January 19, 2015 - First full week in Manassas

It was a great week last week, but this week was even better! I am getting a lot more sleep than before and now I feel back to normal. I forgot what it feels like to be rested (haha). I have been getting up early to work out and it has been awesome! We have one final spraying for the bed bugs next Monday and they should be gone for good. I haven’t seen any or had any bites. Elder McInerny hasn’t been so lucky (He doesn’t have covers on his bed like I do). Other than that the apartment is only 6 months old so it is in good condition. The shower is cold. Not ice cold, but not quite lukewarm either. We have asked them several times to fix it, but whatever they are doing hasn't worked.

In my last email I mentioned that we didn't have any investigators to teach when I arrived. Well this week that all changed. On Monday we got a referral for someone that wanted a bible. We took the bible to the address and it turned out to be a family of 4 people from Ghana. We sat down with them and talked for awhile. Turns out that one of them had searched on Google for a bible and our add was the first one on the list! We taught them and we are going back there to teach them tonight. They really loved us and are excited for us to come back! They mentioned that they want to make us fufu which is a Ghanaian food. That should be exciting!

On Friday we were tracting in a new apartment complex in our area. We chose a building that had the most cars in front of it (because the complex is only partially full) and started on the top floor. On the last door we knocked on the bottom floor we met Ana. She is a mother of two small kids in elementary school. She is from Mexico, but has lived in the states since she was 8 years old. We started talking with her about the gospel and she started getting emotional.  To be honest I don't really remember what we talked about, so it must have been the spirit! She very quickly accepted our invitation to learn more and to come to church. She came to church yesterday and loved it! She told us that for her work they want to her to start working on Sunday, but she is going to tell them no because she wants to "come to church and hear the word of God". She met a lot of members of our ward at church which is always really good. We have dinner and a lesson with her at a member’s house on Wednesday. She is married and told us she would invite her husband to the lesson and to church. We are very excited to teach her! Our ward mission leader was in awe over how great she is!

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? question

Saturday night at 8:45 the Chinese missionaries that cover Manassas called us with a referral. It was for a guy named Larry that lived at one of their investigator’s houses. They had talked with him briefly and he was interested in learning more. We called him immediately and he also quickly accepted our invitation to come to church. Usually in a situation like this they NEVER come to church, but he actually showed up! Miracle. Larry is an African-American man in his 60's. Honestly he looks 40, so everyone was floored when he said he was born in 1950 (haha). He played sports in high school and said he did some professional boxing for a little while. We had a lesson with him at our bishop’s house last night. This guy has more real intent then anyone I have ever seen! He is an honest seeker of truth and is willing to do whatever God tells him to do! He assured us that he will read the Book of Mormon, pray, and be baptized if he receives an answer. He is going to China on vacation for two weeks, so he will have plenty of time to read. There is a sad ending to this story... We looked up his address after the lesson. Turns out he probably lives in the other Manassas ward boundaries... :(. We will probably have to pass him off when he gets back in town, but it was an amazing experience nonetheless.

There are several other people that we met that have potential, but those are the most significant finds of the week. On Saturday morning we had a whole mission conference at our stake center. Elder Hallstrom and Elder Perkins of the seventy were there to speak to us. They were in town for something else and had a spare two hours, so they wanted to speak with us. It was very nice not being in charge of setting up the whole meeting. It makes it a lot easier to learn and get something out of the meeting. The main topic that was addressed by Elder Perkins was how to help people gain faith that don't have any faith. That was a question that came up during the week for me, so it was an answer to my question!

I love it here in Manassas and I am having a blast with my new responsibilities! Thank you for your constant support and encouragement!

Yours truly,

Elder Braden Miles

Washington DC South Mission