The Lord continues to bless us with weather that does not involve snow, but it is still cold regardless [stupid wind]. Supposedly this Wednesday it will snow though.
I can't believe that this transfer is almost over, and that I've been in the field for a month! CRAZY! I looked in my journal this morning and I've been in the field for 55 days- that's epic. It doesn't seem like I've been out that long- which is weird.
So we didn't really teach any lessons this week- we watched the video 'Finding Faith in Christ' with Jessica and Mark, and I have to say to you all that you really should watch that movie. It's really really good and powerful! But other than that we didn't teach them anything, and Fred and Katie are out of town so we won't be able to see them again until the end of the holidays; which means we will be lessonless-ish for a while. But that's ok, 'tis the season to be jolly! Now that people are going to be home alot less we get to do some creative stuff! Such as go to the mall and walk around and talk to the till manager people- great ITL experiences- or we can just do some good ole tracting in the bitter cold?
I'm not really sure what to say about this week- it was pretty interesting.
Oh! Elder Sonderegger and I got to excercise our priesthood authority several times this last week and give lots of blessings. It was really cool, the first blessing we gave I knew I was going to be the voice. I just knew- the brother couldn't decide who he wanted to voice, and he flipped a coin. Elder Sonderegger was Heads, I was tails- guess what it was? Tails! So I got to voice a blessing, and it was a really neat experience. We rarely give blessings, so that was a really cool experience. But the next day a dad asked us to give a blessing to his son, because his son was having a hard time in school- and E.S. voices that one. And then we were asked to join in a blessing on a sister who was having some trials yesterday. So it was a neat experience to do that :)
We had stake conference yesterday- oh and I have to say- WORST STAKE CHOIR EVER. It was bad, it was just bad. Like you could feel the spirit. But it was bad- the look on the people on the stands faces was great. Pres. Jergensen, and Sis. Jergensen spoke though, and they gave some really amazing talks. I'm super fortunate to have them as my Mission Presidency! I can't really share insight from it because I forgot my study journal at the apartment, but basically what it said was A) Everyone should study Preach My Gospel along with their scriptures B) Boys should begin practicing using Preach My Gospel NOW! Really good talks, I learned alot from them.
Saturday we did a service activity. It was the worst activity ever. We went to the Iowa Games- or in other words keeping score for a basketball tournament for kids from the grades of 2nd-7th I think. It was 13 hours long. I got up at 5 in the morning, showered and got ready for the day, drove at 6 from Des Moines to Ames, and at 7 I began watching 3rd graders chase a ball for 13 hours and keep score... it was DREADFUL! I was excited for the first 30 minutes, but then I realized "Oh, wait... I get to do this for another 12 hours." Yeah, it was pretty bad- and you add the parents yelling at you for "getting the score wrong a.k.a. not letting their kid win" and the kids not really playing basketball, and the lack of food, and the need to use the facilities every 15 minutes it was bad. And when we had the chance to go to the bathroom we only had 2 minutes to go! 2 MINUTES!!! 35 minutes of watching garbage, and 2 minutes to myself?! BAH!!! Anyways in the end we played basketball in our pross [church clothes] and ate cheap mexican food. It was a rough day. We barely managed to get to bed at 10:30- I think I went to bed at 10:34 actually. I'm such an apostate! :(
Anyways that's all that was really worth writing about this last week, because I can't really remember much other than me crocheteing a hat, and going on exchanges. OH! Exchanges are so fun, but the only part I hate about them are the part where you meet people you really grow to like, but you never see them again. It's sad. But oh well. BTW, Thursday night was the hardest day eating-wise EVER:
So we have our District Meeting as usual on thursdays, and then we go to district lunch- I had an AMAZING pulled pork sandwich, and then we got for dessert a huge hot fudge sundae. It was really good. Then E. Lewis and I go to dinner, and we have pulled pork sandwiches [the irony], only they were more spicy this time. After Dinner we had Brownies and ice cream, which was delicious, but by the time I finished it I was STUFFED. Then we went to a members home to teach some investigators, and they go "guess what we got?! Homemade brownies and homemade ice cream!!" I was about to cry. It's so hard when a member says "We won't be offended if you don't want any..." *STARE*. They literally stared at me til my bowl was clean. It was the most difficult night ever, thank goodness the next day Elder Lewis and I lacked a car, so we had to bike for 3 hours- it was great! I love biking now, it's really fun.
anyways just some fun stories for you all. Just remember everyone that if you feed a missionary dessert, remember to tell them so they save room for it.
