#newyearnewinvestigator

The subject is a play on the #newyearnewme thing. I just put what I'd really like this year.

This week has been really interesting and really cold. The temperature never dropped below 30 degrees but there was always this really cold wind. With the humidity, that will kill you. We were also on our bikes a whole lot this week, because we were running low on miles for the car.

Fun things from this week:

Christmas! it was really great to be able to see my family, It's crazy that it has been 4 months now since I've left. It feels like forever and no time at all at the same time. I've learned so much in such a little time. Crazy. We went tracting that night and one guy answered his door, and we asked him how his Christmas was. He said he didn't celebrate it because he worships the devil. What an interesting child of God.

We currently have 2 investigators on date and we've been teaching them a lot about reading the Book of Mormon to find answers to their prayers. It's really interesting to see.

I turned 19 this week, my mom turned 34, and Jesus had a birthday too! All in the same week! Crazy how that works out.

I learned a cool story about being confident. Two stories actually.The first is about a man who's business was close to going bankrupt. He was down on his luck and hadn't been making the smartest of deals. He was sitting on a park bench with his head in his hands wondering how he was going to make it when an older man came and sat down next to him. The man asked him what was wrong, and after he explained his troubles the older man wrote him a check, pushed it into his hand, and told him that he could take this money and meet him back in exactly a year at the same spot to pay him back once he got on his feet. When he looked at the check, it was for $500,00.00. The name on the check: John D. Rockefeller. The man then took that check and vowed not to cash it unless he absolutely needed to. With new found confidence, the man started making smarter business decisions. He was bolder and more aggressive in his marketing. A year later, when he was much more successful, he returned to the park bench to pay the man back. As promised, the old man appeared, but before either of them could say anything, a woman rushed out of nowhere and grabbed the older man by the arm. she then turned to the younger man and said, "I'm sure glad I caught him, he keeps getting out and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller."

The man thought he had half a million dollars behind him that he never needed, and that was the push necessary for him to get back on his feet. Sometimes we just have to believe in ourselves and we can be more successful.

The second story is about a young boy in his backyard playing baseball, his mother noticed he was talking to himself and listened to him. The young boy held the ball in one hand and the bat in the other and said to himself, "I'm the best baseball player in the world." He then tossed the ball in the air and swung at it, but missed. He picked up the ball and looked at it carefully, then he said "I'm the best baseball player who ever lived!" He tossed the ball in the air and swung at it even harder, but missed again. Closely looking at the ball a third time he says, "I'm the best baseball player in the universe." Tossing the ball in the air a third time, he swung at it with all his force, but missed again. He then looked at the ball and exclaimed, "Wow! What a great pitcher!"

Sometimes when it seems like we are failing, we just need to look at our strengths.

This has been a pretty good week for me, and I'm hopeful that no matter what happens in this New Year, things will work out in the end.

Elder Bates

Pictures: There will be more next week, we have to figure out how to change the file and send it.

1. I did exactly what my mom said NOT to do and let another missionary cut my hair. Nowhere was open early enough today, but he did a pretty good job.

2. Ever seen a cat without a tail? You have now!