A Very Hairy Situation

Howdy y'all!

For the record, people don't actually say "howdy" or "y'all" here, I just enjoy using those words.

On Tuesday, we had interviews with President Cooke (most mission presidents do interviews quarterly, but President Cooke does interviews every transfer. Which is pretty awesome!). In my interview, we talked about how things were going as far as adjusting to being a missionary now that I'm far enough along to have gotten into the full swing of things. He also told me that I need to get a haircut (hence the title of the email). I guess I've let the beast go untamed for too long :P. I'm hopefully getting that taken care of at some point today...

This Thursday, I have "Specialized training 2" where I will finally get my iPad!!! Therefore, it is very likely that this is the last email I will by typing on keyboard (for better or worse). I'm mostly excited to have access to the entirety of Gospel Library and to not have to mooch off Elder Hill's iPad.

A few days ago, Elder Hill and I were tracting and had a guy walk up to us and tell us that our church is racist and prejudiced against black people because he watched a video that the church produced in the 70's and there weren't any black people in the movie (disregarding of course the cultural demographics of Utah in the 1970's). Not gonna lie, that is probably thus far the most random reason I've ever seen anyone use to attempt bashing with us.

The funny thing about tracting is that you get told "no" so many times that when someone actually says "yes" to hearing the message of the Gospel, it takes you COMPLETELY off guard. Case and point, we found this guy named William, and after asking him if he would be interested in hearing our message, and he said that he would be, Elder Hill and I were both kinda speechless for a few seconds. After recovering, we shared with him the message of the Restoration and he was SUPER receptive of it. Elder Hill had me recite Joseph Smith's account of the First Vision and as I related his account of that event, the Spirit was so strong and I could feel the truth in the words I was speaking. Elder Hill asked him what he got out of the account and from William's response, you could tell that the Spirit confirmed to him that it was true as well. After the lesson, we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon along with a "Restoration" pamphlet and it was his turn to be surprised. He couldn't believe that we were giving the book away for free and promised to read it. We are hopefully going to meet with him again sometime this week.

I know that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the Sacred Grove that morning. I have felt the Spirit confirm to me many times that this account is true. I also know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and contains the fulness of truth and that through reading and pondering upon it, I have grown closer to my Father in Heaven. As such, I know that Christ's church and His priesthood authority are again upon the earth because from my experiences with that power both on and before the mission, there is no way that this church ISN'T true.

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Sincerely,

Elder Samuel Williams

Washington DC North Mission

11700 Falls Road

Potomac, Maryland 20854-2823

Sam and his companion Elder Hall

Sam and President and Sister Cooke