Elder Jesse Kissell: THE WEEK

Hey folks!

Well this week was a different one than what i'm used to. The past few weeks things have been pretty high flying and sweet and nothing really going wrong. But this week, we hit a few speed bumps. Some were a little bigger than speed bumps, some were kind of like brick walls. But never fear, i'm still smilin and goin with the flow of missionary work. But, let me ellaborate a little on my week now...

So Martin unfortunately will not be getting baptized this saturday. He wasn't at church yesterday and in fact, we have no idea where he is. He has Thursdays and Fridays off, so we usually try to teach him on both of those days. Thursday morning we talked to him and he said he had an appointment at the hospital where he was going to take care of some billing issues because he got medicine from the hospital a few weeks ago. He was supposed to be done in the evening but he never called us back and he didn't answer when we called and Friday through Sunday, his phone was off. The only thing we can really think of that happened was that somebody found out he was not a legal citizen. His visa ran out late last year and technically is an illegal alien now. So he may be suffering the consequences of that, but we really have no idea where he is. We kind of figured that unless there was something seriously wrong, he would be at church. But he wasn't, so that must mean that there is something not so good going on in his life right now. It is pretty stressful and frustrating. I really am pretty nervous and freaking out a little about the whole situation. But i have faith that he'll be found soon and he'll be baptized. My problem is that i want to know WHEN that will be. So, pray for Martin and that things will work out for him, whatever his situation may be.

Tim still rocks. We had a couple sweet lessons with him this week. One about the word of wisdom which he is now living! He drank alot of tea, but not anymore!! Sweet. And then the other lesson was the plan of salvation part 1. He loved it. But he did bring up the fact that he wasn't so sure about the whole baptism idea. He hasn't found out if the church is true yet and isn't comftorable being baptized. That's good! But he really needs to come to know if it's true. Patience i guess. The Lord works in mysterious ways and those mysterious ways are always the best ways. And when Tim does find out, i have confidence that it will be a super sweet experience and one that he can't deny and will love and cherish it forever. That's usually the way it happens!!! And he wants it to happen too, so do you think the Lord will deny him that blessing? Nope, me neither. But Tim loves everything about church, including FHE and EARLY MORNING institute!! It's not that early actually, it's at 7, but if Tim can do it, so can I!

We went to a hockey game this week!! It was pretty sweet. One of the sisters' investigators was playing and the singles ward decided to make a ward activity out of it to go watch. So that was sweet. Hockey is way fun, i would totally play it if i could skate.

So this is cool...my hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows all froze this week!! Not something you can say everyday eh? And the cool thing was that it wasn't even that cold out. And you want to know something that i've decided? The cold feels good!!! No more weird cold problems!!:) And it finally snowed again this week, it's about time. Our snow was old and gross but now it looks good out with a nice new layer of whiteness.

We have another temple trip this week with the singles ward. That will be great. We are planning on inviting Tim to go and sit in the waiting room. The spirit is so strong everywhere at the temple, even outside. I think it would be a really great experience for him. He has said before that he doesn't like big fancy buildings, but we'll explain the reasons behind the temple being so big and beautiful beforehand.

Our ward mission leader found us a sweet new potential investigator on the bus this week!! And i do smell another baptismal date coming up here this week. She sounds pretty golden. I guess her daughter is a member down in a small town in southeastern Wisconsin and her grandson is on a mission. And she listens to the Book of Mormon on tape and thinks it is sweet!!! So on wednesday, we should have a pretty awesome lesson i'm thinking. The Lord does prepare people, this area has made that known to me and there are so many of them. And this time, a member found us somebody!! That means YOU CAN TOO!!!! You love the gospel right? You love your friends, right? Well, how about showing your friends how much you love them by sharing with them the gospel. You can totally do it!

The bus was fun again this week!! I talked to one guy who said i looked like i was off of an MTV show and that i looked totally awesome!! Not interested at all, but he thought i was pretty hot stuff and made it known to a couple other people on the bus...awkward! I don't think he was gay though, i sure hope not! And i talked to some businessmen and hippies and crazy black guys. The bus is always an adventure!!

Hmmmm.... well! I must say that i'm quickly running out of more exciting things to tell you. I love you all and hope everybody had a sweet V-Day! Oh and happy Presidents day!! No mail today! Lame!!! Speaking of which...don't be afraid to write me!!!:) I heard from somebody that every week was a "write your missionary" week!

Love ya'll!

Elder Jesse Kissell

pictures!