August 18

Dearest family and friends,

This week went by fast. I spent a little time with Sister Sorensen in the other ward. She is a really great missionary and we had some good times! It is so fun to spend time with so many different missionaries and see how they do things and learn from each of them. It is amazing. 

While I was away from Sister Earl she and Sister Smedley (who is also and INCREDIBLE missionary) found a potential investigator and told her that we would bring her a DVD about families. So the next day I went with Sister Earl to visit the lady. Well, she wasn't home but her husband answered the door. We got talking to him a little bit about his family. They have 3 boys. The oldest is 8. He talked about how he didn't have the best childhood and that he wanted his own sons to have the father that he never had. We talked about families and how they can be together forever and we talked about the Book of Mormon. It was a beautiful and glorious conversation. He is so humble and sincere. Towards the end he kept saying things like, "Wow, you have only been here a few minutes and you have helped me to think about so much." It was such a neat experience as we talked to him and realized how much people yearn for the things we have.

We also had a lesson with an investigator that we found last week. The one that was so excited that it was his first time talking to missionaries. We had a great lesson with him about the restoration. It was simple but he was so engaged and told us that he really wanted to come to church. Then he said the closing prayer and it was so sweet. He asked God for help to become a Mormon. He is so great and so sincere!

Saturday we helped a potential investigator who just had surgery. We swept and mopped her floors. It made me so sad because she was so sad. She has breast cancer and has almost lost all hope. Oh how I love the gospel and the hope that it brings!

We got an INCREDIBLE call from a lady in Florida on Saturday night. She was calling to tell us about her step son who was moving to Brunswick. He is not a member but his dad and step mom are. She told us that his mom is VERY against the church and doesn't want him to get baptized. He has been waiting since he was little to turn 18, move out, and join the church. He also is living with people who are from the same church as his mom so we can't go over to his house to visit him. So he came to church on Sunday and he is SO AMAZING! He is so sweet and knows that the church is true. He is willing to break ties with his mom if that is what it takes to get baptized. Just to give you an idea of how amazing he is here is something he said. He told us that he used to play in the band at his mom's church. He said, "I was kind of sad because I was going to miss that kind of music in church. But then I had to look at the bigger picture. The other churches just aren't real. This one is real. I feel the spirit here and they I didn't in other churches." Wow. He is amazing. Unfortunately, we found out that he lives Right outside our ward boundaries but we are still going to keep in contact with him as he meets with the other missionaries. He is so great!

Have a blessed day, y'all!

Sister Kasteler