February 4, 2013

I actually asked Paul some questions in my email to him so I'll add the questions to his answers.  It will make his letter seem less random :)

Howdy!
 (What is your ward like?) 

Yeah so i'm actually in a branch! It's super small there are probably like 70 or so people that attend it every week which is a little different from back home. They are really interesting... Most of them are pretty cool and there are a few that are really supportive of our missionary efforts but whenever we have branch council it seems like alot of them really don't have a ton of faith in us. Which is to bad but I believe that this will change really soon!



(Do you attend one ward all three meetings or go to different ones?)

We do just attend the same branch in one area. It is really small here, the church is I mean, so we do our best to help all of the members go and just have some people there. The town of Fredericksberg is kinda like a vacation destination for like honeymooners. There are SO many old people here too. It's pretty nuts. So yeah we have some visitors like every week but they are usually from way out of town or something.

(What is your apartment like?  How many people live there?)

In our apartment it is just Elder Kertamus and I. The closest missionaries to us are still like 25 miles away. We cover like 60 miles north of us and just alot of area. It's really hard because we can only drive 1300 miles a month. Which seems like alot but really it's not enough sometimes! We had to ride our bikes quite a bit in January so that we could stay under the mile count.

(Have you been playing the piano at all?)

I haven't had to play piano because everyone in the branch does. It's so incredible. Literally every single one of the do. Mostly because they have a piano that has all of the hymns recorded on it, but there isn't a ward that has this many piano players in the entire church like here in Fredericksberg!

(Do you cook very much? )

Yeah we get to cook quite a bit here. Mostly it's Raisen Bran or sometimes I make some nachos or something. For the first few weeks the members fed us really well but this week we don't really have anyone to feed us. Sad, but it'll be awesome!

(What is your favorite thing to do on P-Day?)

Well for P day basically we just go around town. We usually go to this place called Rustlin' Rob's which is place with tons and tons of different hot sauces and things. Last week I tried one that had 6 million scoville units or something. Yeah. It was Hot. Another thing that we did was that we had a chocolate covered pickle. Yes I mean a pickle. It was the single worst thing that I have ever had to eat in my entire life. It was AWFUL. That is probably the worst decision that I have made out here, but hey anything is worth a try at least once right?

As for our Investigators we are working with a young man. He is depressed all the time and really doesn't think he has a purpose in life. He is trying to quit smoking his Pot but has a ways to go. His friend is trying to help him get back into church because he knows that it will help him and we are trying to get both of the to come to church just in general. We have a lesson with him tomorrow and hopefully that will go really well!

The other lady we have been working with is so solid! She came to church yesterday and brought her boys with her! She really really wants to change her life and is excited to come and to do all the things that the branch has to offer. She will probably get baptized the end of this month or maybe even March. We get to teach her the Law of Chastity this week and I can't wait! ;)

The other one that we have been working with  is a referral that we got from one of the members of the branch. He just seems to get it! He is reading in the Book of Mormon and seems to find it really interesting. We just went and had lunch with him and he told us that it is just really powerful. We were so excited to see him have that good of an experience with it! We have a lesson with him tonight so hopefully all goes well there!!

As for crazy stuff that happened this week.

Frodo was in Fredericksberg. We heard a rumor going around that Patrick actually got to have his picture with him! I will for sure keep you updated on that situation.

We also met Goliath. I have no doubt that the Lord protects His servants. We went to knock this neighborhood that was sort of out of town. When we got there we knocked on a door and a man answered, he wasn't very interested, so we asked him if any of his neighbors needed a message from God. He told us his neighbor was having a rough day but that he was not the friendly sort of fellow and that we probably shouldn't go over there. We however felt that we should. There was a long dirt road that led up to this house. As we walked I felt something different. I turned to Elder Kertamus and said "The powers of Good and Evil are about to met." We kept walking and saw a confederate flag flying on the barn as we stepped onto the door step. I knocked on the door and out came a 6'6" man that was a solid built 275 at least. He said "You Mormons?" I said "Yes sir! We are from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!" He said "well you can leave." tossing in a few obscenites along with it. "Well sir is there anything that we can do to help you?" I said. "No I'm catholic and you better get off this porch before I make you" He then threatened me telling me that he would hurt us and told me to get away. This entire time I did not break I contact with him and it terrified him. Eventually we walked away and as we did insults to me rained down on me. Elder Kertamus didn't really say anything to the man the entire time. So he was shouting curses littered with the F word at me as we walked down the long dusty driveway. It was a sad sight to see. But I was not afraid of the man because I knew something that he did not. I know that I am a Disciple of Jesus Christ, The Son of God. I have been called of Him to Declare His word among His People. I know that, that man could not hurt me. I would take anything that he had to give because I am not just a man. I am a Disciple of Jesus Christ. I know that He Loves me and will protect me.

Love You All!
Elder Paul Funk
Remember Who You Are and What He Stands For!