Travis - Tracting and a Liger :-)

Hello everyone!!

What a great Monday to be alive today. The clouds are finally receding. Our house finally is all getting healthy to the point of exercising again. And we are Jamming out having fun. I want to first start with some awesome miracles we have had this week. So I take back the idea that tracking is easy to do. I totally thought before the mission it was and NOPE UHHHHH!!!!!! We have knocked doors and talked with people day in and day out meeting rejections. So mid week we changed up are tactics. Instead we started to visit members that are active, not to waste time but to encourage missionary work out of them. We showed a message and had each of them take 1 minute to write down as many names as they could think. Then we told them they needed to share the message we shared(mormon message of sorts) with one of them and we would check up with them one week from now. It actually has gained us a lot of ward trust. We also gained several new investigators this way. We ran into several families that where part member and actually asked us to come teach a son and a father who where not baptized.
 We also taught a boy who came with a friend to investigate the church. He was a very curious boy asking questions and wanting to know so much. We even got him to pray on first visit. The only reason baptism was not extended was because he expressed a fear that his dad (who didn't know he was there) would disapprove and even disown him. That showed me such a great example of courage and a willingness to want to learn and know which of these church's was true and lucky for him he came to the right one ;).
We also ran into a group of high school kids living together without parents. They where just out sitting on cars looking thuggish. We where walking to a less actives when my companion and I decided it wouldn't hurt to cross the street and talk with them. The minute we got over there two ditched, the others just kinda sat there quiet at first, and yes it was a really awkward start. We tired several times to drum simple conversations but it ended poorly so we just simply shared a message of the restoration and our testimonies. Those who stayed actually became curious asking us questions about how this could all be possible and the importance of religion. One even asked 'for a book to learn more about it' so excited we gave him a Book of Mormon and they even wanted to go,to church to see for themselves what it's like (they never went to a religious place before.) and slowly but steadily they grew more open until we felt like friends around one another.

These are such great chances for me to experience serious missionary life. Yes it is hard to do, and sometimes it feels almost like you are wasting time. Yet these moments when someone accepts the gospel makes it all worth it. I love the chance I have to serve here and especially this spring time when its so pretty. I shoulda taken pictures and stuff but i don't have an iPad yet. But however I did get to visit a wild life reservation and I played with a liger through a fence, it followed me back and forth running along the fence and jumping up and down....no it didn't want to eat me and yes I said LIGER!!! Hahahah I love it, I hope all you are doing well; having fun, do crazy stuff and enjoy times with your friends no family. You never know what life has in store for you next.

Elder Heckel

P.s. I don't think I will ever ever ever eat BK or McDonald's again.