We had a baptism marked for this Saturday, and when we called to tell him we were heading to the chapel for the interview Friday, R----- started saying he wanted to put it off until after his divorce was finalized. We told him to come to the chapel so we could talk a little, and he said he would come. Then his phone was shut off. Elder H----- and I ran to his house, and eventually found R----- in his sister's house. He was hiding there with two members that are friends of his. And one of them was telling him that if he is baptized he will be excommunicated. He was married, and they separated 3 years ago. He recently started dating a member, and she showed the church to him. They aren't breaking the Law of Chastity, so we there is no problem that way. His divorce will be finalized in 3 or so weeks. But he believed the member saying this stuff. So he didn't want to be baptized.
It's good that he wants to do it right. He really has a desire to be baptized, and I think he really believes that it's a problem to. He wasn't using it as an excuse to not be baptized. But its interesting to see how the devil can even work through members to destroy something good. So that all made this weekend tough.
Our area is good, we had a baptism fall through, but we have another person that wants to be baptized this week. We don't know her name yet, but we will meet here tonight at 6pm. She has been attending our ward, her parents are less active, and her uncle invited us to teach her everything again so she can be baptized Saturday. So we will see how that goes.
We had interviews with President Houseman, and he helped me a lot. I asked how I can motivate my companion, and he said "just keep it up. You can do everything you can, keep trying harder every day, but if he doesn't act for himself, you can't force him to do anything." He shared a cool experience from when he was talking with Elder Bednar. Elder Bednar talked about a list of tips for missionaries in the Bednar family. Every return missionaries adds to the list, and they only share it with members of the family when they leave for a mission.
One son added this to the list: "You really have two missions; your area, and your companion." President gave me some advice that applied to this, and I left there feeling a lot better. It's still tough not having someone that wants to work as hard as I do, but it's all for a reason.
We are doing good here. It's still really hot, and I can't wait for it to start cooling off a little bit, but that won't be for a while.
Love you all, and hope my email finds you all well and safe!
Elder Nielson
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