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RATS and GENERAL CONFERENCE

April 6, 2020

Hello everyone! As usual, my week was full of crazy miracles and I am astonished every day by the obvious hand of God in my life as I serve Him every day. This weekend was especially eventful when it comes to miracles, and I want to talk about all of them! I don't know how to make it into a cohesive and comprehensive email, so I will just list in chronological order my favorite things from the weekend. Please read until the end because it got crazy!

1- On our Saturday morning walk for fresh air, we saw a homeless guy sleeping on the ground in front of our apartment building. We walked past him and I felt really bad, but I just continued on with my day and didn't think much of it, because that is a pretty normal thing. When we got back home, Elder Goodman went to the closet and grabbed an extra pillow and blanket that I did not even know we had. He said he wanted to give it to the homeless man. I then compiled a plate of cookies, and we left it next to the man while he was sleeping. I was impressed by Elder Goodman's quick reaction time to serve! He did not even think about it, he just served! I learned a lesson that day. I realized I need to serve as much as I can, as often as I can, and not be slow to help others! We later saw the man wrapped up in the blanket, cookie in hand, fast asleep. It was nice to see him comfortable!

2- General Conference! I wish I could describe how I felt about it without rambling on, but it was a remarkable experience! I could talk about it all day. All the talks were so good! Wow!! I got chills! I came prepared for conference by reading Saints, the accounts of the First Vision (several times), and studying other resources about Joseph Smith. My preparation was worth it because I got a lot out of conference! SO SO SO GOOD! I cant wait to read over the talks again for personal study! It was also super powerful doing the Hosannah Shout and singing "We Thank Thee, O God, For A Prophet", just me and my companion, with our nametags on, living the mission life. Super awesome experience!

3- We had an unforgettable gift of tounges experience in a lesson between conference sessions. The guy we were teaching, Arturo, spoke really fast spanish. Normally spanish isn't much of a problem, but this guy mumbled a lot, and it was especially difficult because his wifi was not great and the video kept cutting out. We were both confused, and the lesson was going poorly. Apparently, Elder Goodman said an individual silent prayer during the lesson, praying FOR ME, that I would know what to say and what to do. I did not know that he prayed, but at some point, the spirit prompted me to testify of the Book of Mormon, and where it came from. I used words that I normally don't use while explaining the Book of Mormon, and the words just... came out! Right after, Arturo said "I need this book! When can I read it?!" The spirit guided me to say particular words that Arturo needed to hear, and I felt it, all because of Elder Goodman's prayer! The lesson was saved, and Arturo became extremely interested once I followed the spirit. It was incredible. Elder Goodman said, "I don't think I will ever forget what just happened."

4- We ended up finding 3 new interested people to teach in the same day! We also got 7 people to watch general conference! The quarantine has not slowed the work down! I am constantly amazed at how so much missionary work can be done from inside the home. We ALL have the tools we need! Lets ALL use them!

5- Okay, this is probably the craziest thing ever. We went to bed at 10:30, but started to hear a weird noise coming from inside the wall. The noise seemed to move around in the wall, and then up to the ceiling, and we followed the noise throughout the house. There were RATS IN OUR WALLS! They scratched a hole in the wall and got into our house! They built their little rat fortress under our oven and they think they own the place! They have been running around and eating our general conference snacks! This is war! We were up until 1 AM (which is not allowed but this was AN EMERGENCY) trying to show the rats who is boss. They chose the wrong missionaries to mess with. We put out a bunch of traps, moved ALL of our food onto a table that they can't reach, and we spent the night trying to wack them with our brooms. No rats have been caught or killed yet because they are quick and sneaky. But we did scare them back into their hole. It is kind of hard for us to sleep and be comfortable in our house when we know that there are rats living in our walls/under the oven. We have seen some running outside too! I guess its rat season here in the Bronx! If all the rats would follow all the social distancing guidelines, we would not be having these problems. We kind of got the situation under control now, but still pray for us.

So yeah, missionary work is awesome! Also, this is my 4th week in quarantine and we were told we could stop quarantine on April 15th, so in a week and a half. But NYC is currently... in very bad condition. So I honestly think it will be longer. It is getting pretty hard staring at a screen all day, avoiding the sun and not getting much excersize. We are stuck inside with the rats haha, its a bit tough. And our laundromat is closed so we dont know where to do laundry. But thats okay. The work is good! Last wednesday was my 6 month mark!! Anyway, have a great week!!

Elder Webster

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