Okay, so the nylons and skirts thing probably wasn't monumental enough to qualify for creating the best day ever, but it sure was close. :) Zone conference was really great. Pres. & Sister Collins got here Wednesday, and they started with zone conferences on Friday, yesterday, and today. They are great. It's hard to let go of Pres. & Sister Corey, but change is inevitable (except from a vending machine). I am already starting to love the Collins. They have a great love for us and missionary work, and they are excited. The 1st Presidency is beginning a new "something" with missionary work - don't quite know the word for it. PMG is not changing, but we're going to have some trainings and emphases to help us know better HOW to teach (better utilizing PMG), in addition of knowing what to teach. I'm not quite sure exactly all the details and things. Pres. Collins and the assistants will work out the kinks these next few weeks and then next transfer - August - will begin the new implementation. I'm excited for it. The focus of it is how to help us teach better by the Spirit. The trainings we received at zone conference yesterday were awesome. It truly filled me with a greater desire to be better and "climb the highest mountain", no matter how hard it is. I was just filled with excitement for missionary work.
We came across an interesting guy while tracting Wednesday. He was in his car ready to leave with his kids, but he took the time to talk with us. He believes in the Trinity - as most people do - and he pulled out his Bible and started asking us questions. He first started out as kind of argumentative, but I think by the end his tone was more of an "agree to disagree". I am puzzled by him and the rest of the world that hold his same beliefs. He brought things up that we generally use to support our understanding of the Godhead, but he used them to prove his point. Basically, he used great logic to come to the wrong conclusion - a 2+2=5. He brought up that we were made in the image of God, and he related the Trinity to a person with a body, mind, and spirit, being 3 separate things, but all that same person. To me, those 2 things blatantly prove the separate nature of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. The body is not the mind, nor the spirit, though they work together to make the whole. God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost work together to make the Godhead. It makes perfect sense to me. We testified of what we knew and then left him, recognizing that he wasn't ready to accept the truth. It still baffles me how entrenched Satan has gotten into Christianity to convince them that 2+2=5. It's so sad.
We met with Jessica Hawks twice this week. Her husband has been inactive and she's working towards baptism. She's been attending the Noblesville ward with her friends and being taught by those elders, despite being in our boundaries. We are working out the sticky situation to help her transition into our ward. It's been a big mess of confusion, and we were just kind of dragged into it - swept up into the whirlwind. Because things were rushed, we haven't really gotten a chance to really get to know her. Hopefully that will happen this week as we iron things out and begin to move forward in a clear direction. She seems like a great lady, really desiring the truth. I'm excited to get to know her more and help her start on her journey back to Heavenly Father.
Thursday we met with Ronnie and Michael. It was a really good lesson. In answer to one of Michael's questions, we gave just a brief overview of what the gospel is, and then we began teaching them the Restoration lesson, emphasizing God's pattern of calling prophets and the need for prophets. Michael was writing things down and asking questions, really wanting to understand. Ronnie was listening, but I'm not sure what her intentions are exactly. Michael was really interested in the test of a true prophet as it talks about false prophets (in Matt. 7) that do things in God's name but will be denounced by God in the end. We were able to talk a lot about knowing prophets of God by their fruits, by them teaching things in accordance with scripture, their prophecies coming to pass, and ultimately by praying and asking God. We didn't get to finish the Great Apostasy and get into Joseph Smith and the Restoration because we had another appointment, but we told them we wanted to come back and pick up right where we left off. Michael was really excited about that. We commited them to read in the BOM and look for ways that the writings hold up to the test of true prophets. As we were getting ready to leave, Michael asked if we had a statement of beliefs he could look over. I handed him an Articles of Faith card. That morning I had been reviewing them and thinking about using them to teach Ronnie and Michael. The Spirit then directed otherwise, but I had one on hand to give him. He then said something awesome: "When I'm thinking about joining a church, I always want to look at their statements of beliefs before I decide". That was the first time we had met with him (we met with Ronnie once before) and he says he's thinking about joining. Wow. I'm so excited to meet with them again. I wanted to meet with them the following day, but their schedule was busy until next week. :(
We were supposed to meet with Elijah yesterday. He wasn't home, so we called him. He apologized and said he was having family time - basically FHE. He's such a great kid. We're going to meet with him Wednesday.
We got back in touch with Hector finally - the 16 year old who came to church and then mutual. That was the last we saw him. We set up another appointment and he told us he was going to call Matt for a ride to church one Sunday but he had lost his number. We quickly fixed that problem.
The work is great. I'm so excited to be a missionary. Some days are harder than others. I wish I could always keep up this excitement. I realized yesterday that my excitement is up when I feel the Spirit. What a great gift we have to be able to have the Spirit with us constantly as long as we're worthy of it. The Spirit is such a great gift, and is so readily available to us if we seek it out.
Take care all.
sister smurf
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