I asked a stuffed animal to be baptized

So I guess I'll start with the title as my first crazy story. Its not a lie, I really did ask a stuff animal to be baptized! There is a 8 year old girl, named Sam, in our ward who is having a hard time deciding to be baptized for a few reasons. One she is afraid to put her head under water. The last time she went swimming she got a crazy ear infection from the water. Now she's terrified. We decided to visit her and help her with her new decision of being baptized. The other reason is she is very VERY shy. We were having problems talking to her because she doesn't like people talking to her face. Not only that but her younger brother is noisy and distracting. During one of those distracting moments she had gone to her room to introduce me to her Build-A-Bear dog named Bo. I soon figured that if I taught Bo the lesson she would listen and then answer like she was Bo. So in that way I taught the dog Bo the first lesson and the importance of baptism. I then asked Bo if he would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. I then turned to her, "Will Bo be baptized?"

"Yes."

"Will you be baptized Sam?"

"Yes!" It was weird but at least we got through to her. The next time we visited her, her mom informed us she went to the pool and practiced dunking her head under water. I then again had to teach Bo a lesson. Who cares, its effective.(:

We have been really working hard on Less-Actives. The first family is the Ross family. The mom is kind of loco but the Dad is really receptive and the kids really want to go back to church. The other is a man named Ricky. During our visit with him we were able to have a nice lesson. He did mention, however, that Moroni was so cool that he might get a tattoo of him... I didn't understand how that even seemed slightly right to him. hahaha WELL! This past Sunday, both the Ross family and Ricky came to church. Not only that but Ricky has been listening to the Book of Mormon daily! I understand that its the Spirit that is working on them but I can't help but feel like Ammon, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, when he says, "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.” (Alma 26:12) I am just glad that I can be that instrument for the Spirit to work through.

Service this week was fun and interesting. We have done several projects through out the week. My favorite was when we made sleeping bags out of old blankets and sheets for those who live on the streets. The one we did on Saturday... well wasn't as fun. We found ourselves in the middle of nowhere chopping off the heads of a weed called a thistle. The flower/head part is where the seeds spread and so to keep the weed contained you get rid of the seeds. The sun was so hot and I was pretty convinced that I was being fried. However, I endured and the Lord, being the amazing person he is, blessed so I wasn't burnt to a crisp. 

The hardest thing that my companion and I are going through right now is that we have to split the area between an other set of sisters. We find ourselves with a ton of investigators at first and then they come to us saying the original split isn't working because they are using a lot of miles on their car. So we try again and now find ourselves with hardly any less-actives and investigators. We are trying really hard to be Christlike but that's hard because well... we are human. But that is the whole purpose for us on earth, to overcome those weaknesses of the flesh. We continue to pray to our Heavenly Father for guidance in this decision. Hopefully we can find an answer that will be good for everyone!

Another thing that I am not liking very much is tracting. I find that my fear for calling is about the same when it comes to knocking on doors. Again and again I find myself having to really rely on the Lord for his help. 

One thing that I love about Colorado is that everyone here owns a dog! And if not a dog they have a cat! Instead of being cooped up in the MTC and being super animal deprived, every person we meet with has some kind of animal I can pet! In fact our top progressing investigator, Pattie, has three cats! I can"t help but think of how awesome that is only because she is 77 and totally a cat lady. 

Speaking of Pattie! She has a baptism on the 17th of August and I am so excited for her! Like I said above, she is our top progressing, which means she's keeping all the commitments we leave her and is getting really close to baptism! She has the sweetest spirit! I said this to my companion, "If I only baptize Pattie while I am on my mission then I will be a happy girl." That is how powerful she is! She is even trying to get her daughter to take the lessons. Look! She's being a missionary and she isn't even a member yet!

My District Leader here is named Elder Hoyt. Now you might not have heard of him but maybe you have. The only reason I say this is because he played on the BYU football team. He is like 6'7 and actually pretty amazing! He feels the Spirit so strongly and is really just a big teddy bear! Its so nice to have a person to talk BYU too, Especially because you have a companion who is a UofU fan! haha

Okay, since I already left you a spiritual thought in a few paragraphs above I'll just sign off! Don't stop being amazing guys! Keep the lord in mind! And Don't Do Drugs!(:

Love Hermana Durfee

Picture 1: Is of the beautiful sky in Colorado after a storm(:

Picture 2: Just a buffalo in the middle of nowhere!

Picture 3: Just some awesome Minion cupcakes that someone made for us!