TTFN!
Elder Prows
Weekly Post - 11-15-2010
Ok first let's start this post off right.
November 14, 2010 was:
MY 47th DAY AS A MISSIONARY!!!
Now, to the point. This last week was a little crazy.
Monday:
That was our P-day and we got to move in with the AP's because the Stahle's needed us to move out, due to personal reasons. Typical P-day. BUT! We got to teach Fred and Katie who are two of our investigators who are pretty solid. They want to read the Book of Mormon so we left a copy with them and they are going to read it- but in fact they even asked for a second copy so they can both read their own individual book!!! SWEET! We're meeting with them again today, and I'm super excited, because I think they're pretty solid. Looking forward to this! :) now we get to teach the Plan of Salvation.
Tuesday:
We got to teach Jessica and Mark- who are two of our other investigators. Their an odd couple, because he's not religious at all, and she's mega Roman Catholic! They're going super well as well, the only problem I see is I do not think she is recognizing the fact we are saying that our church is THE true church, not another true church, and that the Catholic church is false. But she's getting along with us, that's just what we need to get her to recognize really is that her church is not true, and ours is- and that's what we're telling her.
Wednesday:
Ah, this day we got to meet with Aaron again. I think I mentioned him in my last blog post. He's from Cameroon, Africa. And he is not going well- and the reason why is because we go to meet with him and teach him; but he does not recognize us as the teachers. He sees it as we are there just to talk Jesus, and give all glory to God with him- but that's not the case. In a sense we are there to talk to him about Jesus, yes, our purpose is the Invite others to COME UINTO CHRIST by helping them to recieve the restored Gospel through FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST AND HIS ATONEMENT, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end. He sees it as that he has the Gospel, and he has all the faith he needs in Christ, so he's saved. This particular day we tried to get him to commit to reading the Book of Mormon and he refused- because he has a Bible. 2 Nephi 29 anyone? But in the end we couldn't get him to commit, which was annoying- but it's his loss right?
We also worked with a Less-Active member who wants to be active again named Mary Lilley- and we taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It went super well, and I think she's gonna be fine. She just needs lots of support, and fellowshipping from the ward. Because she's been coming to church and everything! Her first day back three weeks ago, the first thing she did was pay tithing. AMAZING woman.
Thursday:
This day we got to go on exchanges. I went with Elder Loveland of the Waukee ward, and it was pretty awesome. We went and ate dinner with a Recent Convert named Sandra Glazebrook. She made us some good food, and we played Go Fish as a group with he daughter. It was fun, but the best part was when we taught her a lesson. We read to her Alma 50:1-5 and we talked about building walls in our home that will protect us from evil influences, and will strengthen our faith. It was pretty awesome; though I can tell she is struggling with something. I'm not sure what it is, but her faith is definately being tested- so I got the opportunity to bear my testimony to her that I know as she prays and reads from the Book of Mormon, and she heads the words of our modern day prophet, and his apostles she can build those walls and have without a doubt peace and joy in her home.
Friday:
This day was very very very rainy. It was pouring all day, and it was very cold outside. We got to go and teach Jessica again, and it went awesome. We bring members with us alot, because we're trying to get the ward involved in the missionary work. The couple that came with us helped alot. Jessica and Mark are both doing very well, and I think they're recognizing the difference our Church has from others:
1. The Book of Mormon and it's authenticity.
2. The authority we hold as ministers of Christ.
3. The spirit.
We then got to bike home from the Church where our bikes were, and we got home soaked to the bone. We literally had water dripping everywhere when we walked in the house. I think I actually had it coming out of my ears at one point.
