2-3-08 - Book # 34

Today was fast Sunday, and it was my day to teach again. It was an AMAZING lesson. I loved it. We learned about 1 Nephi 16-18. Everyone was super talkative, I think it was because they were fasting. We learned about trying to become more like Nephi and about the difference between worldly and Godly sorrow. One of the cool little testimony builders about the Book of Mormon I learned while preparing the talk, Nephi when he broke his steel bow, he made another bow out of wood AND an arrow. Why did he make another arrow? Why couldn't he have used his arrows from the steel bow he had? The reason was because the steel bow doesn't have to be pulled back as far, so the arrows are shorter. If he would have used the same arrows, he wouldn't have been able to pull back his wooden bow as far as possible to get the maximum amount of speed out of the arrow. So he had to make new longer arrows out of wood so he could get full extension and full speed. There is no way Joseph Smith could have known that fact when he was translating the book. So it MUST be true. Anyways, tonight I took the book to my one of my other neighbors who have not received the book yet. It was my new neighbor who moved in a little over a month ago. I hadn't been over to say hi yet, and I got home a little early from family dinner and decided it would be a good time to go over and introduce myself and share the gospel with her. It was a little weird, mostly because she was on the phone when she answered the door. I tried making small talk and to tell her a little bit about me but it was like she was just backing up. So I asked her if she was religious, and she said it depends on which one, so I told her I was LDS and that I wanted to share a book with her. She opened the screen door just enough for me to slide the book in to her. I told her it was nice to meet her and she went back inside. Interesting, but now I have a foot in the door and once she gets to know me a little better, we'll look back on this day and laugh.

2-2-08 - Book # 33

Tonight we went down to the strip for Emily's birthday. We ate at the cheesecake factory. I think that was my first time ever eating there. It was perty good. Afterwards we went and hung out at FAO Schwartz and played on the piano and the other toys they had there. Then Trey wanted to go act like zombies with his friend Andy, so I took Taylor and him back to my house. On the way there we drove through the shopping centers over by my house and gave away the book to a kid who was coming out of Vons. I say kid, but he was probably my age or a little older. When I gave it to him I asked if he had ever heard of it before. He kinda chuckled and said that he had. So what I decided that meant was one of two things, he is mormon, or extremely anti-mormon. Ya never know though, do ya?

2-1-08 - Book # 32

Tonight was just a quick give-away. Danielle, Emily and I were all going to go to Danielles softball game. Before we went, we needed to stop by Wal-mart. While we were checking out, the guy who was helping us seemed like he could use a good cheering up. I tried talking to him and asking how is day was, but he was practically deaf and could barely hear me. After I had finished paying, I told him I wanted him to have this book, and that it would change his life. He smiled when he saw what it was, maybe because he didn't hear me. He took it and as we walked away Danielle kept looking back and said that he was flipping through the pages. Hopefully our little run-in will make a difference. I know it will as long as he puts forth the effort to do it.

1-31-08 - Book # 31

Tonight was a first. Something that I've been wanting to do since I've been giving out these books. So tonight I had school like every other night. On the way back to the parking garage, this girl from my class was walking right next to me. Then she started talking and asked me about how I was doing in the class. This girl has talked to me before as well. So we chatted the whole long walk back to the cars. I told her about how I learned spanish on a mission in Kentucky. She thought that was pretty crazy. Turns out she graduated in 2002 from vo-tech… where that is I'm not sure. But she was only 16! So she's pretty darn smart too. Well right as we were about to part ways I pulled the BOM out of my back pocket and told her I knew it would bless her life. She smiled and told me thanks and walked away flipping through the pages. Finally somebody I'll be able to follow up with. I've been wanting to give one to the people in one of my classes just so I could see them again later. We'll see what happens!

