This week seemed to drag on and on. The people of Laramie are all either sick or just getting back from the holidays and we are glad that the semester started today. Hopefully things will get back to a normal operational level soon.
That said, we have had some interesting things happen to us this week and that means it is story time.
We have been working on reactivating Jeff Dohopolski since I got here and things have been going well the past few weeks. He has been coming to church very consistently for the last little while, which has been wonderful. But that is not the exciting story that it needs to be so naturally, this is where it gets weird. As we volunteered at a food bank this last Tuesday (and by volunteer, I mean ran) Jeff walked in and counted himself lucky because he had been meaning to talk to us. He announced that since his girls had moved with their mother away from Laramie, he had nothing left to keep him here. He decided that morning that he was going to move and wanted to do it as soon as possible. I thought he meant in like a week or two, but of course that is not odd enough. He said that he was going to be leaving Thursday. So we went over that afternoon and proceeded to go through his whole apartment helping him pick out what he was going to keep and what he was going to abandon. He was only going to take what would fit in his mini-van and it was an interesting experience. He left all kinds of furniture and different random things and all I could think was how odd it would be to place yourself in that kind of position. But hey, it is his life and we got rubber band guns, a stack of generic board games ans some pots and pans from the deal, so we won't complain much. All I know is that I am probably an accessory to some crime at this point so if you don't hear from me I've been transferred to the Rawlins State Penitentury... :P
Something else odd for me personally is the fact that I have now at this point interviewed 3 different individuals for baptism. It is weird because I have always been on the other side of the desk and they don't give you much training on ow to do a proper interview. I guess what is more surprising to me is that it has been fairly natural to do it. It is initially a bit odd, but after a little "get to know you", things are vastly more comfortable. For me another odd thing is the fact that the Spirit comes flying in to give me insight into what they need me to say and what they are thinking. I have never really experienced the gift of discernment before and it has been something of a revelatory experience to see just how much insight the Spirit is willing to give you. I can only imagine what a patriarch or bishop is really privy to without you having to tell him.
That is my report for this week. I love you guys.
