gettin' colder, and wetter :) (from Monday, October 15, 2012)

Dear family,
We were able to see Christian thursday after not having seen him for almost two weeks. After his health problem he has taken a huge step toward quitting smoking: he's not buying any more cigarettes. He continues to read in the book of mormon and pray but has trouble getting to church. This week we hope to help him quit for good and get him to church and set him with a new date. We have high hopes with him.
Alex had a set back this week. He didn't come to church the week before and hadn't been reading much in the Book of Mormon, nor were we ever able to really sit down with him until Saturday. When we did, he told us he had decided that he didn't need to get baptized again. he believes that the pastor who baptized him had the authority.... He still came to church and is even sharing the book of mormon with friends, but he needs to understand the restoration so that's where we will be concentrating our efforts and helping him continue to read and get to church. The feeling I have had is to keep working with him. The spirit is still working with him and we shouldn't cease our preparations for him. This has been a test of my faith but I know as we trust in the Lord, He'll help us know how to meet his needs and His will will be done. The blessings that he can receive when he gets baptized are worth the effort! There is so much waiting for him if he will just take that step.
We found a couple of new investigators this week, though neither of the two accepted baptism, but they did accept to read and pray. we have appointments set up this next week with both of them. Carmen and Julio did not come to church because his wife, her daughter, is expecting to give birth any day now, but Julio is reading. We stopped by last night and recommitted him to continue to read and pray about it. And we just realized that he and his wife are in our area book already :) funny how the Lord works.
I love you all!
Have a great week,
Hna. Cottam