1-30-08 - Book # 30

Tonight I had school till way late. I got out at 9:45 and still hadn't given out the book. I went to Danielle's house afterwards and drove through a couple parking lots on the way. I was driving by Blockbuster and saw a guy and a lady walking out with their little kid in their arms. So I parked and before they got in the car I walked over to the drivers side where the guy was and told him I had something I wanted to give him. I told him I have been giving them out to people because they mean a lot to me and I knew it would bless their life. He didn't say anything at all I don't think. I asked him if he had heard of the Mormons before, and he shook his head yes. I told him to check out the website I had written down in the book and walked away. He seemed nice enough. Just didn't say a whole lot. It's crazy to think of the power that we have in this church. We are so lucky to be a part of it, if people only knew.

1-29-08 - Book # 29

Well tonight was a crazy night. I had school from 4-5:15, then I went back to work till about 8:30 when Danielle got out of her new teacher class. Then I went over to her house for about 30 minutes, then drove across town to Jeanine Taylors house to do home teaching. It went really good. This months lesson was on Christ being a bridge builder. There was a really cool poem in there about an old man… I think I'm going to go copy and paste it into here, I really liked it.

An old man, going a lone highway,

Came at the evening, cold and gray,

To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,

Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim;

The sullen stream had no fears for him;

But he turned when safe on the other side

And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,

"You are wasting strength with building here;

Your journey will end with the ending day;

You never again must pass this way;

You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide—

Why build you the bridge at the eventide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head:

"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,

"There followeth after me today

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been naught to me

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.

Pasted from lds.org

Pretty cool message. It was given by Monson who is always an amazing story teller. He talked about how Christ has been through it all, and has made ways for all of us to get through any and all struggles we might have. It was really good. Well anywho, book of mormon story, after we were done there, I still had to give away the book. I was in a different part of town than I usually am, so it was good to have different stores to roam around. I decided to go to wal-mart and see if I could find anyone. While I was walking around the inside of the store I saw these two ladies, who looked maybe a little older than me, walking around. I didn't do anything about it and decided to leave the store without having found anyone. As I was walking out, it was like out of no where they were in front of me leaving the store too. Then to top it off, they had parked RIGHT by where I had parked, just two spots over. So I had to do it, while they were loading their stuff into the car I walked over and told them that I wanted to give them something. As I was handing it to the one girl, I told them it was a book of mormon. The other girl who I wasn't handing the book to said, oh I've got one of those. Then the girl I handed the book to said, "Oh, weird, tomorrow we're hanging out with a bunch of mormons." I asked her why she was doing that, and she said that her husband worked for a company that was mostly mormon. The other girl said that somehow she was related to Gordon Hinckley's grandson. It was kind of cool how they both had connections, so I told them to check out the website and to call me if they had any questions. They were really nice. Man, the church is GOOD!

1-28-08 - Book # 28

Man, only 12 books left. Kinda crazy. It doesn't seem like I've given out that many. Tonight Danielle and Emily came over for Dinner. We had Grill cheese and tomato soup. I made it, and I must admit, it was some pretty amazing stuff…. Heh heh. After dinner was done, Emily went to FHE with the Northstar ward and Dke and I went to give out the book of mormon. Oh, I should probably back up. Heavenly Father humbled me again today. So yesterday in church I had to open my mouth and tell everyone how easy it is to give them out at UNLV because EVERYBODY is looking for a free handout. Well today, I was proved wrong. This kid did not want to take the book. And I was persistant, and still, he wasn't havin it. So anywho, Dke and I set out on our journey to find someone to take the book for the evening. I wanted to go somewhere different than the wal-mart parking lot I always tend to go to, so we went up to the smiths shopping center on Rancho and Craig. We drove around, and as we were driving past K-mart, I saw a lady standing outside the store. She looked like she was waiting for someone or something. I decided she was the one. So I parked the car and headed over to talk to her. My idea was that when she made eye contact I was going to start up conversation with her. Well she didn't look at me at all, she actually tried to avoid me. So I walked past her. Then I walked inside K-mart, and walked right back out and walked past her the opposite way thinking she would for sure make eye contact this time. Well she didn't again! So I started talking to her anyway. I told her I wanted to give her something that has really blessed my life. I showed her the book and asked if she'd ever heard of it before. She said she hadn't, but was nice and accepted the gift. She didn't say much, but it looked like she could use some happiness in her life. I hope she lets the book work it's magic.