Friday 8/15

Hello all, it's the end of my first week (plus last Wednesday-Sunday), and it has been really busy. basically, we get up at 6:30 and then we're rushed off of our feet till lunch, then dinner, then back in bed at 9:30. 

First, I would like to ask you all to send me the email addresses of anyone who wants a weekly update, because I lost all of everyone's addresses. New email and all.

So we were assigned "TRCs" this week, which are basically investigators, except most of them are actors that are already members. Some of them are real investigators that were really open and easy to teach, so they got sent here, some are real investigators from around here that just came here looking for the lessons, but most are return missionaries that are impersonating an investigator that they knew well on their mission. We have taught our two TRCs three times now, and it feels amazing. I don't know how else to explain it, we don't know what we're doing and we just kind of go for it, but it always somehow turns out great. It feels like words are being put in my mouth one at a time by the spirit.

Our first investigator named ----- is progressing really well, really by-the-book but we still feel the spirit, and there are lot's of opportunities for bearing testimony. Our other investigator named ----- is truly great to teach. She has so many questions and she is so willing to follow commitments and I think she is one of the real investigators. All TRCs get taught by multiple missionaries, but they're supposed to act like they aren't, but ----- doesn't, she brings up points from other lessons (which they aren't supposed to do) and she never asks us weird questions to kind of guide us like the obvious actors do and so on and so forth. It's like she doesn't know how to do it because she's genuine. Basically, it doesn't matter because we're supposed to treat them all the same, but I really think she's real (or at least the best actor here).

Another thing that we do here besides learning in class is PIs. Our teachers pretend to be really tough investigators that we have to teach, like one was named Haylee, and she completely shot everything down, declined our invitations and told us that she hated God. It's really helpful though, because I know I'll run into some really tough investigators on my mission, and I can't give up on them, so we're learning how to build on common ground.

Being here is pretty incredible, it's like being in seminary twenty four seven but with way more purpose and direction. Studying alone and with my companion and with my district is incredible and it's already increased my testimony so much. I feel like a hot air balloon and it's like being inflated. The church is true, I'm where I need to be, I'm happy and I can't wait to go out for real.

-- 

Elder Barak Roach

Georgia Atlanta North Mission