Hi Everyone,
This last week was an interesting one. It was probably the toughest week so far but there were some really good things that happened too. My new companion, Elder Lamb, is from Utah and has been out for 21 months. He is pretty cool. We're both more quiet, laid back people so we've gotten along pretty good so far. This week was the toughest, so far, though because I know the area so I have to decide where we're going to go and what we're going to do. Also, we had a lot of appointments fall through and members that we had set up to go see investigators fell through, too. This week we didn't have any investigators at church for the 2nd week in a row. Raymond and Tracy weren't there again because their son Jalen had battle of the bands all day. They forgot to tell me that, though, so I thought they were coming. So I was really disappointed and worried that they didn't show up. Raymond called me later that night though, and apologized for not telling me they were going to miss church. It was a big relief when he called and we set up to see them on Tuesday. We did recommit Raymond for November 27 to be baptized but we weren't able to recommit Tracy yet because she wasn't there.
There were a few positives this week, though. On Saturday, we were knocking doors and ran into an awesome family. We taught Jason and Janita the mother and father. They were really receptive and really excited and interested in the Book of Mormon. They were really nice and cool, too. The whole time we were teaching them they kept asking if we would like something to eat or something to drink. After we were done teaching they were both really thankful that we came and are interested in the Gospel. Jason even asked us if we wanted to come over for Thanksgiving. They're an awesome family and I can't wait to go back and teach them more. We also were able to teach a guy named Daniel. My old companion, Elder Hale, had found him about 3 months ago but hadn't taught him anything yet. Daniel is really cool, too, and when we taught him about the restoration and the Book of Mormon he was really receptive.
It still amazes me how many abandoned houses there are down here. There will be about 10 out of like 35 houses on a street that are abandoned. Where I'm at in the east they don't have many stores either. My companion and I have to go to another area to buy groceries because there aren't any grocery stores in our area. The people here, too, always talk about how different it is now than before the storm. So they still are recovering from the storm and recovering at a slow rate.
It was exciting to hear about the groundbreaking of the Gilbert Temple. I hope it's finished by the time I get back. It was also good to hear that the Suns are doing good so far. Thanks Spencer for the update! Hope everything is going well back home for everyone and I'd love to keep hearing more on how everyone is doing. I love it out here in Louisiana so far and serving the Lord. I'm blessed everyday and I'm able to see the gospel change people's lives. I love you all and hope you all have a great week.
Love,
Elder Cooper
