Of Mice and Missionaries

 Hello, everyone! 

This will be the fifth week I have been in Spencer! It has been amazing and difficult, but I have enjoyed being here so far. I will hear next Saturday if I am staying in Spencer or going somewhere else. I should be staying here, but anything could happen. It would be really sad if I left now, because I am just starting to really enjoy being here. 

I learned some interesting history about this area a couple days ago. Van Buren county was organized in 1840 and named after President Van Buren. The town of Spencer was named after Thomas Sharp Spencer. He was hunter nicknamed Bigfoot who weighed about 300 pounds. He also loved to eat bear meat. So that is pretty interesting! They have a museum here in Spencer with all the history of the area. It's closed due to COVID, but I eventually want to see it. 

The members of the Sparta ward are great people. There was one member we were talking to that was headed to a meeting. They stopped to help someone who ran out of gas, not once, but twice. They started talking to them and gave one of them a Book of Mormon. The only reason they didn't give the other lady one is because they didn't have enough. The people in Tennessee love to talk about church and Christ. It's very inspiring to me. 

We had a few days were there was some really bad fog. We couldn't see anything while we were driving. Whenever we were turning, we would pray not to be hit by a car because we couldn't see anything. We tried to knock on some doors, but we couldn't find the houses in the fog. The fog is definitely thicker here than in California. 

We were in quarantine this week because we come in contact with someone who might have COVID. The tests came back negative a few days later, so it's all good. We weren't alone though. We heard some rummaging in the cupboards. Instantly we knew we had a mouse problem. We set some some traps and actually caught three of them in one day. 

There was another unfortunate event that happened this week. We had Brian on date for baptism like I mentioned in my earlier emails. We had to drop him this past week because he wasn't keeping his commitments and wasn't fully understanding what we we were teaching. It's unfortunate, but I hope we will eventually be motivated make the necessary changes. 

This week I have been studying a lot about grace and what that means for me. I read 2nd Corinthians 12:9, which really stuck out to me. 

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

When we seek Christ in our lives, he will make our weaknesses strong. Last week we watched a movie called 17 Miracles. It's about the pioneers who moved across the country to Utah in the Willie hand cart company. You should really do more research to fully understand the struggles they went through. They experienced a lot of hardships, but with Christ they were able to overcome them. I have realized that I am not alone when life is difficult. I know at least one person who will help me. 

You will find what you seek, so seek good. 

Elder Oram