I went to Prison

Hey.

This week's significant events:

     Hanging up fliers. 

          After we only had 6 people in attendance at our scripture class, we decided that something needed to be done. So, we headed off to the library, and with some help from my knowledge of computer science that I took senior year, we created a flier. It looked alright. 

          So we made like 20 copies and rode up and down Historic Main street on our bikes and hung up almost every flier in the local shops. 

          Hopefully our work pays off. You can't walk into any shop in entire Historical Ft. Stockton without seeing our flier.

     Service at President Hinkson's Ranchito

          We got there and Pres. Hinkson had been up allll night (He works for border patrol), so he wasn't in the best mood. He made Elder Pastrana mow his field for like 2 hours straight, while him and I fed the animals and talked. I love animals. 

          I first fed the pigs, then the goats and donkey, and then the cows (He has two minis) and then he showed me his chickens. We didn't get much done because he was so tired. 

          Afterward, his wife fed us lunch while he slept on the couch.

     Weekly Planning

          Probably the most boring weekly planning of my life. Three hours... Not actually that significant. Well, it is for missionary work, but not for emails. Anyway...

     Prison Day

          Thursday, we met up with our Mission President and Elder/Sister Wells. They picked us up and drove us to the little Lynaugh Unit Prison, just outside of town. There are only about 1300 prisoners, and it's a minimal security prison. No biggie. 

          We were there for a 'Meet the Mormons' presentation. We watched meet the mormons and then had a Q and A with about 150 of the Prisoners. All of the prisoners wear white, so we have to wear colored shirts as visitors. (I guess so that in case something crazy happens, the gaurds don't shoot us on accident... unless you've got a color blind prison gaurd... then you're out of luck.) It was weird not wearing a white shirt. 

         After the movie, we all stood up in a line at the front of the gym, and one by one the prisoners asked questions. They asked some good, sincere questions such as:
    

   -Where did the Book of Mormon come from?

   -Do you believe in the Trinity?

   -Who is the Prophet?

   -Will God reveal more of his word to us?

   -Do Mormons have restrictions on what they can eat or drink?

          We actually have quite a few members of the church in the Prison, so it was cool to meet them... but as we were asked these questions, and then spoke restored truth, simply and clearly, the whole room filled with the Spirit. Some of the men were in tears, and most nodded in agreement as we testified of things like the restoration, and the divinity/separateness of Christ from the Father. They were more than grateful to have us there with them, and the experience was something I'll never forget. 

          After the presentation was over, we ran out of time, so we invited any of the prisoners who had questions to come up and ask us questions after the meeting. MOST of the prisoners did. I had the opportunity to teach from the scriptures, and talk to over 50 of the men there. Regardless of if they had a question, most of the men came, and lined up to shake our hands. I could see in their faces humility that I've never before seen in an investigators eyes. One man, covered in tattoos, man said to me," As a prisoner, I've learned how to read people really well. It's what I do... but you... when you spoke I could tell you weren't just speaking from the surface. You REALLY believe this. Thank you.". It was such a cool experience.
     

          Teaching:

     Well, we don't have any progressing investigators, however we are teaching a lot. We teach maybe 1/4 of our lessons in Spanish... which is really good (and scary) for me. 

     We are teaching a family named Carlos and Priscilla. They are a young couple and have a young son named Anthony. They live with three other girls who each have at least 2 kids of their own.... all crammed in a little apartment. It's a crazy situation, but we really enjoy teaching them, and they are super humble. We watched the restoration last night with Carlos and about 7 kids under the age of eight. The Spirit was still there, as always.

Not much time left, Love y'all! Happy Mother's day!

Carinos,

     Elder Johnson