"From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success"

Feb 16
 Tuesday, we did stake reports which went way faster than we thought
they would go, so we ended early and went to do some service at the
thrift store before dinner. After dinner we had to run to our weekly
missionary report to the stake. After that we had a lesson with A
and A.S.. The lesson was super good. We had a member with us who did
some super good teaching so he was an awesome team-up.

Feb 17
 Wednesday, district meeting. After which we went on exchanges with
the Parkville Elders. I stayed in Platte City with Elder Katoa and
Elder Hunt went to Parkville with Elder Kelly. We went to a town named
Weston and were able to find a new investigator, we were just walking
down the road, we waved at her, and she beckoned us over to her so we
went and talked for a good half hour about the gospel and set a return
appointment for Sunday, so it was pretty sweet. We had a lesson with
an investigator, it went alright, then we went home and someone
dropped dinner off. After which we had a lesson with S.
D., he is planning on being baptized on the 27th of Feb! After
that lesson we visited with a less active family.

Feb 18
 Thursday, Elder Katoa and I went and worked out with J. B., we
usually work out with him in the mornings. He's a returning member who
is a former marine and when I told him Elder Katoa was coming,
specifically that Elder Katoa is going to play D-I football, he
decided to put us through a "real" workout haha, it was this circuit
of workouts that he called, "Semper Fit" instead of "Cross Fit" it
incorporated like 8 workouts in a circuit that you would do 6 times,
it was intense, but we survived. Well, that morning Elder Katoa and I
had some really good discussions about life and getting to know each
other better, in a nutshell, he's an animal and a stud. Well, we
exchanged back over lunch and, upon returning to Platte City, we had a
meeting, who was supposed to be baptized on the 27th and he had the
baptismal interview and everything. After that meeting, we we and
taught another investigator about the importance of scripture study,
prayer, and attending church. From that lesson we went to dinner and
then had an appointment with another investigator, (A. B.)we
have been struggling with this one recently because there's a lot
going on in his life.

Feb 19
  Friday, well, we went on exchanges again, this time for a struggling
missionary. It was a good exchange! The Elder that came to Platte City
had served here before so he gave us a list of some people to visit
who he worked with. But, we went to a funeral service for a member of
the ward and then went and did some service at the thrift store. After
service, we visited with A and then with some people that the
Elder with me had worked with before. After those visits we had dinner
and from dinner, we had to rush home and put on suits, because... Dawn Armstrong,
from Meet the Mormons, the "Missionary Mom" came to out
church apbuilding and gave a fireside about her life. So we went there
for that. It was amazing! Her story goes so much deeper than Meet the
Mormons shows. She left home when she was 11, and jumped between her
grandmas house and her aunts house-where she saw loads of physical
abuse. She shared the in-depth version of stories that the movie
barely brushes over and, WOW; it's crazy all that she went through.
Saddest story, her baby, Trey, who the movie makes it sound like died
at birth; nope, he was alive and well for about a month before
randomly passing during the night and she woke up to her baby having
slipped away during the night. Anyways, it was heart-wrenching.

Feb 20
 Saturday, we went to a baptism in Leavenworth in hopes that one of
our investigators was going to show up, turns out, he accidentally
slept in; so we were just awkwardly there haha. Well, after the
baptism and the drive home, provided by a sweet brother in the ward,
we met with the investigator who's been struggling recently because
he's overwhelmed with life. We had a few other investigators, they're
all friends, show up and we had a good visit, but the one who's
struggling just decided he would walk home when the other two offered
him a ride, so he left. Well, after we left we called the one walking
and he was feeling depressed so we went where he was, talked with him
and had a good gospel discussion. We went from there to dinner, and
then to visit with S again. Funny thing, we had been trying to
get a team-up to visit with S and we were leaving messages to
people, finally someone said yes, so we went with him; mid-lesson
someone knocks on the door, a brother we had invited showed up, so we
had two members now haha, it was definitely awkward... Well, after
that lesson we tried a few more people.

Feb 21
 Sunday, we had missionary correlation in the morning and we had an
appointment with a friend of A's at his house. After that visit
we had ward choir practice before church. Well, at church, we had like
4 investigators who told us that they would be there not show up, but
that's the mission life. We did have two people show up, however, so
it was awesome. Sacrament meeting was good, talks on conversions to
the Gospel. Sunday school was about spiritual revelation. Well, at the
end of Sunday School, A, who had to leave church to help someone,
got pulled over and because he was driving on a suspended license, he
was taken to jail, so, his friend, K, that was at church with him,
needed a ride to her apartment so we had a member drive her there and
we went with him, so we ended up missing Elders Quorum because
A's apartment was locked and we had to wait with K at the
church to see what was going to happen with A, well, church ended
and we had to go help a family out, so, the ward mission leader,
Brother Arendt, took Kylie to his house with his family and fed her
dinner and talked with her until she was able to get into the
apartment and get her keys to her car. Well, after church, we helped a
family who needed some help getting the light fixtures in their houses
put in the rooms where they go because the electrician comes Monday
and the Dad was leaving Monday morning for a work trip, so they had to
do it today. So after that we went to our dinner with a super cool
fam, then we went with a member to visit the lady that we found while
on exchanges who lived in Weston. We had a good lesson with her,
answering questions, and teaching about the Restoration. She said we
could come back on Wednesday!

Well, this week wasn't too bad. There were a couple of "interesting"
things happen, but they seem to be cooling down for sure, hopefully at
least. We did have quite a few appointments and commitments to attend
church fall through, but, as the song from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
teaches, "from the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success" haha.
Hope all is well for everyone! We should have S. D.
baptized this Saturday, we are pumped for that! And we did have
another one who was supposed to be baptized but, due to some slip-ups,
won't be until the 5th of March; but it's all good! Take care, love
the Lord, and love each other, there's no room for backbiting or
criticism, it only tears others down. Have a great week!
Much love,
Elder Hinrichsen