Elder Betker... in charge? :)

Message from Mom:  The physical address was confirmed as correct last week. He received the 2nd day envelope stuffed with Peanut Butter Bars just fine! LOL... I love that my boy is having fun while he serves all the people in his area! Check FB for more goofy pictures! He mentions that it is frustrating to have so many people reject his message, but he tries to keep his spirits up while he searches for those who are searching... that makes me so happy! I couldn't be more proud of this boy, truly...

9-10-2012 - The right end is Spencer's Compaion, Elder Hanson and the other 2 are there for a split.

This past week has been pretty slow but we feel like we are working our tails off! We have been working alot with less actives and then with Tabitha and Pam! We had 4 less active families at church the past two weeks and are starting to come back to church! We have been working with the "Gourley" family alot lately though. They were baptized a few years ago and were really strong in the church then about a year ago he got injured and hasnt been able to find a job since. The wife is working and providing but Brother Gourley is being so hard on himself cause he wants to be the one to do it. So they have been inactive for about a year and Elder Hansen and I have been stopping by every wednesday night and we read scruptures with them and just help them feel the spirit that they had felt before. It seems to be working cause they are wanting us to continually come back and they have come to church the past two weeks! Brother Gourley is also giving a talk in the next few weeks as well so hopefully they will continue to find that light again. We are also working with the "Terry Family." they are less actives and sister terry is wanting so badly to come back to church but is bi polar so anytime she has a breakdown, her husband will take away her keys from her and she cant go anywhere! It is really frustrating cause he is controlling her life! I dont remember if I told you about them in my last letter but he is 34 and she is 46!! yea crazy right! When they got married they were strong in the church then all of a sudden he turned his back on the church and hasnt come for years! sister terry is wanting that to change so we go over twice a week and just share a spiritual thought with them to help her day be brightened and hopefully help Brother Terry find that spark again too.

Now with Tabitha and Pam!!! They are doing soo good but the only problem we are having with them is getting them to church!! :( This last week we had a great lesson with them about faith! We read Alma 32 with them and explained how faith is like a seed and how we can strengthen our faith! So before the lesson started Pams Son (Chris) and his pregnant GF(Tracy) walked in and they started asking us questions! Tracy had told us all these things she thought were true about the mormons and what was funny is we didnt have to answer any of the questions because Tabitha and Pam answered almost all the questions about us!! They are getting pretty smart! haha so anyway Tracy wanted to sit in on our lesson and so we gave her a Book of Mormon and we had a very spiritual discussion!! At the end we were getting ready to give them things to read and study for next time we came over but they beat us to the punch! Pam started by asking "What do you want me to read for next time?" then tracy and tabitha were both like "hey we want something to read too" haha so we now have a new investigator and they are all reading and praying about the book of mormon! They are solid!! Now we just need to get them to church!

So on Thursday we had an exchange with Elder Bingham and Elder Powell! Elder Bingham came to mebane with me for the night so I was in charge of the area!! I was nervous at first but it all ended well!! We rode our bikes about 2.5 miles to contact a referral and when we got over there it began to get stormy out! We contacted her and she wasnt interested so we knocked some doors in the neighborhood and no luck either!:( We rode back to our appt and right as we got back it began to POUR!!!!! It was coming down so hard I was so happy we werent riding our bikes in it!! haha but later that night we went on an exchange with a member of the ward and contacted some less actives! We were able to get one of them to commit to come to church next suday so hopefully he will come! haha After that man we went to contact another lady who lived in the middle of nowhere and it was getting dark and she lived in this run down house and everything so it was sketchy!! We get to her house and get out of the car and this lady is looking at us through the side door so we go over and knock, and no answer! (we could see her in her kitchen through the window) so we knock again and no answer... so we go to the front of the house and knock on the front door and she still doesnt come... during this time she walks right past us to her bedroom and keeps ignoring us... Finally we ring the doorbell and she comes to the window and she freaks out at us!!! she is cussin and screamin and threatening to send her dogs on us and everything!!! haha yea I was freaking out! the reason we had to keep knockin is cause we had to find out if a certain person lived there for the church records and everything but unfortunately we never got that info!! :(

Just a quick wrap up, I have been doing so good out here and am loving the people so much every day! Because everyone here belongs to a church already it is so hard to talk to them about the gospel cause they already feel like they are satisfied with what they have. It is tough to see so many people reject the gospel but all we can do is continue to search for those who are ready for it. They are all pretty nice for the most part, they just dont want to hear our message! :( I have been staying fit and working out daily so I still am under 170 lbs.... I dunno how long that will last though! haha

well I hope all is well back at home and I will write you all next week! Enjoy the pictrues!
I love you and miss you all!!!! :)

Love
Elder Betker!!! :)