9 September 2013

9 September 2013

Letter #4

Hi, Everyone!

It has been a really incredible week again here in North Carolina! 

I think that last time I wrote, I was on my way to teach the XXXXXXX couple again, so I'll update you on that. XXXXX, the wife, is doing great, she's been reading and praying, and she is seeming ready to get baptized and center her life on the Savior.   He is feeling kind of overwhelmed, and wants to ease himself into it. He thought that coming to church would help him, but they weren't able to make it on Sunday because he was sick. So now church is another week away, and I'm a little worried that he won't be progressing because he isn't really studying the scriptures and building his own relationship with the Lord.  So Sister Zarbock and I are going over today to help him see that the quickest way to stop feeling overwhelmed is to read the scriptures and pray, because the Spirit will help him feel peace and he will start to know the truth of the gospel for himself. 

We also met with the XXXX family, and that went better than last time. We read 2 Nephi 31 together, and stopped every now and then to talk about what we were reading. I know that they were feeling the Spirit working on them to go back to church, but they were resistant to it still, especially her. They committed to continue reading the Book of Mormon and praying, so I hope the Spirit can keep working on them.  I know setting aside time for spiritual things and drawing closer to the Lord will make them so much happier.  I want that for them!

We also visited the XXXXs again. They were really unfriendly towards my companion!! They told us that they were surprised we came back, because they had been able to scare all the other missionaries away after just one visit. Wow. There is just some hostility there towards the church, so when Sister Zarbock asked if we could watch the Restoration video, (which has been a GREAT tool to help less active members feel the spirit and remember their testimonies and why they need to come to church) they straight up said no in a pretty unfriendly way. Fortunately, we were able to reinvite the Spirit as I brought up the topic of family history and we found out that we really are related!  He is descended from XXXXX XXX XXXXX through XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXX, I believe. They were happy to talk about family history, and then I told them that neat story about how our common ancestor was healed through his faith, and we talked about faith, and how through faith the Lord can help us get through our challenges.  But it requires acting:  praying, reading the scriptures, etc.  So the evening ended on a good note.  We'll be seeing them again tomorrow.  Pray for them!  I really care about these people! (!!!)

Wednesday was a bit of a discouraging day. We had a ton of rejection, doors slammed in our faces, some people insulted/raised their voices at us. It was sad. Also, 5 out of our 6 appointments fell through at the last minute. So that was hard. But we did end up meeting one man while we were tracting who greeted us with a smile in the parking lot at the very end of the day. We were still out because we had 15-20 minutes left, and we just contacted people in the apartment complex. His name is XXXXX--and we're definitely going to refer him to the Spanish elders because his English isn't very good--but we spoke in Spanglish enough that he understood about the Book of Mormon, and he wanted a copy. I had a Spanish copy in my bag (trying to keep one on hand at all times), so we gave it to him, and he gave us his number so we could come see him again.  That was a nice way to end the day!  :)

We invited Brother XXX to come fellowship XXXXXX at our appointment with him on Friday. He came, which was wonderful, and he bore his testimony several times, which was good for both of them. We'd really hoped that we could finally help XXXXXX set a baptismal date for himself,  but he says he doesn't want to set a date until after he's quit smoking.  He doesn't want to let anyone down if he doesn't meet his goal. We weren't sure what to do with that, but we invited him to church on Sunday, and to attend a baptism on Saturday, for an 11 year old girl named XXXXXX XXXXXXX that the elders have been teaching. He came, and he LOVED the baptism. He said that when he watched the baptism, he felt a big surge of joy, and that he knew how clean she must be feeling, and he wanted to feel like that. When we sang "When I Am Baptized" as the closing song, he said he felt the Spirit really strong, and he knows he wants to be baptized. Still, though, he is hesitant to actually set a date!  We almost got there during our lesson after the baptism, but not quite. He came to church, and he LOVED that too! He was comfortable there, and everyone was very friendly to him, and he felt the Spirit. Apparently in priesthood meeting, he was asked by the stake president (it was ward conference) to get up and introduce himself. The elders said that he was really enjoying the discussion, and contributing by answering questions during the meeting.  He had a great experience meeting the Stake President. He told us after church that he was just filled with happiness. Please pray for him to be able to quit smoking!   I know that besides being physically harmful, anything addictive is bad for our spirits.  Addiction is such a form of bondage, isn’t it?  XXXXXX wants so much to stop smoking.  Please pray for him to be able to do it!  Sister Zarbock and I have fasted for him, and we have prayed that when he picks up a cigarette, he will just not want it, and will feel disgusted by it, so that he can give them up for good!   We're really proud of the progress he's made, and I know he will get there eventually! I just hope I get to see him conquer this and be baptized, you know? 