Saturday:
We taught two lessons this day. One to Jesse Cottrill whose mom is a member and she wants him to give the church a chance. He stopped talking to the missionaries cause he got "busy". We met with him and found out there were alot of misunderstandings with the last missionaries regarding doctrine- such as you have to KNOW all of the doctrine before you get baptized, which is not true so we had to clear that up.
We then went with Brother Ken Seibert to meet with Aaron- and man, that guy is frustrating. I don't know what we're going to do with him. I think we need to drop him, because he isn't going to listen. He sees us as we're there to be taught by him; so he's not recognizing us as ministers to him, and that we are the teachers! So that was frustrating. I also came to find this day that he has some VERY obscure views on things. We taught him the plan of salvation, and he didn't get it. In the Terrestrial kingdom those who live righteous lives, but did not accept the gospel will dwell- but here is the issue, he doesn't believe that people who do not believe in Christ can do good. Because he believes all good comes from Christ- which technically is true, but, that does not eliminate the agency of a person to make a right choice. And that is not what he understands, in the end I came to find that he is actually really ignorant. And that in order for us to teach him, he needs to be humble, and teachable and willing to listen. He doesn't understand what we teach him, because he doesn't listen to what we teach him. It's not discouraging for me to see this, yes, it is frustrating. But as I said before- you gotta just walk out with your head held high and say, "well that's too bad for him." Because he doesn't know how little he knows, and how little he is going to obtain. I had to pull us out because the lesson was not going in a good direction, and I was losing the spirit- so I didn't see any point in trying to teach him at that time; because as the scriptures say-if you don't have the spirit, you can't teach.
Sunday:
It was sunday and we didn't do much other than church, dinner and study. It was really relaxing actually. We have this Book of Mormon class with Bro. Seibert that is way awesome, we just sit for an hour and read the Book of Mormon together and talk about it. Yesterday we read out of Mosiah 2-5, the address of King Benjamin; which is awesome. You know, I sit there and read things like Abinadi or King Benjamin or Samuel the Lamanite and I just wonder how people can read something so profound and powerful as that, and still think that this book is man made. There is no way some one like Joseph Smith who was uneducated could make it up. Just flat out impossible.
So it was a pretty long week, but pretty good. I'm glad we're getting the car back because it's really cold outside. Lots of good lessons taught. I'm glad I'm finally getting to teach people lessons, and to work with real investigators. It started out slow, but we're finally progressing. So I'm excited.
Hope all is well with all of you, and I hope to hear from you soon!
Love you all!
Elder Prows
Weekly Post - 11-8-2010
So this week was definately alot harder.
Elder Sonderegger and I have been working SUPER HARD- and sometimes it feels like we recieve no success- and that's really hard for us, because we try so hard. We really try hard, we pray often, we seek diligently to serve. But yet we don't have ANYONE to teach really- we get lots of people who say we can try back with them- but we always come back and they reject us- or the appointment falls through. So this first part of the week was very hard for us, because we had some very difficult people we met- one man believed Jesus Christ was a good person, just not the Son of God. And he refuses to believe in J Dubs because the are very anti-gay and anti-feminism. And he has a hard time with us cause we don't support homosexuality either.
BUT we are not anti-gay; always remember that everyone. Though we do not endorse homosexuality, the church will NEVER excommunicate a person if they are gay. Elder Holland said in a talk- "you may have the thoughts and the temptations, but it is you who gets to decide whether to act upon them." The Church will however help you to understand the importance of marriage between a Man and a Woman- and how homosexuality is not ordained of God.
You hate the SIN not the SINNER.
The man did not understand that marriage between a man and a WOMAN is ordained of God; not marriage between a man and a man, not marriage between a woman and a woman, not marriage between a man and women (polygamy). I was reading yesterday from the Proclamation to the World- and it stood out to me about how much God believes in marriage, and he sustains it! A huge thing that stood out to me as I was thinking about this as well was the fact about how messed up society is. The man asked me "Where in the bible does it say do not be gay?!" I instantly opened up my Bible and showed him Leviticus 18:22- which clearly states 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.' [don't I rock for knowing about that scripture?] His instant reply was "Leviticus also teaches that we should not eat pork! And do we obey that?! NO!"
