Week 26 - I was finally let in!

Good morning,
         I bet you are all wondering how my week was. And you probably
want to hear something funny or cool that happened... Ok fine I will
tell you. I feel kinda weird saying every week, "this week was pretty
good" so I am changing it up. But hey, this week was pretty good. I
feel like most of them are. They have their ups and downs. But over
all they are pretty good.
        This week, we did a lot with the bishop. It was actually
really good.  We talked to the bishop and told him, "It is hard for us
to do a lot of tracting with a broken ankle." So we asked him. "Who in
the word can we stop by?" And we got a list of people and just started
going down the list. It was really cool. We meet a lot of people. And
were led to share a lesson with them. And we found that some people
had moved out. And we actually found one lady that didn't want
anything to do with the church. She even wanted her records removed.
That was pretty sad. I don't know what her story was. But we went up
and knocked on her door. She answered and looked like a nice lady. But
was actually quite rude to us. And then she told us that basically she
never wants to see anyone from the church ever again. That was really
sad to me. Someone that at one point in her life believed enough to
make a promise with God. And now she doesn't want to hear anything
about it.
      But hey on a higher note. I was tracting this week with another
elder. And we got let in!  This was the first time in my whole mission
that I actually go let in. And was able to teach a lesson in the home.
It was really good. We meet a guy who learned about the church about
10 years ago. His dad was there too. And we taught both of them. It
was kind of a hard lesson to teach. Because he was really smart. He 

probably knows more about the stick of Judah and the bible then anyone I
have ever meet. And his dad was more of a spiritual guy. He kept
telling us he was spiritual and not religious. It went great. He
could help explain things to his dad. And then he would explain things
to us. And they went along with what we taught. And the spirit was
there. So I know he was teaching us stuff that was really true. He really
emphasized how much you need the spirit. He talked about how the
church doesn't have everything. If it did, there would be so many
books to contain all the words. But we don't have to have it all.
Because we have the spirit. It comes to us and will share what we need
to know. And I thought that was really interesting. And it is true.
The spirit is what will fill everything. He was awesome. He was a
really cool guy. He was a professional baseball player. And he was
trying to get a good coaching job. But he was also very humble too.
Their apartment was very minimal. They had two couches a dresser and a
little corner table and his glove and a ball. And that was all that
was in the room. No tv, nothing like that. And that stood out to me. I
really felt that he had his priorities straight. His dad smoked and
drank, well we think he did. But it may have been water. I don't know.
You could tell that he has spent a lot of hours playing ball. And you
could also tell that he had spent a lot of time studying. He kept
having us look up scriptures and stuff he had memorized. And if he
couldn't then he told us the chapter and then he could find it. And he had
been successful in baseball and in the scriptures.  He put his mind to
it. And didn't waste time on other stuff. He was a really good guy. I
felt like we just met but he trusted us and would do anything for us. And I
think that is something I want to work on. Be able to cut out
distractions. And also be there for whoever needs me.
      I am doing great out here. Having a lot of fun. Working hard.
And laughing a lot. I love going out and thinking who am I going to
meet today. What kind of crazy memory is in the making for today? It
is super fun. I feel like I am in 30 different countries out here. You
knock on one door. They are African American, then next is Indian, the
next is Cambodian, then next is Ghanaian, then the next is from
Russia, then someone from turkey and someone from Vietnam. And throw
in a couple Europeans in there. And a couple more middle eastern and
Asia countries. You have the little melting pot country of Falls
church. It is awesome.  And I have learned, never try to guess where
someone is from. You probably have a 10% chance to get it right.
     I hope you all have a good week. I  miss you!
 
Love, Elder Bigelow

Mom, I think this will be your new favorite picture of me!

Looks like Uncle Brian's dog Liza...made me almost feel like home!