lives with his Dad. He said he would be happy to talk to us, but he didn't think his dad would be into it. So we just told him, ask your dad about it and give us a call if we can stop by. Guess what, he called and we went by:). Now here is the miracle. They both are about the most prepared people either of us have ever seen in our lives! The Dad's name is D.... and the son is B... I'll have to continue this in Dad's email so stay tuned.

So yesterday I was able to do the confirmation for A...... It was an amazing experience! At first I was a little nervous, but as soon as I started talking, the spirit flowed. So that was a great experience in itself. Again, there is just so much I could talk about, but I'll have to save some of it for another time.

Love ya Mom!
Elder Bryner


Excerpts from Dad's email:

Hey Dad!

So I was telling mom about B.. and D...., so read hers for part one. So D.... has served in the army for 20 years and has seen a lot. He has always had a belief and God, but from things that he has experienced, his faith has really diminished over time. The biggest thing that has been a testimony to his belief is his son B... He is everything to him. He was telling us that things in his life recently have been leading up to this moment where we met them and said if we are going to "catch them" now is the time. I have never seen an investigator like him. When we first start the lesson, he starts asking such great questions, but they are kind of all over the place. We teach people not lessons, so we answer them all right way. He has so many questions though that match up with the lessons that we are going to try to just teach the lessons and try to answer questions at the same time. The coolest thing is that he TAKES NOTES! The entire time we are teaching, he is taking notes on this tablet. That is a rare thing. Also, B.. is super interested the whole time as well and he is only 14 years old. They are so great and we are just so excited about them. They have a lot of concerns, but nothing that the gospel can't fix.

Love ya Dad
Elder Bryner

Program from baptism

Elder Hamilton & Elder Bryner's Cooking Show