5/4/2020- Soggy and Poggy

 As I see weather reports for the South of killer snowstorms and freezing temperatures, I have a greater feeling that all of the heat was sucked out of there and chucked at Vegas instead. This last week has been in the 90s, 100s or so windy I can't tell what the temperature is. Regardless, we've been staying on the grind, hitting the streets lathered in sunscreen with an extra water bottle in hand. 

Our efforts have continued to pay off, as we've continued to find more and more people every week. Our buddy Al, who we've been teaching since the first week, decided he wanted to get baptized, and his wife Astella is to join him in his commitment very soon. He even asked if I would baptize him since I'm from Idaho and I "know how to lift up a sack of potatoes like him".

Prowling the streets of the "Historical" side of Vegas always brings its share of stories. This last Saturday, I went on transfers with a brain of a man named Elder Faulkner, and we had one of the most action packed days of my and possibly his mission. We started off in a neighborhood that was relatively nice, and we saw a girl in the street and asked if her parents would want to talk with us. She went and got her mom, and when they came out we had trouble knowing if it was the mom or the dad, as they seemed to be both. They politely told us they weren't interested, we wished them a good day and continued walking to our next friend.

A few houses down, we started talking to a guy who wasn't sure if there was a God or not. However, half way through our talk with him, his friend drove up and told us to leave. Elder Faulkner, being large in both stature and boldness, contested the guy's request, and began to get a bit more heated. We finally began to walk away when the man told us he would blow our heads off if he saw us on his property again. After visiting another person, we left the neighborhood, but the day wasn't over yet.

We went to another area to visit someone, but they weren't home so we began to walk back to our car. Before we got there, we saw a woman walking our way, so we asked her if she was interested in a message about Jesus Christ. She was more than happy, and so we walked over to her house to talk on the front porch.

The first red flag was when she casually mentioned she was taking psych meds. However we remembered that Jesus Christ loves everyone and continued talking. The second red flag came when she started talking about the voices that tell her to fart in church, which put us off a little more but we still continued talking. The final little snippet was when she asked for a prayer, took a drink of Gatorade, then immediately threw up on herself. We then gave a prayer for her, said we would continue to pray for her and promptly left the neighborhood.

Though that day was a bit of an off day, I've learned that by continuing to work diligently God will bless us for our faith and efforts. The very next day, me and my comp went to visit a lady we see every Sunday, but recieved a prompting to walk around the block before going in. As soon as we began walking, we saw a woman sitting with her son who were more than willing to talk with us. We shared our message, gave her our number, and left a Book of Mormon to read. That night, she texted us saying her and her family wanted us to come back Wednesday to share another message, of which she had 5 other kids and her husband to teach. 

As the days get hotter and my clothes get wetter, I know that by continuing to work hard and keep pushing forward the Lord will guide me where he needs me to go. Even if we do not know what is to come of it, if we follow the example of Nephi and go and do the things the Lord commands, He will provide a way for us to deliver.

My clothes are getting pretty gross now though, so I'ma go wash them. And so long as I remember not to go back to the one guys house, I'll be writing y'all next week

With tender love and soggy pants,

Elder Lutter

Also, I remembered to take some pictures from the week, so here's a few if yall would like to take a gander