And here is what I have to say to that, even if it says that in the Bible and we don't obey it, it is still a SIN! You sin when you go against God's commandments! How more plain do you want it?! Even if Gay Marriage is legallized it is still a sin, God is unchanging- He will not change according to a public vote, if He did, then He is not God. God makes His laws because He knows what is best for us. Yes the church practiced polygamy, because the Lord commanded it for us; just as He did with King David, because our men were fighting to our families alive, and being killed off! Women had no husbands so there were no children being born into the Gospel! And when polygamy started to tear the Church apart, and men started to use it for wicked deeds, that's when the Lord pulls it from the Earth. How more plain and simple can that be? The Lord will never ordain homosexuality.
Anyways, that guy and several other people frustrated us, and because we were frustrated we did not have the spirit. And when we did not have the spirit we could not teach- D&C 42:14 'And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye recieve not the Spirit ye shall not teach.' This was so frustrating, so when we went home for lunch I sat on my bed in absolute distress. I was reminded of a story one of my MTC teachers- Brother Farley- told to us, where he was in a similar state, and he prayed to the Lord asking "Why is it so hard?" and he recieved the answer instantly- "It's not about you!" this begged me the question though, why is it so hard for me right now? I'm being as faithful as I can as far as I know, so why is it so hard for me? Why are all the disobedient missionaries seeing success, and yet I'm not meeting anyone? I prayed to ask the Lord this, and instantly as I ended my prayer I recieved my answer- a single line from Ether 12:6 'Ye recieve no witness until after the trial of your faith.'
Isn't it great to know the Lord really does speak to us? I sat there on my bed in total distress- I have not been faithful. I've been prideful, I've been arrogant- I need to be humble, and charitable. I did not understand that- I did not realize how I had murmured, and how distressed I was that the Lord had not handed the success to me.
Remember; I'm teaching people, not objects. They have their views, and while it doesn't make sense when you invite the spirit and they still say no to you, they have their agency; so let it go, they'll learn someday- be it in this life or the next.
Later in the week as Elder Sonderegger and I began to prayed for Charity, and Humility and we sought to just show our love for the Gospel and less just teach a lesson- we started meeting people. On wednesday while I was on exchanges with Elder Jennings I got 4 Potential Investigators, all inviting us back to teach them again. I also met with a potential investigator who E. Sonderegger and I tracted into, and he was not home for our appointment and he said he felt bad he missed us cause he went to vote. And we scheduled a new appointment, and will meet with him and his girlfriend today; and they are very excited to learn about the Church. Elder Sonderegger and I also tracted into a man who we met with for 15 minutes, scheduled another appointment, met with him yesterday and we will meet with him again on wednesday. You demonstrate true faith, and you follow the spirit, and you will see success. D&C 82:10- 'When ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.'- the Lord will not give us success if we murmur and whine and complain about people, or anything; we must be humble and charitable. The spirit will not dwell where there is pride.
As we followed the commandments, and were led by the spirit we also met some less-active members the ward had been trying to track down for a long time! We're planning on working with them.
As I coninue to serve the Lord I see how important obedience is- it's simple in the Children's Hymn 'Keep the commandments, keep the commandments; in this there is safety, in this there is peace.' You keep the commandments and diligently obey, and the Lord will bless you. As Joseph Smith said- "If the Lord commands it- DO IT!" If you do this then you will be protected, and you will see health, and strength.
I know that this church is true, I know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet and that Thomas S. Monson is our Prophet, Seer and Revelator today. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, along with the bible and that the two compliment each other- "for God so loved the world He sent His only begotten Son." Yes, He so loved the WORLD not Jerusalem. So it makes sense there is a book which takes place in the America's. I know it's true, I've read it several times, I've prayed about it, and the Spirit has born witness to me of the truth and the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Bible.
