Hey Y'all

Oh man the mexia branch is really growing on me. We really have some awesome members that know what they can do to be better member missionaries, they are great. I just admire members so much now as I am a missionary and can see how important members are in the church and how we as members live our gospel everyday throughout the week and its not just a " Sunday " religion.

Halloween was very boring I am not going to lie. But I shouldn't have expected it to be to exciting, I for sure thought someone would knock on our door but nobody did. dang it!
Sonic was having corn dogs for 50 cents on Halloween. so my companion and I went for dinner we bought probably 8 corn dogs each! and ate them all for dinner! Man we felt so sick afterwards! Even now thinking of a corn dog makes me a little sick!

We have an investigator named Cindy that we are teaching and having a lot of fun doing so. She is one of the funniest ladies I've ever met and really wants to learn more about the church. we taught her the plan of salvation last week, and it amazed me, how much I take that plan for granted! We were trying to explain to her that we were made in the image of God, therefore God has a body of flesh and bones. she about had a heart attack when we told her God has a body! that was something she never thought of. and for me I was raised knowing God had a body, it only makes sense to me! She finally said " well if you say he has a body I guess He has a body! " hahaha and we told her not to take our word for it but to pray about it and find out if He does or not. But she loved pre earth life and our life on earth, teaching is so fun.
She has a baptismal date for November 30... its coming up and she has not come to church yet! So hopefully when we visit her this week we can commit her to come to church.

During my studies this week, I was watching some old mormon messages that were made in 1992 ish. and I came across this talk given by Elder Robert B. Harbertson of the seventy in 1990.
It was a talk given to the priesthood about the Aaronic Priesthood. But there was a story that he shared at the end of the talk that was made into a mormon message. I LOVED the story. here it is:

" Many years ago, Indian youths would go away in solitude to prepare for manhood. One such youth hiked into a beautiful valley. There he fasted, and on the third day he decided to test himself against the mountain. He put on his buffalo-hide shirt, threw his blanket over his shoulders, and set off to climb the peak.
When he reached the top, he could see forever, and his heart swelled with joy. Then he heard a rustle at his feet. Looking down, he saw a snake. Before he could move, the snake spoke: “I am about to die. It is too cold for me up here, and I am freezing. There is no food, and I am starving. Put me under your shirt and take me down to the valley.”
“Oh, no,” said the youth. “I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you will bite me, and I will die.”
“Not so,” said the snake. “I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special. I will not harm you.”
The youth withstood for a while, but this was a very persuasive snake with beautiful markings. At last the youth tucked it under his shirt and carried it down to the valley. There he laid it gently on the grass. Suddenly, the snake coiled, rattled, and struck, biting him on the leg.
“But you promised—” cried the youth.
“You knew what I was when you picked me up,” said the snake as it slithered away. (From Iron Eyes Cody, “But You Promised,” Reader’s Digest, June 1989, p. 131.)

You will always be warned when danger is near. The Lord cannot make your decisions for you, but He will always allow you to be aware of what is right when a decision or action is about to be made. Don’t allow yourself to ever believe that you are “different” in that you can participate in unrighteous activities—even just once—and not be hurt. Remember, “You knew what I was when you picked me up.”

Man that was a powerful story! I thought I would share that with yall, because I know satan will tempt us, but I know the Lord will always warn us and be there for us!

Love and miss you all,
Elder Boettcher