When the Lord smiles

Hello Everyone,

I have no pictures this week, but the work is finally progressing here in Watertown. We have been doing a ton of service and overbooked ourselves doing it; but it definitely helped us get out of the pavement pounding and door knocking! We helped out at the SPCA and that really helped me relax since we were helping out with animals (particularly dogs) and I am really finding a lot about myself as I continue in the mission field.

As stated at the beginning, the work is finally progressing. We were tracting one night and a young man said "Come on in." His name is Richard and he is in his 30's. He tried to join the marines, but didn't make it through training. We started to talk to him about what we do and went into the Restoration. He is very knowledgeable about Jesus Christ and although he says he isn't a "church goer", we see potential in him to come closer to Christ. We gave him a Book of Mormon and committed him to read 2 Nephi 2 which talks about the Plan of Salvation and we plan on teaching that next with him today. We gave out two more Books of Mormon and although they may not have been given to the "most ready" for the gospel, it still felt good to help them in their continued growth.

I hope all is well for you all and I look forward to emailing you next week.

Elder Melanson

(I received some photos from this sweet sister who is serving with her husband. Thank you!!)

End of Transfer 5 and 7 months down!

Well, this has been an interesting week.

Hey everyone, good to email you all again. So this week has been rather slow. Nothing to report as far as teaching goes. However, a fun little activity we did today may make this email a little more exciting.

So today is our day to do our chores (clothes, bathroom, shopping, etc.) and emailing. We were invited to a ward picnic next to the small Watertown Zoo and the food was good; but the best part happened after. So I went to the Zoo with my companion and the sisters in our area with their investigators. As we looked around, there was a male cougar walking back and forth in his cage! We were almost close enough to touch him, but another fence prevented that. As we took pictures of him, he started to purr and "meow!" I was shocked to find out that a large cat like this would "meow" like a common house cat! Anyhow; it was fun and I was glad to be able to do that. We also took a picture with the sisters in a fake Bald Eagle's nest.

We also had our last district meeting in the transfer and took a district picture. Only two sisters are leaving the district; so overall, not much is changing. But it has been a good last few days and I hope that all is well wherever you all are at.

Elder Melanson

Service has saved me

Hey Everyone!

This last week has been another long one, but things are looking up for Watertown. We have done a ton of finding through tracting (door knocking), talking on the streets, and through service. Yes, I am finally doing some service in this area! YAY!!! President Rogers has asked all the missionaries in the mission to find 5 areas to provide service and to give 10 hours worth so that we help our communities and to also save us from grinding our faces into the pavement due to tracting and having no success. Elder Champion and I were able to set up 4 different areas to provide service, they are the S.P.C.A (an animal shelter), Salvation Army (soup kitchen), Thrifty Shopper (organizing merchandise where funds go to a charity called Rescue Mission), and Urban Mission (probably will do the same thing as Thrifty Shopper). We were able to start immediately with Thrifty and that really helped me to relax a bit. It is interesting, it wasn't until I gave some service down in Arizona for the House of Refuge that I really found that providing service really can improve your mood, no matter how bad it may be. King Benjamin's words in Mosiah 2:17 "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." So I would strongly encourage you all to find one act of service to do a week, whether it is at a thrift shop or a center where people need to be helped or wherever; I can promise you all that the spirit of God will help you have a better week. I love you all and I hope that you all have a great week!

Elder Melanson