Week 45 (Week 28 in Michigan)

A cool Chinese restaurant statue

Do you ever have those weeks that the days seem super slow, and then you look back and think, how is it already over? I felt that big time this week. Some days were very slow, yet I woke up this morning and felt like my last P-day happened just the other day. Its crazy how that works. Nonetheless, this was a very fun week, and one of the more memorable at that.

Elder Kofford and I managed to set a mission record this week for Facebook contacts. We managed to get 108 new contacts this week, meaning we received 108 new responses from people on Facebook. Now don't get me wrong, not all of them were great conversations, but many were good! We managed to make a couple new solid friends, and met quite a few other people who were somewhat interested as well! Part of the reason why we worked so hard was because of a little competition we have been having in our zone.

Basically, one of our zone leaders created a bot that gives us a "quest" each day to do. The quests vary, and every time you complete a quest, you advance on this virtual game board that was created. When we first arrived in South Haven, our district was last, but this last week we came back, and we ended up with a 3-way tie on the 2nd to last space. That day the competition was to see which district could get the most Facebook contacts, and so Elder Kofford and I went ham! We ended up winning, even though we were the underdogs. It was sooooo fun!

We also had some very interesting lessons this week. One lesson was with a man who was convinced he is a prophet. Now, I'm not one to deny another's beliefs or spiritual experiences, but let's just say we had an interesting conversation with him. Nonetheless, he was pretty interested to hear about the prophet of our church, Russel M. Nelson, and hoped to meet him some day. We also found out that 2 guys we found on Facebook who we had been teaching were close friends which is cool, and certainly a surprise. Unfortunately, they didn't make it out to church, but we are excited to continue to work with them nonetheless. Another lady we talked to shared with us her difficult past, and sobbed most of our phone call. It was hard to know how to help her, but we promised we would do all we could to help her bring the hope of Christ's light back into her life. 

This week I also found out that I needed to get a new Tetanus shot, since it would expire in July, so I went and got that sorted out today. It was honestly a lot smoother of a process then I thought it would be.

For the rest of our P-day today, we met up with our district and went sledding at some sand dunes near the lake. It was a beautiful view, and the slopes were perfect for sledding. I definitely ate it a few times, but it was super fun. I actually really love the people in our district, and am going to really miss them! Afterwards we got some food, and headed home.

Our district!

It's been a really crazy week, and it's become more and more real to me that I'm actually going to be leaving for Brazil. It's so crazy to think about, but I'm very, very excited. If there is anything I have been learning to embrace as a COVID missionary, it is change. This will be another big change for me, and probably a hard one, but I have faith that Brazil is where the Lord needs me to be, and that's enough for me. Everything else will fall in to place, I know it!

~Elder Kasey Lightheart

New profile pic for Facebook!

One of the amazing meals from our 
members this week!