26 October 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for writing to me. I really appreciate it. I really enjoy hearing about what is going on back at home. So here the weather has only been down into the 50s or so, but everyone is freaking out! I was wearing short-sleeves for most of the week and people were freaking out. They were telling me I was going to die, yet I live. But now President Weidmann sent out the text changing it to winter dress, so short sleeves are now a thing of the past. That's a really awesome challenge that Bishop Izzo gave! {Each family in the ward is to find an individual or family to invite to meet with the missionaries.} I hope that you'll be able to find someone to refer to the missionaries. Getting referrals from members is pretty much the best thing since sliced bread! There was a talk we studied as a mission a few months ago that was amazing! Essentially it was the precursor to Preach My Gospel. It was from President Hinckley in 2000 or 1999 called "Find My Sheep, Feed My Lambs". It is super awesome! I'll just listen to that talk at times during lunch just because it's so awesome. Maybe it could help you find a way to invite a friend.

This week has been pretty good. The weather has been nice and cool, something I've really enjoyed, but the others in the district haven't enjoyed it quite as much. We had daylight savings time this week, so that was a nice surprise to get an extra hour of sleep. This week I went on an exchange within our district. I was with Elder Simons for the day. It was super awesome to be with him. We found out that we have a TON of similarities. It's awesome to get to serve around someone from my MTC group. I actually haven't served around a whole lot from my group, but it is super awesome to serve around Elder Simons. He's super awesome. This week also had its ups and its downs. It seems like nearly all of our work has disappeared in the past week. So we've spent a lot of time contacting and finding people. However, sometimes these things just happen. Before in my mission I would think that maybe it was a punishment because I wasn't as diligent with something or I would have other thoughts like that. But as my mission has gone by, I've been able to see that there are ups and downs in missionary work. Sometimes the Lord gives you rough situations and trial to prepare you for something else in the future. Sometimes the Lord uses these difficulties to give us a chance to prove our dedication to Him. Things are a little slower now, but things are still awesome! I love being a missionary here in Gjakova. And I love being able to invite others to come unto Christ, even when they don't accept it.

Thank you for all of your love and prayers on my behalf. Ju dua shumë!

Me dashuri,

Elder Watson