Sister Latu's birthday party after our exchange (June 2)
One of my favorite pictures of me and Sister Mat :)
Sister Swain and Elder Humpherys (nope, not a typo. hehe)
The assistants called this morning, only to mess with us. Sister Summers and I are staying here in Fishers for another 6 weeks. I have mixed feelings about that. But I'm trying to get over that so that it will be a great transfer. The ward is happy that we're both staying, so that's a good thing. We haven't worn out our welcome yet. :)
Last Tuesday we had dinner with the Adams family. The parents are both converts and we asked them about their conversion story. At the time, Brother Adams was married to his first wife. Missionaries knocked on their door and started visiting them, but Brother Adams said the missionaries weren't strong enough for them and all their questions and concerns. They went to Why I Believe (testimony meeting for recent converts and investigators) and after the meeting, they talked with two other missionaries separately who were not companions. Brother Adams told the missionaries that were visiting them that if those 2 elders ever came to teach them, they would have no choice but to join the church because they were so impressed with their testimonies. That was a Sunday. On Tuesday, those 2 missionaries showed up as companions to teach them. And so the Adams followed through and were baptized. What a neat story.
Shannon Good is Sister Hatch's friend who asked Sister Hatch how she could convert to Mormonism. Her mom passed away 2-3 years ago, and she's had some experiences because of that that have led her to seek out the truth. One such experience was when her radio would mysteriously keep changing to a Bible station. She'd change it back, and then it would switch again. She took it in to get it checked out, and they said nothing was wrong. She then went to get her head examined. The psychologist told her she might want to look into her beliefs and see if there's something more. What great advice! She told us that that experience, along with others, prepared her to be more receptive to Joseph Smith's story, rather than thinking he was just nuts. She told us that one day she was having a really hard time with her mom's death, and she asked her mom and God for some help. That very day, some elders knocked on her door. Unfortunately, she didn't recognize that as her answer, and she turned them away. But thankfully, she's found the Church again! Sister Hatch's daughter Jane and Shannon's daughter Lindsay are friends from school, and Lindsay apparently esteemed Jane very highly, to the point that Shannon just had to meet her. Lindsay knew what street she lived on, but not which house. Shannon proceeded to knock on every door on that street until she found the Hatch's house. (Kinda like reverse tracting, don't you think? Ha.) From that grew the friendship between Sister Hatch and Shannon.
Sister Summers and I were nervous about what to teach Shannon Good when we met with her Wednesday evening. We'd prayed and studied, and we came together for companionship study to discuss what we wanted to teach her. It's such a golden opportunity, and we didn't want to screw it up. Tuesday I had been thinking to teach the Plan of Salvation, but then Wednesday I felt like teaching the Restoration. Sister Summers came to the table Wednesday thinking of teaching the Plan of Salvation. So, we decided to pray again and seek more guidance. As I offered the prayer, the words that came out of my mouth were the answer: it doesn't matter what we teach, as long as we teach by the Spirit. What a humbling experience to have the answer given to me through the Spirit coming out of my own mouth as I was seeking guidance. We decided to show the Restoration DVD and use that as an introduction into the truths about the Plan of Salvation that have been restored. The lesson went great. Shannon said she could really relate to Joseph's confusion about which church was right, and she's seeking for that guidance too. We extended a very light baptism commitment when we asked her to read and pray about the BOM. We told her that as she read, she would come to know the truth, and that this Church is God's church on the earth today. We then asked if she would join the Church when she knew it was true, and she said yes. Wahoo! She asked us about the conversion process, and we explained that it was different for everyone, but that it including knowing that the BOM is true, and that Joseph Smith restored God's church on the earth again. She's very receptive to the truth and anxious to learn. She's also talking with a missionary from the RC at the MTC. I have no doubt that her baptism will happen soon. But not until July 7th probably because Sister Hatch is in Utah until then.
We met with Elijah, a recent high school graduate who knows the bishop's daughter. We tracted into him my first day here in Fishers, back at the end of March. We gave him a website card that day. We asked if he had looked at the website, and he said he had, but didn't spend too much time on it because of school and finals and such. We talked with him about the apostasy and Joseph Smith and the BOM, as well as some of the Articles of Faith (1, 5, 7, 8) in answer to his questions. He was brought up Protestant. He told us that he has many different translations of the Bible and he studies them and compares them and ponders them to try to find out the original meaning. He also reads things on an online forum from a group of Ph.D's in theology as they compare different religions' views and interpretations on different Bible passages. He is very open to truth. He studies diligently. We gave him a BOM and testified of it and that it would help him understand the truths of the Bible more fully (Morm. 7:9). We asked when we could come back and teach him more, and he said he didn't think 2 weeks was enough time to really delve into and study the BOM like he wanted to, so he would feel unprepared. We testified that he could come to know the BOM was true, even after only reading a few verses, but we encouraged him to study the BOM. We told him we were here to help people learn more, so they didn't have to do it on their own. He's a great kid. I hope we get to see him progress.
Friday we had a mission conference since Pres. and Sister Corey are leaving at the end of the month. :( It was a great conference, but it'll be sad to see them go. I'm sure Pres. and Sister Collins will be great though. The training by the assistants was good, in fact, just what I needed. Elder Busby committed us to read, ponder, and pray about the BOM to answer our questions as missionaries and the difficulties that we face. I read and study the BOM every day, but I feel like I can do more and do better, and that will help me become better and overcome my challenges.
We taught Paul with Brother and Sister Norton that night about education (from the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet) and talked about the importance of continuing our spiritual education. During our mission conference, Pres. Corey quoted someone saying something to the effect of if we don't take the time to learn spiritual things, we run the risk of being deceived. I don't know why, but that really stuck out to me. Paul's lessons always start out with his questions from church or his reading or his thoughts. His questions led into a discussion about church history and he wanted to read the History of the Church. Wow, what a lofty goal. We talked about some other resources that are also available to learn about church history. But it was great because his questions led right in to what we had planned to teach. I love when that happens.
Saturday we volunteered at PBS Kids at the Park in Indianapolis. It was great fun. Some of the other volunteers didn't show up, so some of us missionaries got to dress up as the characters. Me and Sister Ram were Maya and Miguel, Elders Brandt, Parsons, and Manukin were Lunar Jim, and Elder Carlson was Curious George. It was very hot, but it was so much fun. I wish I were going to be here next summer so I could do it again. What a once in a lifetime opportunity as a missionary to have people line up to see you! :)
Sunday we went to Why I Believe, and Paul spoke. It's amazing how strong his testimony is. He is truly one of the elect. It was so great to hear him speak. Why I Believe is such a great meeting. It's great to go as missionaries to hear people's conversion stories and get a boost to go find more people like them.
We went to visit the Eastons (inactive for 15-20 years) yesterday. We talked with them for a bit and then we gave Sister Easton a picture of the Las Vegas temple because last time she mentioned she loved the temples and talked about going to the Las Vegas temple and thinking it was so gorgeous. She really appreciated it. We also invited them to the ward party on Friday, and they were going to come, but then they remembered they have a standing appointment with some friends every Friday, so they couldn't come. Bummer. I see a lot of potential in them, particularly her. She's still got a testimony. It's just a matter of helping her desire to act on it.
Well, that's about it for this week. Take care! Love you all!
sister smurf
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