Hi! How're we doing? I am doing great! This week has been pretty hectic...
Random thought; J_____ from (Canberra) is getting baptized this month! I heard it a week and a half ago! And the K_____ Family are back on track, soon to be baptized too! What the heck! Crazy, eh?
Zone Conference
So we didn't really get the chance to do any proselyting this week until Wednesday! Crazy! Monday was our P-day of course, then after we did P-day stuff, we went to dinner at a member's home, then we had to drive to Campbeltown for Zone conference. We met at the Stake Center there, and had a conference with President and Sister Lew, the assistants, and the South Coast Zone, combined with the MacArthur Zone. It was pretty dang good!
Some of the cool things that stood out to me: the people we work with need to experience a change of heart, not just a change of behaviour (it appears Jarrad is picking up some Aussie spelling) in order to repent. That includes members, non-members, and missionaries alike.
 |
| Beautiful Kiama! This is the prettiest part of our area! And I didn't even get any good shots. |
Another thing was that as missionaries, the most important thing that we do is study. That is why we devote so much time to study on our missions. If you think about it, 1/12th of a missionary's entire service is study. That is pretty much 2 months worth of study over the course of two years (for elders that is). That is heaaaaaps! Studies for me brighten my day, give me spiritual nourishment that helps me to focus on my purpose as a missionary, and to prepare to share the message that we have to share with others. In all seriousness, the Spirit has become my drug. It feels soooo gooooood! I can't get enough of it!
Speaking of which, the third cool thing that I learned was that members of the church may not know who is prepared, which could be some of the reason why they hold back names from missionaries. But there is someone who knows everyone that is prepared; that person being the Holy Ghost. So, you members out there, pray for the guidance of the Holy Ghost in knowing which of your friends is prepared to hear the Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He will answer you! I promise!
Anyways, so that was on Tuesday. We found out that neither President Lew, nor the assistants brought our car key down from Mortdale, so Elder Tito, Olsen, B. and myself had to drive up to the mission office to get the spare key. So that was that day gone! Zone Conference went from 9am to 4pm. Then we had to drive to the office. And then back to Dapto. Oh well, we got our car back...
 |
| And Elder Tito and I on our trade off (couldn't send this last week). |
You asked what my favourite (more Aussie spelling) teaching experience was. I would have to say that it was Wednesday with the Young men. Although the most memorable experience happened this Friday....
We went to see one of our potential investigators, P_______. She is a really sweet woman. She is currently battling cancer, and has chemo therapy regularly. But she is going strong. We drove up to their house at a prearranged time. Just then they pulled up. Her and her partner (maybe husband) got out of the car. She was happy to see us, as she always is. She went upstairs to open the front door, and left her husband to unload stuff from the car. Trying to be friendly, I said "Hey brother, what's your name?" He stopped fidgeting in the car. Turned around slowly. Looked at us for a few seconds, then said "Doesn't matter" with a frown on his face. The smile fell off of my face "Okay, fair enough..." I said. He said "I am not happy with you coming around". "Okay..." "Make sure this is the last of it." Sneer. Garage door slams. Hmmmmmmmm.
So, we walked upstairs and P_______ came to the door, and came out on the porch for a lesson. We pretty much got to know her. She expressed how nice missionaries had been to her in the past, and that we were always welcome. Okay. Now we had a problem. Husband says stay away. Wife says come back! What the heck? We tried to approach her and ask her if we were still okay to continue visiting, or if we were bothering her husband too much. She told us of course we were welcome! Man.... We don't really know what to do. Her husband meant business.... Gaaaahhh!
Working closely with the young men
One thing that Elder B. and I have been doing is working closely with the young men. Youth always have friends that are prepared to hear the gospel. Teenagers are open, a lot more receptive than 40+ year old people. So this week we went to Mutual with the 7 young men in our ward, and we asked them to write down the names of their friends in my planner who they would invite to a young men's activity in a couple of weeks. And then they told us about the friend that they gave. There were 11 names that were written down. So that is 11 people that through the young men, the Lord is preparing to hear the gospel! Crazy!
