Next Stop Olympus

 Hey everyone!!!

First week complete! Transfer news came out today. Not surprising I'm staying in Minot!! Which means the next stop will be London (with faith). But let's focus on Minot.

Minot is an interesting town with a lot of interesting people. Most people here who aren't set members are only seasonal workers either working the oil field or the military base. There are so many apartment complexes and we knock A LOT. Few people answer and fewer let us share a message. But the ones who do leave with a Book of Mormon so that's good. But let's dive into the week

Monday - First pday!! It was honestly kinda lame. The best part was talking to all of you guys, but otherwise not that exciting. It's not a break it's a day to prepare. So meal prep, grocery shopping, and cleaning. We then had a huge dinner that left all of our stomachs aching. But you find a way to put all the food they give you down. We then had a lesson with my friend Mateo. Mateo is a amazing! He really feels like one of my friends back home. Once the lesson is over I can pretty much talk about anything with him and have a good time. He is going to have a baptismal interview this week then hopefully he gets baptized!!

Tuesday - I met the district, they are all super nice and unique. Loved being with them. After we left them we went to what we thought was a follow up appointment with our friend Damion, I have never met this man. So when someone opened the door I started teaching him about the Book of Mormon and he listened very intently. Only when I finished and gave it to him with the invitation to read it did he tell us he was not Damion but his twin brother Jamion. He said he and Damion would be home next Tuesday, so I gave him another Book of Mormon for his brother and we will stop by to see them tonight!

Wednesday - We spent the whole day either doing service or visa paper work, which is so stressful, so thank goodness that day is over!! We go from Minot to Fargo on Thursday for immunizations so that'll be another day down the drain with paperwork. But it's all good!

Thursday - We had little trackable success but that's not the kind that matters. We were instead able to do a lot of service at a volunteer organization and helped a family move, or at least get ready to move. We also went to an institute dinner kick off where we invited Mateo and another friend Drageon, they are super cool. The food was also pretty good

Friday - We spent most of the day getting rejected (what's new) but at the end we had a sports night and Mateo and Drageon came again. We taught them the word of wisdom and afterward I was talking to Drageon and he said he wanted to get baptized!! So we will work through the discussions and make sure he knows what good is in store for him!!

Saturday - We had exchanges and I was ready for them. Elder Chase, Elder Babbitt and I went out on the town knocking doors and spreading the word, however, we only got to doors and no people. We taught this guy named Raymond who has a little bit of autism but he prayed with us and his prayer was amazing. He prayed for everyone to be blessed. He went through a whole list of people in his head. And then he did something I have never heard before and I don't know if it's OK but I felt his sincerity and it touched me so ill share it. He's had a really hard upbringing and it would totally be understandable for him to not want to forgive anyone who hurt him but he's out here praying for every last one of them. 

Sunday - Church was good. We didn't get a ton done because we had to go out to base for a member meal with the Colonel!! We then had another lesson with Mateo and finished up teaching him all of the principles. I feel like he's ready so we will meet with him again today just to go out to dinner and hang out and answer any questions he has.

That's the week. I love all you guys so much!! The reason I titled this after a line in Hercules is because, well who doesn't want to be Hercules. And I feel my time here in Minot is training for what's up ahead. The people here are super nice and the ones who listen are super accepting and so I'm able to learn a lot that will help me in London. So with that said we got another week ahead of us so wish your favorite elder some luck!!!

Love you

Elder Hixon