Last Area: Odessa

 Hello everyone! I'm here in Odessa, my last area with Elder MacDonald. It's been such a good week and I absolutely love this area! I was a little worried about coming to Odessa but I'm loving it. 

    We had an amazing miracle on Saturday. We received a referral from a lady named Jaylon. She requested to learn about baptism. That night, there happened to be a baptism for another ward. We invited her to it, and she came with her one year old son, Nathan! During the baptism, Elder Mac and I shared a message about covenants. She loved the baptism. At the end, we asked how she felt during it. She said she felt so incredible, and she said that during the actual baptismal ordinance, she felt so strongly that she needed to do it.

    The next day, she came to the sacrament meeting on Easter. Sacrament was amazing and then she asked at the end, "so how soon can I be baptized?" She's now on date for April 29th. She is so excited! 

    We have another friend Patrick we are teaching who has had a rough life. He's been addicted to everything you can think of, and he's now preparing to be baptized soon. In my little lesson with him i learned that Christ truly can change anyone and anything.

    We were walking in a neighborhood and found a lady named Haidee. She has been in and out of prison, but she's been out for 4 months now and is living with her kids. We started explaining what we do, and how we help people. She is desperately searching for her purpose in this life. She's at the point where she doesn't really believe in God. We testified of God's plan for her, Christ's ability to bring her joy, and how it's available for her. She said "you guys look really happy, so I'll try it out." Pray for Haidee!!

    We had some awesome other experiences with other friends. This area is incredible. I get to use my spanish, and the members are amazing! Love yall, talk to ya next week

Love, Elder Ryan