Jesus is the Christ- always remember that.- The church can be summed up in 4 words as Elder Nelson said- "We Believe In Christ". This past week I have reflected alot on the atonement, and how I am blessed to know of it. It is so difficult for me to comprehend the love He has for me, and for you. He loves us so much He bled for, and died for us- even when he fell, on His knees, pleading! to the Father that this cup would pass from Him, if we would just believe in Him, and if we would just repent. "Nevertheless, Lord, not my will, but thine be done." And yet He pursued, and He conquered death for us- and because of Him we can return to be with our Father in Heaven and Him again. And I cannot wait for that day, I cannot wait to feel the prints in His hands, and in His feet. And to wash His feet with my tears, and to embrace Him, and to say 'thank you, thank you for being my Savior- and for suffering for me." I often thing we take it too lightly that even when we sin, we harm our Savior- but not only did He suffer for that, but He suffered for our pains and our sorrows as well. Through Him are we saved, and are we able to be truely whole- I know this to be true, I bear witness of it, that only through Christ can we achieve true happiness- He is the Christ. I love Him, I bear witness of Him.
In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, my Savior-
Amen
Weekly Post - 11-1-2010
Words of advice for the week.
Never bike uphill, while huge gusts of wind are blowing at you and it is 40 degrees outside. It's not fun.
So I realized this last week this thing- I did not know cold until I came to Iowa. And that is really sad, because it's is going to get ALOT colder here! This last week we had our bikes, because we had to trade off the car, and we had it last week. I realized I'm out of shape, and that biking is very hard- especially in Iowa since there are alot of hills in Des Moines and we bike up them (It's a killer workout, I've lost ALOT of weight [I came to Des Moines weighing 178- I now weigh 158- and the best part is I can eat alot and not gain weight). But the temperature out side the first day biking was about 55 degrees- and it just got colder and colder down to below 40, and you add the humidity and the wind to the equation and it is FREEZING! We're already wearing our thermals, and stuff!
I taught my first lesson to an actual investigator on saturday! It was legit! Her name is Kim Kroll Ballinger and she found the church when she went to Salt Lake to pick up a car she wanted and she thought she'd watch Joseph Smith: A Prophet of the Restoration! So she's been reading the Book of Mormon and now is meeting with us. She's so ready by the way- it's awesome. She has so obscure beliefs though-ish. Like she partially believes in reincarnation, but yet she believes in the Atonement whole-heartedly. Which is weird cause reincarnation COMPLETELY throws out the purpose of the Atonement (I've done my research) and is completely false doctrine. You do meet interesting people on your mission. But we answered some good questions- she went on some anti-Mormon website that compares us to other Christians; and some of the things it said made me laugh inside (not outside, I held it in.)
1. Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is better than the Bible and the Bible is less important than their forms of scripture???
-This one made me laugh because it was easy to answer. Brother Crewdson who is a convert, return missionary, and ward missionary in the Des Moines 2nd- who accompanied us- just held up his quad and said "this is my Book of Mormon and my bible. They are together in the same set, and that's what we believe- they go hand in hand and work together." We then showed her the footnotes in our scriptures and how they refer to each other and work in unison. That we believe that the Bible and Book of Mormon work together, and equally, and in unison testify of the same Jesus Christ and that He is our Savior.
2. Mormons believe that they will be Gods?
-This one was a little harder to answer. Because we do but we don't. I explained it that we do not believe we will be greater than God, or we will become God; but we will become in a God-like state, where we will be held in glory and I guess you could say fame-ish. Like we will recieve special recognition.
3. Mormons believe Satan and Jesus Christ are brothers, and therefore equal???
-This one made me laugh. It's simple- no we do not believe that. We do believe that we are spiritual brothers with Satan, and Jesus Christ. But we are not equal in that matter; Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer to us, Satan is the tempter and devil. How can those two be equal? The Savior recieves eternal glory, and we follow Him- we despise Lucifer who is a fallen being, and is so evil he never will have a body. It's that simple- Jesus Christ= Awesome Satan= big fat doo doo head who we do not like.
There were other awesome questions that made me laugh, and others really made me think. But in the end it just strengthened my testimony- cause you see how they're lost and what they say makes not much sense! And they don't have the spirit.
