Prison, A Quilter and Beagles

 We enjoyed a very good week. On Tuesday we received a response from a letter we sent to a 30 year old Elder who is incarcerated in a minimum security facility way out west in Marenisco, MI. Pres. Berry wanted us to contact him and see about his situation. He is a tithe payer and his letter indicated a strong interest in contact with other church members. We will combine our visit to him with one to the member living in Watersmeet which is along the way. On Saturday we visited with two less active families we hadn't been able to see before. These families live in Iron River about 60 miles from here. (See documentary film of the trip below, warning...a full screen viewing will make you sick) One is a young husband with a 2 year old and a non-member wife. He indicated a willingness to receive us for future visits. The other is an older sister; who was excited to see us and, as it turns out, is accommodating an LDS friend while she is going through a separation. Sister Johnson was able to establish a great relationship with this new sister because she is a "professional" quilter. Her position in the Relief Society allows her to know about activities and other events we can encourage these sisters to attend.

 We are still teaching a less active family and a less active single man each week. The brother has attended church each of the last two weeks. The family we teach is more challenging. Church attendance is our goal but distance from church and the father's Sunday job are serious barriers. Our most exciting news, however, is the committing of our investigator Bob Peters, whose entire family are members but him, to read the B of M. At our last District meeting we visited with the sisters about their success with Br. Syria (he was baptized) who's wife and family have been members for the last 30 years. The sisters' insights were most helpful and then we, as a District, were committed to follow up more frequently with our investigators which we have done with Bob. He has 25 years of inertia to overcome so once he is rolling we need to be there to keep him rolling. I was impressed to encourage him to keep a journal with the B of M so that as he reads he can record not only questions but impressions that will come to him. I assured him that this journal will become one of his most valuable possessions. I believe he will be blessed and touched. I reminded him that prayer before scripture reading is always a good idea as well.
 We met another less active member on Wednesday. He moved up here from Milwaukee and built a nice house overlooking a forest area. His backyard is a veritable local zoo. He gets visits from all types of local fauna including bobcats looking to lunch on his beagles. His beagles are used to hunt rabbits. The hunters use automatic pistols which gives the rabbits more than just a fighting chance.

It's been a fun week.
Elder Grandpa and Sister Grandma