Monday, August 4, 2014
Pictures!
Hard week, but lots of tender mercies too.
1. How are you increasing in "wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man?"
I'm getting to the point where everyone realizes I'm finishing my mission soon. The members are already saying goodbye to me. Other missionaries are counting down the days for me. As for me, I just keep going. I don't keep track of the days. I don't think too much about home. Ever since I left home it feels like I'm on another planet, and it still feels that way. I'm so thankful that throughout my mission I've worked and focused in a way that I can get almost to the end and not feel "trunky". It's a lot easier that way.
2. A spiritual experience you had this week?
For me, it was the "emergency lesson" we had with Enrique (name changed). We stopped by his apartment one more time (3rd attempt that day) and found him outside, standing by a half finished 6-pack of beer. We expressed our disappointment as well as the hope we had for him. We taught him about the power of prayer to fight temptation. We all shared experiences about how prayer/the Atonement gave us peace when we were sad, angry, or afraid. I shared an experience that was near and dear to my heart, the start of my true conversion. The Spirit was really strong and we recommitted him to live the word of wisdom. Enrique offered a kneeling prayer, and I know he will remember that moment forever. And he happily let us take his remaining beer and throw it away. It was so satisfying to smash those beer bottles against the inside wall of the dumpster...
3. What successes have you had in reaching your weekly goals?
I don't know about successes in reaching key indicator goals, but we definitely had some successes.
Firstly, we took our less active/new member to get a white shirt and tie. It was fun and he really appreciated us being there for that little milestone. He is well on his way to being a fully active member. And I'm so grateful that we can go with him to do baptisms for the dead. We've been there for every spiritual milestone in the last few months (for example he insisted that we come up with him to the stand when he gave the bishop his first tithing) and I wouldn't miss this one for the world.
And it was interesting how we made our weekly goal for 2 member homes. It was sunday evening and we didn't have anything planned in order to have that 2nd lesson in a member's home. Then we went to our 7 PM appointment with a new investigator. We found him walking out to his car, dressed up to go to a party. He must have forgotten our appointment... We caught him just in time and we were talking about church. The idea came to my mind to offer to give him a church tour. He seemed to be interested in that. My companions were scheduling a time to do that later. And before I could think about what I was saying, I said "It just so happens we have the keys to the church (we usually don't since we have to borrow them from the elders). We could show you the church right now if you want." Surprisingly, he said yes! The tour went really well and we got to teach about baptism, the sacrament, and the Holy Ghost, and show him the baptism font. The Spirit was strong and he seemed touched/intrigued. I am so glad we did that. If not, I think he would have just turned into yet another no-showed appointment. I'm excited to see what happens from there!
4. Have you experienced any disappointments and how did you overcome them?
This week was one of those odd weeks where we did our best and worked hard but the results didn't show it. For example, we had 5 exchanges and only had 2 lessons with a member present. We had plenty of plans but most of them fell through.
Also, our 2 investigators with a baptism date moved just outside of the mission. Literally, on the other side of the street. I'm reluctant to turn them over to the Dallas missionaries. We decided to keep teaching Enrique until his baptism date and just meet with him somewhere other than his apartment, but that never worked despite all the calls and texts and looking everywhere. And the one time we did find him, we found him with a 6-pack of beer... And he didn't make it to church. I don't think Enrique's getting baptized on the 10th... At this point I'd just be happy to find him again.
Though on the bright side, this is only one week. I've seen worse. I've had entire transfers like this before. I endured through that and I'm stronger for it. And every day, the Lord gives us little tender mercies to keep us cheerful and optimistic.
Monday, July 28, 2014
revised letter to mission president
1. How are you increasing in "wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man?"
This week, I have realized a lot how much I actually have grown. On monday we picked up Hna. Fotu. It's been interesting seeing how I influenced both of the companions I trained. It's comforting to know that I gave both of them a good start. Also, I have started working on my final letter (a fancy handwritten letter I have to write to President Ames before I end my mission), trying to sum up everything I've learned in the last 18 months. There has been a lot of growth just in the act of attempting to sum it all up. I have realized even more that I wouldn't trade the world for the experiences I've had, good and bad. In district meeting, our district leader Elder Hendricks shared a quote with us from a Martin handcart company survivor: "The price was worth it to be acquainted with God". That's exactly how I feel about my mission.
