Dearest Family and Friends,
What a great week it has been. I have been traveling all over Northern Ohio. Monday night I slept on a couch in Perrysburg; Tuesday I slept on the floor Canton; Wednesday on the couch in Shaker Heights; Thursday in my bed in Rocky River and finally Friday night I was given a bed to sleep in on the road as I stayed in Garfield Heights Ohio. This week we hosted Zone Conference where we had several hours each day to train the missionaries. We we able to instruct about 80 % of the mission; we have one more conference on Wednesday out in Youngstown. I love traveling across this state and looking out on the beautiful countryside and the trip over to Youngstown this week is my favorite drive in the mission; Ohio is utterly beautiful. Instructing the missionaries this week has been a real fun time. We have had some powerfully moving meetings; one in particular in Kirtland was so strong in the spirit; come testimony time we were all weeping like children; it's the best!
This week we have also had the privilege of continuing our teaching of William. I can say enough about how special this young man is. We had three lessons with him this week and each one has been so special. Saturday night as I was praying for him I had the very distinct impression to tell him to go and meet the Bishop and to introduce himself for a second time in Priesthood meeting. So towards the end of sacrament I said " I have two things that will really help you today, will you do them?"; in true William fashion he said yes. I instructed him to go up by himself as soon as the prayer was over and go and introduce himself to the Bishop. He B-Lined it up to the front after the prayer and was able to get a meeting with the Bishop scheduled for after church. He took my advice again to re-introduce himself in Priesthood meeting as he did last week but with more confidence and a louder voice and I told him to share his feelings about what is going on in his life. I told him that one of the beauties of the Priesthood is that when you join the church you now have brothers all over this planet and that if they see that you are good and that you sincerely want their fellowship, they will all break their backs for you. You got up right when they asked for visitors and shared again who he was and how he felt about his investigating; he did such a great job! When the meeting was over their were brothers sticking to him like glue, it was the coolest thing to watch. He has been struggling to find employment and one of the brothers got him an interview with the owner of a restaurant that he knew about an hour after church ended and also gave him his bike so that he could make the 15 minute ride to work. Because of his troubles in the past William had really been struggling to find work and would begin to tear up as he explained all of the places he had interviewed to work at that had denied him once they found out about his past. The Stake President also said that he would love to have William over for dinner and a lesson tonight at his home; I just can't say enough about how good our ward is and how powerful their love has been to William. After his interview for work yesterday he came to lunch at one of the members home and we had a lesson with him on the core fundamentals of the church; faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. The lesson was powerful and the member that we brought with us really reached out to him in testimony; again, we were all crying like children. We then gave him a priesthood blessing for his smoking habit. The spirit was so strong as we hugged at the conclusion of the blessing. I am so excited for this young man. We are seeing real change work in him as he accesses the atonement. His baptismal date is on the 22nd of September so be sure to keep a prayer in your heart for him.
I have never been happier than I am now. I truly know Christ lives. I know that he is guiding me and helping find His children who are seeking him. I pray that we may all find him. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Love, Elder Prince
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