We had a great experience with another less active family named the XXXXXs. When we were planning, we were trying to find a good scripture passage to read with them. I opened my book at random, and hit Mosiah 18, which talks about being baptized at the waters of Mormon. I didn't think that applied to them, so I tried again. Mosiah 18. Again. Apparently I am stupid, because I tried again. Mosiah 18. So, we read Mosiah 18 with them, and it was obviously what we needed to study!   It was only Sister XXXXX and her son XXX who were there when we arrived, but we had a REALLY good experience with them. Sister XXXXX really opened up to us, and told us that she had never gotten her endowment in the temple, but she really wanted to. She will have to conquer her coffee addiction, but she is willing to do that. She and XXX both committed to come back to church and work towards getting their temple recommends. They didn't show up this Sunday, because they forgot to set their alarms or something like that, but we are going to keep working with them!  They could definitely use your prayers, because the dad is hostile towards organized religion.  I know drawing closer to the Lord together as a family would make them happier and more united.  Please pray for them, too!

On Friday the highlights were meeting with XXXXXX and with the XXXX family.  The XXXXs are a less active elderly couple who stopped coming to church after a surgery of hers. It was funny because the day we went, she had just determined that she was going to start coming back to church. We encouraged her in that, and tried to encourage her husband as well. He was unwilling to commit to do that, but we are going to keep trying with them!  He is easily the most flirtatious old man I have ever met!  Just seems to have fun kidding around.  I didn't know what to do about it!   Cute set of grandparents.  J 

XXXX was kind of exhausting to talk to. He had read all the way through Mosiah somewhere in only a week, but instead of reading to know if it was true, he seemed to be reading it to prove it wasn't.  He had 17 pages of handwritten questions or comments about little irrelevant things. All we could really do was bear our testimonies to him. It seemed like he would contradict everything we said unless we were testifying. If we talked about how we had come to know for ourselves that the Book of Mormon is scripture just like the Bible, then for some reason that rendered him speechless, with no argument.  It’s so wonderful that God has given us this promise about truth.  We don’t have to take someone else’s word for it.  We can pray and ask him directly.  And this not only helps us identify truth, but strengthens our channel of communication with God.  Anyone, in any country, can kneel down and pray and receive direction.  No matter their age.  No matter what language they speak.  No matter whether or not they can read.  They can pray and get answers and guidance from God himself.  I have experienced this many times!  Scientific reasoning falls so far short of that.  The good thing is that XXXX decided to pray for the first time in many, many years. He was reluctant to do it at first, because he claims to not believe in God, but with some encouragement and persistence on our part, he did finally agree to pray. He seems to think that the answer to his prayer should be some kind of physical sign, and not a feeling. We're working on that. But he did commit to pray once a day as he read the Book of Mormon. So we're making headway on helping him develop faith in Jesus Christ.  

It reminds me of the story of Naaman the leper, who essentially rolled his eyes at the simple instructions the prophet Elisha gave him to heal from leprosy.  “What?  Wash in the Jordan River seven times?!”  And he wasn’t even going to TRY!  “Went away in a rage.”  But then a humble servant said to him, “if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean” (2 Kings 5:9-14).

Part of the beauty of the gospel is its simplicity.  The simple things work.  Prayer.  Scripture study.  Obedience to God’s laws.  It all WORKS.  So many people can apply these principles to be happier.  If they will just TRY.  I love that I get to help with this process.  Even small steps forward make my day.  J

Saturday was an AMAZING day, full of miracles. We met a woman named XXX, and taught her the first discussion, and she accepted a Book of Mormon and she said she would read it. She says she feels very close to the Lord, and she described how in her life she has recognized and followed promptings from the Holy Ghost. We're seeing her again on Wednesday, and I'm really excited! We also met a woman named XXXXX, and taught her about the Restoration. She said "WOW", and asked us where she can get a Book of Mormon. When I gave her a copy to keep, she got so excited that she hugged me. 