2. A spiritual experience you had this week?
This week it was the lesson we had with a reactivating member to help him feel worthy to enter the temple. He is the sort of person to worry about literally everything and want to be perfect in order to start anything and has a lot of regrets about how things have happened in his life. So we taught him about worthiness and exactly what he need to go to the temple. It was very spirit driven and according to his needs.
3. What successes have you had in reaching your weekly goals?
Both of our investigators with a baptism date came to church! It really does look like we're going to make these baptism dates happen! Also a member, Jose, that's getting reactivated just got his limited use temple recommend on sunday! It's a big step in reaching my personal transfer goals: 1 more baptism, and to go do baptisms for the dead with our member that is going through the 90 day program. I think it really will happen. It will take a lot of work but I am determined to end my mission on a high note.
This week, I have realized a lot how much I actually have grown. On monday we picked up Hna. Fotu. It's been interesting seeing how I influenced both of the companions I trained. It's comforting to know that I gave both of them a good start. Also, I have started working on my final letter (a fancy handwritten letter I have to write to President Ames before I end my mission), trying to sum up everything I've learned in the last 18 months. There has been a lot of growth just in the act of attempting to sum it all up. I have realized even more that I wouldn't trade the world for the experiences I've had, good and bad. In district meeting, our district leader Elder Hendricks shared a quote with us from a Martin handcart company survivor: "The price was worth it to be acquainted with God". That's exactly how I feel about my mission.
2. A spiritual experience you had this week?
This week it was the lesson we had with a reactivating member to help him feel worthy to enter the temple. He is the sort of person to worry about literally everything and want to be perfect in order to start anything and has a lot of regrets about how things have happened in his life. So we taught him about worthiness and exactly what he need to go to the temple. It was very spirit driven and according to his needs.
3. What successes have you had in reaching your weekly goals?
Both of our investigators with a baptism date came to church! It really does look like we're going to make these baptism dates happen! Also a member, Jose, that's getting reactivated just got his limited use temple recommend on sunday! It's a big step in reaching my personal transfer goals: 1 more baptism, and to go do baptisms for the dead with our member that is going through the 90 day program. I think it really will happen. It will take a lot of work but I am determined to end my mission on a high note.
Monday, July 21, 2014
revised letter to mission president
**names have been changed
2. A spiritual experience you had this week?
Where to begin... Here are some of the highlights.
- Santiago came to church. Here's how we found him. We were looking for a former investigator in a body shop where he supposedly worked. We didn't find him, but we found Santiago, Jose, and Andres working in the shop. We initially didn't plan on spending a lot of time there since it wasn't the right shop and we didn't want to take away time from their work. But they offered us water and asked lots of questions about the Church and really opened up to us. Santiago said he wanted to come to church. We left our contact information and set a return appointment. This is a perfect example of being guided by the Spirit to be in the "wrong" place at the right time. I feel bad for this, but I didn't take Santiago seriously when he said he was going to church. After all, we invite everyone to go to church and they almost never show up, especially not if we've just barely met them. And when we went to church, Santiago showed up! He didn't even have his own car to get there, but he made it! It makes me think about my own faith and what I would do in that situation. If I weren't a member and had just met some missionaries a few days ago, would I make that much of an effort to go to church?
- We taught Enrique the Word of Wisdom. It went really well and the Spirit was really strong, and he committed to live it. We brought a 17 year old member with us who was planning on going on a mission. We didn't think too much of it since we missionaries are relatively used to experiences like that. But later that night, the girl who came with us sent us a text thanking us for taking her with us and helping her feel the Spirit so strongly. It was a great reminder that when we take members with us to appointments, it not just for the investigators. It's also for the members.
3. What successes have you had in reaching your weekly goals?
Well, almost everything has been a success! We had 6 people come to church! I've never had that many people come to church before. It blew my mind and it's another one of those moments where I have to wonder "what did I deserve to receive so many blessings?" I really can't attribute it to anything that I did. The glory is not mine, but the Father's. As always, I feel like I'm a spectator to the success we experience. We also contacted nearly twice as many people as we planned, got twice as many new investigators, and gave out twice as many Books of Mormon. I really am so happy to be here in Lewisville and witness this in a place that I once thought was "dead" or "slow".