We also talked for like 2 hours with this pastor we tracted into- he was super hostile at first. Like instantly started Anti'ing us- "Did you know the Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible?!" "Did you know that Doctrine and Covenants teaches that if you are not a polygamist you're going to hell?!" it took us off guard he knew about D&C, but he was wrong! We instantly jumped up and stumped the guy (we bore our testimonies, and corrected the doctrine by showing it to him), and he ended up being really cool. But he turned out to be a pastor! And we figure he knows about D&C and BofM because he teaches Anti-Mormon stuff. He said he was shocked at our humility, and kindness though and how we talked to him rather than jump to defence and be like "NUH UH"! Instead we just were like, where does it say that? Did you read the whole thing, cause you might have taken it out of context, buddy. In the end we exchanged cards, and he says he'll come to our church, and we're going to go to his [We told him we'll take his card and go to his church, because it would be hypocritical of us to teach the Gospel and not learn of others- and Christ hates hypocrites. Besides, we all know how it'll end up anyways ;) ]
So we're going to go to his church sometime and then he'll go to ours and we'll see what's up- Elder Sonderegger and I were laughing about it, what if we converted him?! What would his congregation think?!
Anyways, we are also working with a less-active sister, who has been inactive for 6 years, and she wants to reactivate. Pretty awesome, no? Mary Lilley is her name and she has a strong spirit about her- I'm excited for her. And she was at church yesterday too! EXCITING!
My mission is going awesome, and I am loving it! there's the occasional pothole in the road that will maybe stump you for a second- but it doesn't matter. I know what is right, and I'm proud of it. I'm glad I'm here- and I'm loving it. Each day I lay down in bed I think- 'don't blink, Elder; don't blink.' Every time I go to sleep it's as if I shut my eyes, open them and it's 6 AM. Which means another day has passed, and I'm one day closer to leaving my beloved mission. Which I hate the thought of- shoot, I'm feeling like I'm gonna cry thinking about it now- I don't want to leave. I love this too much. We talked to person on the street the other day and they asked us what we do when we get back and it hit me- we press forward, and live a normal life again. But what is normal? What did I do before I came here? I don't remember home! I can't see the faces of people I left home- I can't remember the tunes to songs I loved back home, I don't remember my favorite movie quotes, I don't remember Topher Prows. I'm Elder Prows! I want to stay Elder Prows, and just teach people, and progress more! I hear it hurts- when you remove your nametag that one last time. I'm already dreading it; and I don't know how they'll get me on that airplane home. They'll have to sedate me or something.
Missions are the best.
Elder Prows- out
Never bike uphill, while huge gusts of wind are blowing at you and it is 40 degrees outside. It's not fun.
So I realized this last week this thing- I did not know cold until I came to Iowa. And that is really sad, because it's is going to get ALOT colder here! This last week we had our bikes, because we had to trade off the car, and we had it last week. I realized I'm out of shape, and that biking is very hard- especially in Iowa since there are alot of hills in Des Moines and we bike up them (It's a killer workout, I've lost ALOT of weight [I came to Des Moines weighing 178- I now weigh 158- and the best part is I can eat alot and not gain weight). But the temperature out side the first day biking was about 55 degrees- and it just got colder and colder down to below 40, and you add the humidity and the wind to the equation and it is FREEZING! We're already wearing our thermals, and stuff!
I taught my first lesson to an actual investigator on saturday! It was legit! Her name is Kim Kroll Ballinger and she found the church when she went to Salt Lake to pick up a car she wanted and she thought she'd watch Joseph Smith: A Prophet of the Restoration! So she's been reading the Book of Mormon and now is meeting with us. She's so ready by the way- it's awesome. She has so obscure beliefs though-ish. Like she partially believes in reincarnation, but yet she believes in the Atonement whole-heartedly. Which is weird cause reincarnation COMPLETELY throws out the purpose of the Atonement (I've done my research) and is completely false doctrine. You do meet interesting people on your mission. But we answered some good questions- she went on some anti-Mormon website that compares us to other Christians; and some of the things it said made me laugh inside (not outside, I held it in.)
1. Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is better than the Bible and the Bible is less important than their forms of scripture???
-This one made me laugh because it was easy to answer. Brother Crewdson who is a convert, return missionary, and ward missionary in the Des Moines 2nd- who accompanied us- just held up his quad and said "this is my Book of Mormon and my bible. They are together in the same set, and that's what we believe- they go hand in hand and work together." We then showed her the footnotes in our scriptures and how they refer to each other and work in unison. That we believe that the Bible and Book of Mormon work together, and equally, and in unison testify of the same Jesus Christ and that He is our Savior.
2. Mormons believe that they will be Gods?
-This one was a little harder to answer. Because we do but we don't. I explained it that we do not believe we will be greater than God, or we will become God; but we will become in a God-like state, where we will be held in glory and I guess you could say fame-ish. Like we will recieve special recognition.
3. Mormons believe Satan and Jesus Christ are brothers, and therefore equal???
-This one made me laugh. It's simple- no we do not believe that. We do believe that we are spiritual brothers with Satan, and Jesus Christ. But we are not equal in that matter; Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer to us, Satan is the tempter and devil. How can those two be equal? The Savior recieves eternal glory, and we follow Him- we despise Lucifer who is a fallen being, and is so evil he never will have a body. It's that simple- Jesus Christ= Awesome Satan= big fat doo doo head who we do not like.
There were other awesome questions that made me laugh, and others really made me think. But in the end it just strengthened my testimony- cause you see how they're lost and what they say makes not much sense! And they don't have the spirit.
We also talked for like 2 hours with this pastor we tracted into- he was super hostile at first. Like instantly started Anti'ing us- "Did you know the Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible?!" "Did you know that Doctrine and Covenants teaches that if you are not a polygamist you're going to hell?!" it took us off guard he knew about D&C, but he was wrong! We instantly jumped up and stumped the guy (we bore our testimonies, and corrected the doctrine by showing it to him), and he ended up being really cool. But he turned out to be a pastor! And we figure he knows about D&C and BofM because he teaches Anti-Mormon stuff. He said he was shocked at our humility, and kindness though and how we talked to him rather than jump to defence and be like "NUH UH"! Instead we just were like, where does it say that? Did you read the whole thing, cause you might have taken it out of context, buddy. In the end we exchanged cards, and he says he'll come to our church, and we're going to go to his [We told him we'll take his card and go to his church, because it would be hypocritical of us to teach the Gospel and not learn of others- and Christ hates hypocrites. Besides, we all know how it'll end up anyways ;) ]
So we're going to go to his church sometime and then he'll go to ours and we'll see what's up- Elder Sonderegger and I were laughing about it, what if we converted him?! What would his congregation think?!
Anyways, we are also working with a less-active sister, who has been inactive for 6 years, and she wants to reactivate. Pretty awesome, no? Mary Lilley is her name and she has a strong spirit about her- I'm excited for her. And she was at church yesterday too! EXCITING!
My mission is going awesome, and I am loving it! there's the occasional pothole in the road that will maybe stump you for a second- but it doesn't matter. I know what is right, and I'm proud of it. I'm glad I'm here- and I'm loving it. Each day I lay down in bed I think- 'don't blink, Elder; don't blink.' Every time I go to sleep it's as if I shut my eyes, open them and it's 6 AM. Which means another day has passed, and I'm one day closer to leaving my beloved mission. Which I hate the thought of- shoot, I'm feeling like I'm gonna cry thinking about it now- I don't want to leave. I love this too much. We talked to person on the street the other day and they asked us what we do when we get back and it hit me- we press forward, and live a normal life again. But what is normal? What did I do before I came here? I don't remember home! I can't see the faces of people I left home- I can't remember the tunes to songs I loved back home, I don't remember my favorite movie quotes, I don't remember Topher Prows. I'm Elder Prows! I want to stay Elder Prows, and just teach people, and progress more! I hear it hurts- when you remove your nametag that one last time. I'm already dreading it; and I don't know how they'll get me on that airplane home. They'll have to sedate me or something.
Missions are the best.
Elder Prows- out
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