So I'll break it down the easy way-
MONDAY!
On Monday it was P-day , but Elder Medina and I got special permission to put our P-day off until Wednesday. See Wednesday.
TUESDAY!
Not nearly as exciting as Monday, except that Thurman and Tiffany said the opening and closing prayers to our lesson voluntarily, agreed to come to church, and Tiffany prayed out of the blue to know if the Book of Mormon is true! SWEET! Oh and Thurman told us about how he's pretty sure the Book of Mormon is true, he just wants one more signal. So we're progressing! :)
WEDNESDAY!
Why would you want to put P-day off, you might ask? Well to take a trip to the temple of course! It had been 8 months and I had not been to the temple and 6 months from when Elder Medina last went, we needed to go! So we got permission to take the trip on Wednesday, because all the activities and stuff on monday would be closed due to p-day, and we wanted to go to those too, so we put our p-day off for 2 days. That was a sacrifice totally worth it I have to say, the Temple is an amazing place. I love it there. As soon as I walked inside the Nauvoo Temple, the feeling that I was in the House of the Lord and the Nauvoo Temple was amazing. The workmanship of it is gorgeous. The San Diego Temple is still my favorite temple, but I definately have the Nauvoo at a close 2nd I think. It was nice to be able to perform sacred ordinances for the dead there, and I'm grateful for that opportunity. It made my day.
What was cool about this day too was the Zone Leaders from Peoria were there too, so I got to see one of my former ZL's (the other went home, and was replaced; obviously) So we hung out for a bit. Some members took us out to eat for lunch, already Temple Trip plus free food? Bloody brilliant! After that they had to head back because it was a 2 hour drive back to Peoria opposed to our 20 minute drive. So we looked around for a bit, we went to the Latter-Day Harvest bookstore and I purchased a small rock which is a piece of the original Nauvoo Temple, which is amazing. The feeling you get when you hold it is exhilirating! :) I also bought a new quad, because the scriptures I currently have are pretty big and bulky, so I got something smaller. That's some advice to future missionaries, get the quad that is small and compact. It's lighter and more efficient, I love it! Then we went to the Visitors Center where some sisters gave us a tour around the Visitors Center. It was safe because there was a crowd of people, geez get off my back people! But it was an interesting experience when one of the sisters randomly turned around and commited us to pray as soon as we next got in our car to know why we were there, and what we are to do. She promised if we did that and listened to the spirit our comp unity would grow. And I gotta say, our comp unity has grown haha! Then we went to the other side of town- the side of the *gulp* Community of Christ. I only went there for one specific reason. Michael Hansen. I don't know if any of you remember this, but Michael Hansen was one of my investigators in Bloomington- we had set a baptismal date with him for May 19, 2011. But he went back home, and he is now doing an internship in Nauvoo for the Community of Christ. We showed up to theirvisitor center and we instantly saw them all smiling at us and the thoughts running through their minds "we've got them now!" But they spoke too soon when I asked "Where's Michael Hansen?! TELL MEEEEE!!" Only alot more polite. And they told me he was at the Red Brick Store, so we ran out faster than chijuajuas can jump over licorice and drove there. It's always nice when you walk into a store and your former investigator is like " Hi how- Oh my gosh! Elder Prows!" and gives you a hug right of the bat. That felt good to know how I've impacted. Granted he's workign with the Community of Christ he hasn't been given much time to study, and grow spiritually, but he remembers me, and what I've taught him. We exchanges contacts too, so we can keep in touch, cause he lives in Nauvoo, but he does shop in Keokuk. So if we were to "accidentally" run into him while shopping, that would pretty cool. Then we checked out a cool gun place.
After Nauvoo we were like "Well, we still got 2 hours to kill. Wanna go to Carhage?! So we called up PJ and asked for permission to go to Carthage and it was approved, so we drove out to Carthage, Ill and visited the place of the Prophet and Patriarchs matyrdom. I gotta say, that is amazing. There is a powerful spirit there, and a great feeling of love. It's weird when you look at that door, and you see that gun hole that Hyrum was shot through, and think "his nose was right there!" ... that sounded really weird. I know I know, I'm an awkward person, you don't have to tell me twice. But hey I have a testimony and I ain't affraid to use it! Beside it's true. His nose was there. The Church is true too. The sister who gave the tour asked us to bear our tesimonies so we did. It was great. Then we drove home because we realized 2 hours had passed, and we had to be home.
THURSDAY!
Just any other day. We didn't do much. Our lesson with Phillis fell through because she got really sick, and they were going to feed us too, so they just ordered us a pizza. We're going to reschedule.
FRIDAY!
ZONE CONFERENCE! Woot, woot.
We had a very exciting Zone Conference. We centered it on the Doctrine of Christ because it's the key to loving people, and getting members motivated, and to convert others. The Doctrine of Christ is the center of the missionary purpose, and so we need to internalize it, and be converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Doctrine of Christ. They're pretty much the same thing- Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Recieving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. This is the only way to eternal life!
We had the mission doctor come talk to the missionaries as individuals about health problems, and it was nice. He taught us about ingrown toe nails, back problems, headaches, depressions, bedbugs, and clean homes. It was good, because I realized I don't have bed bugs, so that was comforting (woot woot).
Then missionaries did their going home testimonies, and Elder Medina was one of them. It was really weird. I've got a companion going home soon! Yikes!
After that President talked a little bit on conversion, and the Doctrine of Christ and he played a trick on us making us think we were going to have an Apostle there, and then we found out it was just a video recording. But I gotta say, this talk was without a doubt the most powerful talk I have ever heard! Jeffery R. Holland is a stud to the max! He was speaking in the MTC in Jan 2011 and he did the whole talk entirely by the spirit. He said some incredibly bold things, and it pierces you.
He talked about how missionary went from memorized discussions to Preach My Gospel when President Hinckley realized that the missionary system was flawed by having men coming and serving 2 year missions, and going home and goi Less-Active instantly, not keeping true to covenants, and being unfaithful to our Father in Heaven. That is how Preach My Gospel was born, out of realization that our missionaries literally needed to be CONVERTED to the Gospel before they go to PREACH the Gospel. And I know it's way more effective.
I love the talk. I can't say anything else. Apostles have the best view on scripture and doctrine than anybody. Elder Holland's description of when Christ asks Peter 3 times if he loves Him is so powerful! I can't even describe it! :)
I just feel so spiritually full from his talk! I wish you all could've seen it.
SATURDAY!
We went to Burlington for an baptismal interview and I somehow ended up teaching 5 little kids about the Plan of Salvation??? Then we went to a lesson with them. Elder Medina and Elder Sheffer went to teach an investigator while Elder Harris and I tracted. We knocked I think 8 doors and the 8th let us in and we taught a solid first lesson. When we extended the baptismal invite we didn't even finish the sentence before she answered yes. It was epic. Another solid investigator in Burlington.
Elder Medina and I decided we need to tract more haha, unfortunately Keokuk is a little more anti :P
SUNDAY!
We visited people at nursing homes, had a lunch and dinner appointment, and talked about ghost stories with a member who had an insanely awesome mission. This brother served in Argentina and he had tons of crazy experiences. He extended even with all the crazy experiences he told us about, and the he would've gone home if he didn't extend he gets shot in the face! So he still goes home. What a champ! And he didn't have any scarring because the scenario worked out just great. You have to hear the story, but I won't tell it. It's way too long to write down, and I'm getting bored.
Anyways in short that was my week. Alot more happened, but I'm done typing this blog post.
I hope you're all doing well, and remember I love ya! I hope to hear from you soon!
P-Trowsers OUT!
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