4. Have you experienced any disappointments and how did you overcome them?
We found out that Juan is going to be moving next week. It's sad because I really did think he would get baptized in the near future and I would be there when it would happen. But I trust that God cares for him much more than I do and that the missionaries will find him in Mexico. But on the bright side, our last lesson with him wasn't contentious or tense like the last couple lessons. He didn't bring up his doubts fueled by anti-Mormon material. And I have more compassion for him now that I understand that he didn't understand the doctrine as well as we thought.
2. A spiritual experience you had this week?
Where to begin... Here are some of the highlights.
- Santiago came to church. Here's how we found him. We were looking for a former investigator in a body shop where he supposedly worked. We didn't find him, but we found Santiago, Jose, and Andres working in the shop. We initially didn't plan on spending a lot of time there since it wasn't the right shop and we didn't want to take away time from their work. But they offered us water and asked lots of questions about the Church and really opened up to us. Santiago said he wanted to come to church. We left our contact information and set a return appointment. This is a perfect example of being guided by the Spirit to be in the "wrong" place at the right time. I feel bad for this, but I didn't take Santiago seriously when he said he was going to church. After all, we invite everyone to go to church and they almost never show up, especially not if we've just barely met them. And when we went to church, Santiago showed up! He didn't even have his own car to get there, but he made it! It makes me think about my own faith and what I would do in that situation. If I weren't a member and had just met some missionaries a few days ago, would I make that much of an effort to go to church?
- We taught Enrique the Word of Wisdom. It went really well and the Spirit was really strong, and he committed to live it. We brought a 17 year old member with us who was planning on going on a mission. We didn't think too much of it since we missionaries are relatively used to experiences like that. But later that night, the girl who came with us sent us a text thanking us for taking her with us and helping her feel the Spirit so strongly. It was a great reminder that when we take members with us to appointments, it not just for the investigators. It's also for the members.
3. What successes have you had in reaching your weekly goals?
Well, almost everything has been a success! We had 6 people come to church! I've never had that many people come to church before. It blew my mind and it's another one of those moments where I have to wonder "what did I deserve to receive so many blessings?" I really can't attribute it to anything that I did. The glory is not mine, but the Father's. As always, I feel like I'm a spectator to the success we experience. We also contacted nearly twice as many people as we planned, got twice as many new investigators, and gave out twice as many Books of Mormon. I really am so happy to be here in Lewisville and witness this in a place that I once thought was "dead" or "slow".
4. Have you experienced any disappointments and how did you overcome them?
We found out that Juan is going to be moving next week. It's sad because I really did think he would get baptized in the near future and I would be there when it would happen. But I trust that God cares for him much more than I do and that the missionaries will find him in Mexico. But on the bright side, our last lesson with him wasn't contentious or tense like the last couple lessons. He didn't bring up his doubts fueled by anti-Mormon material. And I have more compassion for him now that I understand that he didn't understand the doctrine as well as we thought.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Here's what happened this week!
1. How are you increasing in "wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man?"
I'm also really excited to be in Lewisville for my last transfer. It will be a new experience being in 1 area for 7.5 months, but I'm also excited. In Denton and Temple, I didn't stay long enough to see most of the fruits of my efforts, even though I was there for 4.5 and 6 months respectively. But now I think I'll be able to stay and see what happens. We have 2 baptism dates and I really do think I'll be able to see them both get baptized! What a satisfying way to end a mission!
2. A spiritual experience you had this week?
One experience was studying for Juan (name change). In response to the fact that he keeps running into anti-Mormon information in his genuine search for truth, we wanted to teach him that there has always been opposition from Satan (because he knows it's true too) in the restored church, ever since Joseph Smith. I read all of Joseph Smith-history and the opposition is so apparent. It strengthened my testimony of the restoration to remember how much opposition this church has experienced from the beginning. No one seems to care about any other christian church (except for Catholics, maybe). There isn't a huge wealth of anti-Presbyterian or Methodist or Pentacostal information that I know of. Just for Mormons. It's evidence to me that this gospel is so true.
