Elder Almquist Letter #10

Hello everyone from beautiful Washington State. These last weeks have been extremely busy. Thank you for sending me letters, packages and emails. I can only say they make me happy and give us great ideas for our work. My first baptism came April 3. Ted Christenson. One down, 6 billion to go. Ted was just glowing and said, “Wow! That was awesome.” When I got out of the water, I felt warm all over even though I was wet. That was really special for me. He gets confirmed next week.

Last week we had zone conference. It was my first. It was nice to see Elder Manu, my MTC companion. He is doing well. It was such a great time to hear new teaching ideas, bear testimony and learn of Christ. On the way back from Moses Lake, we took a short diversion over to see the Grand Coulee Dam. It is incredible. I can’t wait for Spring to show the added beauty of this area. Dry Falls Canyon, the Columbia River and lots of tall mountains make this a scenic wonderland.

Back home we went to the hardware store. I don’t know why because we didn’t need anything. But we met a man, Richard Tapper, who had taken the lessons with his family 8 years ago but had lost contact. We are teaching them again. It will be fun if they join. All we can do is tell the truth and invite the Spirit into his home.

On the 16^th we have Chris Morris’ baptism and two others. Today we are going to set a date with Misty and her kids. So the work is moving along great. We know there will be bumps and disappointments along the way, but right now we are working hard and listening to the Spirit to help us.

Conference was great. On Saturday we had the whole Chapel to ourselves to listen. I stayed awake the whole time. You get a lot more out of it that way. Can you imagine?

Dad I loved the story of the Ethiopian man. Yes, God does run the taxis in Washington D.C. Duh. Was there any doubt? When He wants someone to hear the Gospel, He makes it happen.

We went to one door and the lady said, “No thanks, we are Christian and want to stay that way.” I then showed her my nametag, then a picture of Christ in our book, and testified of Christ ourselves. I thought it was sort of funny. She was speechless, laughed a little and was totally caught off guard.

We also met a Sister Gutierez. She’s not a sister yet. But anyway, when the Ward members found out, they said, “No way. She is so Catholic.” They said, “How did you Elders swing that?” Yea, she is awesome. Now everyone wants to go teach her with us.

Well, I just cleaned out our fridge, the cupboards and around the apartment. I threw out two big bags of stuff. Maybe Elder Jones is a hoarder. It was trying for him to see me haul off all that junk.

Again, wasn’t conference fantastic? Well stay strong, O.K.! I love you all.

Elder Almquist