Dear Associates,
This past Thursday we headed up to
Canberra because of zone training the next day. It's about a three hour
drive, and we are pretty cautious considering the incident with the now
rotting-on-the-side-of-the-road-with-us-seeing-it-a-couple-times-a-week-because-they-leave-carcasses-to-rot-if
they-are-just-on-the-side wombat.
The amazing part of the week
happened on Friday. On Friday, after zone training meeting, Elder Withers and
I went on trade-offs together for the day. Two things happened this day that showed
the hand of the Lord in my day. The first came about just after Elder
Withers and I got out of the car to head towards an investigator’s house
named Bruce. Behind us we noticed a man in his garage sitting at a table
doing some sort of mechanics. We headed toward him, and Elder Withers didn't
have any hesitation - what a great missionary. We had conversation with
the man and brought up that we were missionaries. He told us of his
experience with prayer and how he's received undeniable answers to them. With
that, we taught of the restoration and how Joseph Smith prayed to know
what church to join. We then showed him the Book of Mormon and had him read
Moroni 10, verses 4 and 5. We testified of how by prayer we can come to know
that the Book of Mormon is true and that by prayer we can know of the
truthfulness of the things we had taught. We gave him both the restoration
pamphlet and a Book of Mormon, invited him to read and pray about it,
and we got his number to contact him and we gave him Elder Wither's number
(since we were in Elder Wither's area). Miracle!!!
The nesx miracle was a wonderful
lesson with Elder Withers again on the same day, in fact this was the
investigator that we were walking over to meet when we saw the man in the
garage - whose name is Tony by the way. Both the investigator and the partner
were home. It was a great lesson as we taught of the restoration. We didn't
feel that we should commit him to be baptized during the lesson, but we were
able to help him understand how the gospel is for him. He's super humble and
cheery.
Saturday was amazing. This
fantastic day I was on splits with Elder Paterson, my district leader. The
highlight of the day came about ten forty in the morning at a little
after ten thirty, which was a lesson with a potential named Darcy. We stopped
by and he was there and let us in. We started with the Restoration of the
gospel. We had the pamphlet of it, and Darcy had read through it plus he did
the "Additional Study" found in the back - super diligent! We
started with God is our loving Heavenly Father and continued into Christ's
personal ministry and the Atonement. I shared a story about the boy who took
the stick whacking for the other boy who had taken the first boy's lunch. I
related that to Jesus Christ and how He atoned for us - taking the beating -
because He loves us, and that I love Him.
We continued on with the lesson
and the spirit was there ever strong. It was amazing. At the conclusion, we
both bore testimony and we invited him to be baptized when he came
to know that these things were true. Yes was his reply. We then testified
that through diligence he could be ready to be baptized by the 6th of
September and invited him to prepare for that day. Yes was his reply.
The spirit bore witness at those moments. I felt the need to give him caution
about the devil not wanting this for him, and how he'd have trials and
inconveniences as he prepared for that day, but through relying on the Lord
and being diligent, he'd overcome. We then asked Darcy if he had any
questions or concerns, and he spoke up of how he didn't think he could get an
answer because he hadn't that faith like it spoke of as a requirement in
Moroni 10: 4. Elder Peterson and I had Alma 32 come to mind, and so we
invited him to read that and we shared a verse or two from it and testified
that he could receive that faith. We concluded with prayer and he was willing
to offer it, and we knelt as we did so! He is so prepared and willing, and
the spirit made the lesson. The church is true.
On this last Monday evening, Elder
Pederson and I had the opportunity to have dinner with the Landeryous.
Brother Landeryou is the one who became active after inactivity for what I
recall to be twenty years. He's awesome, and his wife isn't a
member. Dinner was a 300g (or about 2/3 of a pound) of meat burger. Not just
any burger, but a burger with jalapenos and chilies and spicy sauces of
sorts. And when we put the burgers together, he had some more
really spicy sauces to put on. I could only eat one and a half, but Elder
Pederson had two. I actually got some sauce onto my finger and then put
it on my tongue and my taste buds went crazy- I'd never before
had the sensation of super spicy with super sour before. T'was pretty
awesome. The best part was the lesson we had after. Kari, Brother
Landeryou's wife, is an investigator but isn't keeping her commitments. The
lesson we had, involved that new Mormon message of the
guy who's going to commit suicide until he learn of fasting by
prayer. The spirit was really there and we found
out that she's actually had past experiences with the spirit. And
we know that she felt it too. We gave her verses to read and boy that was an
amazing lesson because I felt the spirit, and most importantly, I relied
on it. When I don't, I teach to complicatedly and it doesn't work too well,
but this was an amazing lesson. The spirit is amazing and should
always be the senior companion in missionary work.
I know that the church is true and
that when we truly rely on the Spirit and Jesus Christ, we are happy and
guided. We feel contentment and we feel loved. Why seek for things that
will be gone once we die and move on, when we can enjoy the love of God
forever when we walk in the path of His Beloved Son. That is the way, and
no other way will do, for by none other will come joy, and the
joy of Him is everlasting. Of this I testify in the name of Jesus
Christ, Amen.
p.s. We had transfers this Monday
and I have received a new companion who is referred to as Elder B.
due his very long name. He's awesome and has been out 16 months. I am excited
to work with him down in Merimbula.
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| New Companion - Elder B |
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