It was also amazing setting our other baptism date with Jose (name change). It's been a joy teaching him because he is so childlike despite being in his 30s. He's so humble, excited to learn, and every time we teach him something he didn't know before he says "Wow! Really?". When the opportunity to set a baptism date for 8/9/14, he responded with the same childlike enthusiasm. It's beautiful and shows me why we need to become like little children.
3. What successes have you had in reaching your weekly goals?
We did well considering we didn't have our car this week, and it takes forever to walk to anyone we're teaching. While it's hard, I do like how going car-less forces us to rely more on members. It really showed in the fact that we had 6 exchanges and 7 member present lessons.
4. Have you experienced any disappointments and how did you overcome them?
Satan's working overtime to make sure that Juan doesn't get to church. And despite our best efforts, we haven't been able to teach him this week. This is making me nervous... And no one came to church. What more can I do for this part of the vineyard??
I'm also really excited to be in Lewisville for my last transfer. It will be a new experience being in 1 area for 7.5 months, but I'm also excited. In Denton and Temple, I didn't stay long enough to see most of the fruits of my efforts, even though I was there for 4.5 and 6 months respectively. But now I think I'll be able to stay and see what happens. We have 2 baptism dates and I really do think I'll be able to see them both get baptized! What a satisfying way to end a mission!
2. A spiritual experience you had this week?
One experience was studying for Juan (name change). In response to the fact that he keeps running into anti-Mormon information in his genuine search for truth, we wanted to teach him that there has always been opposition from Satan (because he knows it's true too) in the restored church, ever since Joseph Smith. I read all of Joseph Smith-history and the opposition is so apparent. It strengthened my testimony of the restoration to remember how much opposition this church has experienced from the beginning. No one seems to care about any other christian church (except for Catholics, maybe). There isn't a huge wealth of anti-Presbyterian or Methodist or Pentacostal information that I know of. Just for Mormons. It's evidence to me that this gospel is so true.
It was also amazing setting our other baptism date with Jose (name change). It's been a joy teaching him because he is so childlike despite being in his 30s. He's so humble, excited to learn, and every time we teach him something he didn't know before he says "Wow! Really?". When the opportunity to set a baptism date for 8/9/14, he responded with the same childlike enthusiasm. It's beautiful and shows me why we need to become like little children.
3. What successes have you had in reaching your weekly goals?
We did well considering we didn't have our car this week, and it takes forever to walk to anyone we're teaching. While it's hard, I do like how going car-less forces us to rely more on members. It really showed in the fact that we had 6 exchanges and 7 member present lessons.
4. Have you experienced any disappointments and how did you overcome them?
Satan's working overtime to make sure that Juan doesn't get to church. And despite our best efforts, we haven't been able to teach him this week. This is making me nervous... And no one came to church. What more can I do for this part of the vineyard??
Monday, June 30, 2014
Revised letter to mission president
1. How are you increasing in "wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man?"
I'm getting a little bit better at teaching my companion like I teach the investigators. It's about time since I'm almost done training her...
She's been feeling really inadequate and scared that she's going to be training next transfer. She's scared that she won't be able to continue the work here in Lewisville without me. I think she feels pressure to do everything I do and know everything I know which isn't fair at all since I have a lot more experience. There have been a couple companionship studies where she was so nervous she couldn't think straight and I took the time to teach her that God never gives us more than we can handle, and that even though God's will is often different than our will and tends to stretch us to the limit, God will always give us peace and comfort if we ask for it.
