He's got our back

Family, I loved talking with you all last night! It was pure joy to hear your voices and see your faces (for some). I don't know about you all but I enjoyed it a lot more than the Christmas phone call and being able to talk with you more individually. You all bring a lot of happiness into my life. Thank you. There are several things that happened this week that I didn't tell you all. First off, we had a few minutes before a lesson so we decided to knock just a few doors. The eighth and final was answered by a sweet lady who invited us in the moment she opened the door. She said that missionaries had come by a long time ago and now she feels far from God and a bit angry at him because of family situations. But she was very friendly and surprisingly interested. Although she works a lot she says she wants to learn more and committed to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon. She works two jobs and on the day we knocked, she was only home between 2 and 4pm; we knocked at 3pm. It was a miracle encounter that we hope will go all the way to baptism. Wednesday afternoon we were visited some people in a trailer park when rain actually fell from the sky. And the rain also stirred up a huge dust storm that blew through Chandler. A man saw us out there and called for us to come inside while the worst of it blew over (the Lord is protecting us, Mom :). We had to leave his house a few minutes later though for an appointment and we jogged to the car as a huge dust cloud in the sky seemed to get move closer. It was pretty exciting, we caught our flee on foot on film. Then we found out yesterday that the other Spanish missionaries' investigator had prayed for rain Wednesday afternoon, just before the storm and when the weatherman hadn't predicted it at all. Pretty cool, huh? That investigator has decided to be baptized. Our investigator from Puerto Rico is facing some hard times with her daughter and wants to wait a bit longer before getting baptized. We are a bit worried but believe she'll take the step in the near future. Friday night was seeming somewhat action-less but we got more than we expected. While walking down the sidewalk we ran into a man who claimed to be the richest man in the world (he was carrying groceries just purchased from the corner gas station). He also asserted that he wrote the Book of Mormon, and purposely included errors in spelling to get a good laugh out of it. He then said that this was his planet, and welcomed us to it. My companion asked him why he had stopped us, and he said "Because I choose the appointed time." It was probably one of the most wild street contacts of my mission. After that we started heading back to the car, cruising the sidewalk of a main road. We heard someone from one of the cars shout something at the same moment that my older companion was hit with a 40mph water balloon! I told him that it barely missed me; clearly an act of God, haha. Aside from being a little shooken up, my companion was fine. The balloon had bounced off and splashed on the road. Fun friday night. We're having a blast down here. I love the people and I love the work. I love each of you as well. Best of luck this week with all your many activities. Don't forget to give sufficient time to scripture study and prayer. Adios! Elder Joshua Gathro