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
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