We followed up with them yesterday at church and every single one of them invited their friend. Almost all said they would come. That is the first step! Check! It is so cool to see how willing the youth are to participate in missionary work. Some of the feedback we received was promising. One of the boys said his friend is already interested in missionary work! Cool beans! The next step for us is to visit the young men in their homes with their families and devise a plan to further the work with their friends.
What's the deal with computer stuff in Shellharbour? Yeah, people wait in line to use computers... It is kinda annoying, but the staff is normally good about getting us onto different computers.
We braved Macquarrie Pass again!
This Thursday, Elder B and I went to Mittagong to do a trade-off with Elder Jenkins and Elder Te'o. I was with Elder Jenkins. Oh yeah, we braved the Macquarrie Pass again! And were successful! Anyways, my trade-off with Elder Jenkins went really well! We met heaps of new people, visited a large number of people that we helped (we gave two blessings) and we were pretty much on a Spiritual high the whole time!
We ended our trade-off with something called a Miracle Walk. Since they have two cars, none of the four Mittagong Elders walk too much, which is good when you have lots of appointments, but you don't get to meet as many people. So we decided to walk around the neighbourhood (sic) for 40 min. in faith to see what would come of it. It was great! We found 3 potential investigators! Which is huge! It was a great trade-off! It was cool to be around Elder Jenkins again (as we were in the same MTC district).
 |
| Here is Elder Jenkins and I on our miracle walk! |
We have visited other people this week, but we weren't able to see R____yet, we texted him and he said that he was going to be gone this week, but that we could probably catch him this upcoming Friday. So hopefully that happens.
Our teaching pool is fairly small. So we are looking to build it. But other than that, we are doing well. Last night, I gathered everyone in the Shellharbour flat together, and had the Mittagong elders on speaker phone gather together, and invited them all to participate in what I call a "Seven-day Fast"; seven days of EXACT obedience. Where we give up those few minutes of extra sleep, exercise when we need to, study on time, proselyte during proselyting time. All of the little things that we maybe were slacking a bit on. Everyone agreed to it. So I look forward to the miracles that will come as a result of it! Hopefully this "Fast" fosters an environment of exact obedience that will continue after the week is over. And I really hope the Lord blesses us with more teaching opportunities. Even if He sees fit to withhold the blessings, the knowledge that we are more in-line with God will be enough.
That is pretty much the highlights of the week.
What is the best food I have had here in Dapto? Fish n' Chips! There is a swweeeeettt-as place that Bro T______ took Elder B and I too, and we went back again with the other two Elders. It is that good! Although we do have some really good cooks in our ward.
Favourite Book of Mormon Missionaries
Thanks for telling me about your favourite Book of Mormon missionaries! I appreciate all of the answers you gave. JJ, Ezra, those are some greeeeeaaat missionaries you chose! Pretty funny reasons. Made me laugh. :) Mojojojo, the sons of Mosiah are inspirational! I especially like reading in Alma 18, and 22 about the conversion of King Lamoni, and his father. Good stuff!
I have to say that Alma is also my favourite BoM prophet/missionary. He is the man! I love the stories about him fighting the "bad guys" in Alma 3. I love the story about the Zoramite people too, Dad. Those are some of my favourite chapters. I enjoy Alma 36-42 where Alma gives words of wisdom to his sons. I love in Alma 14 and there-abouts reading about Alma and Amulek, and the power team that they are. He really is my hero. As far as the BoM goes, at least.
Sounds like y'all are having fun on vacation! Keep on keeping on!
Okay. You guys have a great week. I can't wait till next week to tell you about all of the miracles! It is exciting to be a missionary!
Ofa'lahi'atu!
Elder Larsen
P.S. Stay in school. Don't do drugs. Be good, and remember who you are. :D
No comments:
Post a Comment