That and I have a slightly better idea of how to correct her. Even though she knows that we go to bed at 10:30, and I always go to bed at 10:30, she kept going to bed later. She was mostly obedient and honestly didn't see the difference between being mostly obedient and exactly obedient. She told me she got a bad impression of "exact obedience" from one of her companions in the MTC. They didn't get along and she was obedient to the T and enforced her interpretation of obedience on everyone else. She also got the impression that the missionaries that are "fun to be around" are not exactly obedient. I really hope she understood when I told her that I don't want her to be exactly obedient because I'm micro-managing or trying to be her mom. I want her to be exactly obedient because obedience is the first law of heaven, and a prerequisite to miracles. I want her to be exactly obedient like the stripling warriors because like them, we need all the help we can get. She wasn't too happy and thought I was worrying about stuff that didn't matter, but at least she knows what I think. She was honestly surprised when I told her that it makes me nervous when she doesn't get to bed on time. It makes me think "what did I do?" or "what did I neglect to do for her?". She didn't understand that in a way, I feel responsible for her and how she turns out. I guess this is a little taste of what parenting is like.
2. A spiritual experience you had this week?
We had a miracle (yet again) with Juan (name change). After interviews, we went with President Pratt (one of the mission president's counselors that speaks spanish) to go teach him. We taught about the Atonement and the spirit was really strong. It was one of those lessons where we felt like spectators to the Lord's work and we were all following the same direction from the Spirit. All 4 of us said just what he needed to hear or understand. President Pratt related baptism to the atonement, the other member (recent convert) we brought with us talked about her experience having a baptism date, and my companion testified that it would be hard, but so worth it. As all 3 of them talked, I had a strong prompting to set a baptism date, over and over. I did it. Usually I'm pretty awkward about setting baptism dates, but this time the Spirit told me what to say and it came out of my mouth easily. And the miraculous part? Juan said yes! We had invited him to be baptized several times before, but this time he offered no resistance and he knew that was what he was supposed to do. He knows what he needs to do and how he's going to get there. Wow!
I'm getting a little bit better at teaching my companion like I teach the investigators. It's about time since I'm almost done training her...
She's been feeling really inadequate and scared that she's going to be training next transfer. She's scared that she won't be able to continue the work here in Lewisville without me. I think she feels pressure to do everything I do and know everything I know which isn't fair at all since I have a lot more experience. There have been a couple companionship studies where she was so nervous she couldn't think straight and I took the time to teach her that God never gives us more than we can handle, and that even though God's will is often different than our will and tends to stretch us to the limit, God will always give us peace and comfort if we ask for it.
That and I have a slightly better idea of how to correct her. Even though she knows that we go to bed at 10:30, and I always go to bed at 10:30, she kept going to bed later. She was mostly obedient and honestly didn't see the difference between being mostly obedient and exactly obedient. She told me she got a bad impression of "exact obedience" from one of her companions in the MTC. They didn't get along and she was obedient to the T and enforced her interpretation of obedience on everyone else. She also got the impression that the missionaries that are "fun to be around" are not exactly obedient. I really hope she understood when I told her that I don't want her to be exactly obedient because I'm micro-managing or trying to be her mom. I want her to be exactly obedient because obedience is the first law of heaven, and a prerequisite to miracles. I want her to be exactly obedient like the stripling warriors because like them, we need all the help we can get. She wasn't too happy and thought I was worrying about stuff that didn't matter, but at least she knows what I think. She was honestly surprised when I told her that it makes me nervous when she doesn't get to bed on time. It makes me think "what did I do?" or "what did I neglect to do for her?". She didn't understand that in a way, I feel responsible for her and how she turns out. I guess this is a little taste of what parenting is like.
2. A spiritual experience you had this week?
We had a miracle (yet again) with Juan (name change). After interviews, we went with President Pratt (one of the mission president's counselors that speaks spanish) to go teach him. We taught about the Atonement and the spirit was really strong. It was one of those lessons where we felt like spectators to the Lord's work and we were all following the same direction from the Spirit. All 4 of us said just what he needed to hear or understand. President Pratt related baptism to the atonement, the other member (recent convert) we brought with us talked about her experience having a baptism date, and my companion testified that it would be hard, but so worth it. As all 3 of them talked, I had a strong prompting to set a baptism date, over and over. I did it. Usually I'm pretty awkward about setting baptism dates, but this time the Spirit told me what to say and it came out of my mouth easily. And the miraculous part? Juan said yes! We had invited him to be baptized several times before, but this time he offered no resistance and he knew that was what he was supposed to do. He knows what he needs to do and how he's going to get there. Wow!
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