Another woman in that same neighborhood, named XXXX, was REALLY difficult to read. She appeared really disinterested, and she wouldn't look us in the eye, and she answered us in one-word glum responses. She seemed kind of hopeless. But we decided to be brave and teach her the doctrine. As soon as we did, I could feel the Spirit start to make a difference. She started looking us in the eye. When I recounted the story of the first vision, she asked "He saw that with his eyes?" And when I said “Yes!” she said "Wow." It seemed to really make a difference to her. I could tell it meant something to her. She started opening up about her past issues with churches and her worries about raising her children, etc. She accepted a Book of Mormon and we set up a return appointment. 

On the way home, Sister Zarbock felt like we should go pay a visit to a woman we contacted last week. She wasn't home, but her neighbors, XXXX, XXXXXX and XXXXX, were. Last time we had seen them, they had been moving in to the trailer, and had been too busy to see us. But something in XXXX's eyes made me feel like he was interested. We started talking to them, and they told us they were looking for a church. We taught them about the Restoration of the fullness of the gospel, and how the exact church established by Jesus Christ himself—with the same teachings and power and authority and guidance from living prophets—was on the earth once more.  We talked about ways it blesses individuals and families.  They accepted the commitment to read, pray, and come to church.

Well, by then it was getting late, and we were ready to go home. But on our way to the car, we saw one more man, sitting on the curb. Sister Zarbock gave me a pass-along card and told me to go talk to him. I was a little nervous! But the man was really interested, and the conversation turned into the first discussion/lesson. I asked him if he wanted to know if what I was telling him was true. He said he did, because he had been confused about religion for a long time, and he asked me how he could know this for himself. He was so sincere! I gave him a Book of Mormon and promised him that if he would read it and pray about it, he would know for himself. He said he would, and we set up a return appointment. He asked us, really sincerely, not to forget him. Seriously adorable. And just in case you weren't counting, that is SEVEN new investigators in one day. That was a GREAT day!!   And I believe it went so well because we were talking to everyone we could, and instead of dancing around the doctrine, we went straight to it so the Spirit could be there.  I believe that because we were doing those things, the Lord put prepared people in our path.

On Sunday, we had quite a few of our less active families in sacrament meeting! We hugged them and were so excited to see them there!

Later that night we visited Sister XXXXXX again. She started talking about her grandpa, and how much she loved him. It suddenly hit me that we should talk about family history and the temple with her. She hadn't even been AWARE that she could be baptized in behalf of the deceased family members she loves (ie 1 Corinthians 15:29, Malachi 4:5-6) in the temple. She and her husband got excited, and pulled out a binder probably 4 inches thick with records of their families! More of the work was done on his side, and hardly any was done on hers. Can you help us gather census records and other genealogical records for them, maybe? I might need to give you more details next week because she couldn't remember her great-grandparents names off-hand, but she has them somewhere.  This is the information she gave me: (XXXXXXXXXX…).  

We went over the baptismal questions with Sister XXXXXX to remind her of the promises she made to God when she first embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ and was baptized.  She committed to come to church, start paying tithing, and to quit smoking again. It was a miracle! Brother and Sister Herbert also said that we were the first set of missionaries they’d let inside the door in a very long time. And he thanked us for being so helpful to his family. She has gotten to the point where she looks forward to our visits so that she can ask us questions.

We also want to help XXXXX (previous letter) get into family history, because we think he would love to get his work done for his family! It will also help him stay busy and focused on something positive and fulfilling so that he won't get bored and smoke.  Sometimes, during a difficult challenge, it helps to focus on helping someone else!  Can you help look up information for him, too?  His parents’ and grandparents’ names were… (XXXXXX)   I don't know if that is enough information for any of those people; but if it is, and if you find anything, will you Fedex it to me? We’ll be seeing them before next Monday. Thank you for looking!

Dad: Sounds like the garden’s doing great, good job! Thanks for the prayers and the email! :) Also, I finally got my bike this week, and I love it!!!
Mom: Dad says you're sending a care package.  That will be SO nice! :) Emails are great, but we do LOVE the tangible mail and packages.  Keep them coming! :) We are getting better at praying for really specific things, because I told Sister Zarbock about some of your mission stories. 

Siblings: It is so awesome that Ryan found 100 names for temple baptisms this week! I hope everything is going really well! Please continue to write to me, even if it's just a few sentences. I love hearing the good quotes and the funny stories, plus all the normal stuff you do every day!

I miss you guys, and love you all!

Love, Elizabeth