Look mom, a tornado!

I saw a tornado this week! We were having our weekly meeting with
the Ward Mission Leader and all the sudden we got like 6 different
texts about severe and extreme weather in the area. Then Bro. Wynkoop
started getting alerts so we went outside and checked and sure enough
it was building up to one. It was raining harder than I've ever seen
before. The streets were flooded with like 5 inches. They were pretty
much rivers. The lightning was striking like every 2 seconds! We
changed out position after a minute because we were standing right
outside the church by the steeple. The thunder was so loud! We just
stood outside and watched it for like a half hour. My companion was
really freaking out and saying that we needed to drive home, but
Brother Wynkoop said that it was safer to just stay put at the church.
"What better place to die than at the church", he said. It was the
most intense thing I've ever experienced.

This was a really awesome week. We have 5 people on date to be
baptized!!! Four of them all live in the same house and they are set
for August 22! It's two couples that are really good friends:
Christina and Marshall, and Andrew and Sadey. They live in Monmouth.
They are going to open back up Monmouth for missionaries and split the
Galesburg ward again starting next transfer, Aug 4. So when that
happens we will have to turn them over to the other missionaries, but
until then we will keep working with them. I hope I will get to stay
for another transfer, even though I really want to go back up to
Joliet or Naperville areas, but just so I can be there for them. I
would at least get to see them at church and go to their baptism if I
stayed here.


The other one is set for this Saturday! His name is Phillip Meyers.
He is 9 years old, his mom is a really less active member. We have
gotten her to come to church once, but she doesn't seem too keen on
coming again any time soon except for her son's baptism and
confirmation. He is going to be interviewed tomorrow and baptized this
Saturday the 25th so I am really excited for that.


We were out finding one day this week and we ran into a guy from
Pakistan. He came out with half of his face covered in shaving cream,
but said if we wanted to wait he would finish and come outside to talk
to us. His name was Raffi, or something like that. We taught him for
about a half hour, it was kind of an argument, but it was a good
constructive argument I think; debating about what each other
believes- he is Muslim. I had a card that has the Articles of Faith on
it and I showed it to him. This was a miracle! I'll give you some
background:
Back last week when we had the mini-missionary with us, Jo took us to
El Rancherito. She was asking if we knew the Articles of Faith and I
could tell her about 9 or 10 of them. That was kind of the end of it,
but afterwards I was thinking, "I should memorize all of them, yeah
Garrett that's a good idea."
So since then I have been carrying with me that card with them on it
and right when I needed it to tell Raffi what we believed I had it! He
read us their "Articles of Faith" so to speak. After we talked to him
he invited us in because it was hot. Inside, he offered us a Pakistani
drink called, Rooh Afza. It was this really thick syrup that you mix
into milk. It was okay, really sweet. He told us that it was supposed
to "make your spirit feel good". There was probably drugs in it.. But
I had a really good rest of that day! And he gave us the bottle of it!
hahah


On Saturday we did about 10 hours of service. We went to Brother
Dobson's house in Abingdon at 9 and helped him move until about 12:30,
then we came back to Galesburg and helped Anthony Barton move. We were
helping him until about 7. Andrew Sevigny took us out to Taco Bell
after we were done. He got home from his mission about 2 weeks after I
got in the area. There was something extra special about that
quesarito that day. Probably because I took it full strength and
didn't have them take out the sour cream, or it could have been those
long hours of moving couches and tvs and fridges.

It was an awesome week and I loved it.

 We get to go to the Nauvoo
temple next week! Our P-day is going to be moved to Tuesday next week.
I just wanted to let you know so we can keep the eyes dry when you
don't hear from me next Monday. (; Have a good week, don't do anything
I wouldn't do!





















Loves, 
Elder G. Franklin Scherer 
 1319 Butterfield Rd. Suite 522 
Downers Grove, IL 60515
USA