Pave the Way

Apartment that Cole lives in right now.

View of the street outside his apartment.

Hey family! It sounds like another day in Highland. Another Elder here, who likes to ski, was telling me that his dad sent him a picture of Park City where there was no snow. It was basically mud and plants. That's going to make the summer hard. Hopefully they don't have to go crazy with the water restrictions.
This week we tried to work hard and just put our hearts into it. The Lord was with us, every available hour of the day was spent in appointments or meetings, with the exception of the weekend, which is always hard here.
For this week I wanted to tell you guys an experience we had. Three weeks ago we met a guy named "D". He was visiting his aunt who lives below us, for a couple of weeks. He lives in the forest area (the locals call it the binnenlands which is Dutch for inner-lands) which takes about 6-7 hours by bus to get from there to here in the city. We had given him a restoration pamphlet and explained a little bit about what we do, but besides that we did not explain much more. Later on that week we saw him at a small store nearby where we live and he asked us to come over. So we went over and shared with him the message of the Restoration, as well as a little bit of the Plan of Salvation, which he had questions about. He told us he was going to be leaving soon, so we gave him a Book of Mormon and the Restoration and Plan of Salvation pamphlets and invited him to read.
Two weeks later he sent us a text. In this text he explained to us that he had begun reading the Book of Mormon and from reading it he realized that he was on the wrong path. But because of the Book of Mormon he was now on the right path. He told us that he would call us with questions if he had any, but for right now he would continue to read it. He explained that he was really grateful to have met us.
This week he texted us again. He expressed his gratitude again that God had allowed him to meet us and that we had given him the Book of Mormon. He testified that he knows the Book of Mormon is true. He had found out that the Book of Mormon referenced to Bible verses and he explained that this only strengthened his testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. When we asked him how far he was he said he was by Jacob 2 and that he had also started reading the dictionary/topical guide in the back.
This experience has really helped to strengthen my testimony of the Book of Mormon. It really can change people's lives. "D" explained to us that when he had read the section about repentance, (may or may not have been King Benjamin's speech) he had teared up. The Book of Mormon is one of the most unique aspects of our church and I'm grateful not only for the book, but also for the opportunity I have to share it with people.
It is amazing to see what an amazing example "Su" now is for her whole family. When we went by this week she was able to help us explain to one of the family members how to pray. She also explained to them the different aspects of baptism. It was awesome. She is paving the way for future family members to get baptized as well as people in that neighborhood. As well as "D"  who is too far south to be taught further by missionaries, but by reading the Book of Mormon and hopefully sharing it with people the first few missionaries that open up the area will already have a branch. It's amazing how the little things we do today help to pave the way for others.
Tell PopPops and Lizzy I said "Happy Birthday." Also, please thank the Wilcox's for sending money. We went to Chois today to stock up on food. So that money was well spent!!
I love you guys! I hope you have an awesome week! I want you guys to know that even though I miss you like crazy and wish you could be here experiencing this with me, I am so happy to be here and share the gospel.

Love,
Elder Cole Cooper