Time to harvest...

     This week was really great! It was a bit of a transition from Modesto to being here in Reedley. I am so excited being District Leader - everyone here is just great and we are all so fired up about this work! 
     As a mission we are seeing the highest records ever in this mission. Last year, the weekly average on new investigators was at 176. This last month, due to the harvest blessings program we have started doing, we have seen 279 new investigators weekly! That is awesome! I have a strong testimony of this work and I know the Lord is hastening His work. 
     This week we were able to see all kinds of miracles. The first one that comes to mind was last Friday. We just had an appointment fall through and we realized we still had a family that we needed to go see. As we arrived at the house of this family the wife was outside sitting next to a woman that looked very sad and was having a very difficult life. As we approached the wife of the house we began to speak to her, but we were cut off by the woman sitting next to her. She said do you guys have a Bible that I can read? We said yes but it's called the Book of Mormon! She said she had never heard of that book before. She had come to tell us that she had been prompted to sit at that house to talk with the family that we were going to visit. We arrived just on time. She began to explain to us that she has been having a very tough life, she has been addicted to drugs for the last 30 years and has been praying and praying for change and direction in her life. We shared that we hade been put into her path by the plan that God has for her. She began to cry knowing that three 23 year olds would stop to share a message that someone loved her and had a plan for her! We have set up an appointment this week to return. I know God puts His servants in the paths of his prepared children. 
     Then Sunday came and it was Fast Sunday. We knew that we needed to finish this week out strong. We prayed and fasted that the Lord would allow us to have 3 new investigators and one new baptismal invite. After church we began to do harvest blessings at every door.  But when we knocked they either said "not interested" or "leave"! We began to be discouraged door after door. We were hungry and wanting to just stop! But the spirit prompted us to continue on. It was one hour before our dinner appointment and we came to one last street where we went to the final three houses. The first was a girl named Jessica. We left the blessing with her and really felt good about it.  We gave her a Book of Mormon and set a return appointment! We were so thrilled to have a new investigator but we felt prompted to go to the house directly across the street where another man was sitting on his porch. We told him who we were and he was thrilled that we were there to talk to him! We shared a brief message and set a return appointment! Now we had two new investigators in such a short time! 
     We had one more house that was a referral from a recent convert. We felt this would be a great lesson. We knocked on the door of Rosaura and Jose. They invited us to share a message with them. We began by talking about the correct authority and how it was restored upon the earth. Both of them were shocked at this point, they had never heard about that before. We shared the First Vision with them, just as we did the spirit was so powerful! Both of them leaned forward in their chairs and it was impossible to deny the feeling in which we felt. We invited them to be baptized on the 31st of March and they promised to read and find an answer through prayer! Fasting truly does work. I know that God hears us and blesses us for our efforts as we strive to do our best! We found four new investigators and two baptismal dates! I love this work. I know that God lives! Have a great week everyone!!! Love you!

Elder Tanner Aiken