Tomorrow is transfers. I've been here in Fishers for 6 months, so it was logical that I would get the boot. However, I had an interview with Pres. on Saturday morning and he told me he wanted me to train. So, I'm here in Fishers for at least another 6 weeks. I'm excited but nervous to train. The good thing is I won't have to work against any preconceived notions about missionary work. :) I'm glad I get to stay here in Fishers longer. Sister Esplin wasn't really connecting with the area/people, so I was really nervous to leave the area with her, but now I don't have to. If I had left last transfer, I would've been okay with it, but this transfer, I would've been really sad. I guess that means I'm fair game to leave next time around.
Tuesday we met with Melvin again. We were supposed to have the elders with us so we could transition him over to their ward, but because of an emergency transfer and then one elder went home, Pres. told us to just keep teaching him until the elders are back to a normal companionship this week. Melvin didn't make it to church last Sunday because his girls didn't want to go, and he couldn't convince them to go. We started out talking about what the sacrament is and why it's important. He came to his own conclusion about that's why church is so important. Again, I love when people come to their own answers! We finished talking about the Plan of Salvation, and then we asked him about how he was doing with living the Word of Wisdom. He admitted that he had not been able to withstand the temptations of his friends and he had some alcohol Saturday night. We shared with him Hel. 5:12 and told him as he relied on Christ, he could withstand anything. He really liked that scripture and marked it for future reference. He went to Seattle for a baseball festival this week. He said it was going to be hard there too because of all the partying. We told him to take his BOM with him and pray, and call us when he felt weak. I know he wants to do right, but Satan's sure throwing everything he's got at him right now. We also talked with him about the importance of living the Word of Wisdom and attending church so that he can be baptized. In order for him to still be baptized on the 20th, he would have to go to church while he was in Seattle. What a Godsend, he has family who are members that live in Federal Way. He said he would call them and go to church with them. Hopefully he went, otherwise his baptism will be postponed.
We had dinner with Jon David and Sarah Sparks on Tuesday. He is related to Cam Sparks that I went to high school with, and she is related to Bret Payne in my home ward and Dr. Wheeler, my 9th grade band teacher. Talk about a small world.
We were able to meet with Norma again. We started out talking about the Atonement, and we talked about part of the Plan of Salvation. Up until this time, she's always said "oh, I'm Catholic..." but this time, she offered up that she does think there is one right church and she questions sometimes if the Catholic church is it. We shared with her in the introduction of the BOM that she can know for herself through reading the BOM and praying about it. She talked about believing things because she saw them. We'll have to work on her faith a bit. She's slowly warming up to the idea of coming to church, though she told us she wasn't going to tell us when she was coming and she was going to come in a disguise. She's so funny.
Paul never ceases to amaze me. We answered some of his questions from his reading in Ether one night - very good questions. He's really gaining a lot out of his scripture study. Then we took him on Saturday to the family history center to start his family history. He is so excited to get names ready to take to the temple. He's getting baptized Oct. 2nd, and confirmed the following week. On the 23rd he's going to Las Vegas and he's already making plans to ditch the family celebrations to go to the temple out there and do some baptisms. Man, I would not doubt if he was one day a general authority of some sort. He is just simply amazing.
We met with Roni and Michael again. Ugh. We had left off last time saying that we were going to discuss the Atonement this time. But Michael got sidetracked, and nothing much got accomplished. He was stuck on the pre-mortal existence and the nature of Christ, us, and angels, and how they're all different. They are still taking the wrong approach to learning the truth. I want to just tell them something like, "okay, we've let you try to lead the way, and you've gotten nowhere in your understanding. Now, just sit back, and let us guide you and you will begin to understand."
We met with Paul Koeske again and we shared our experiences of coming to know that the Bible and BOM were true. We highlighted not only a logical understanding, but also the witness of the Spirit. Paul has been doing some "research" and he pointed out that when he meets with us, he feels a good Spirit about us and that we love Christ, etc, but he reads about the "claims of the BOM", he feels the Spirit is telling him not to read it. Hmm... Go figure that someone would feel the Spirit when with us and not feel the Spirit when they read anti- material. We told him the only way for him to know of the truth is to "test drive the car" - to read the BOM. He said however, that his "test drive" would be to test the "claims" (the ones he gets from his less than reputable sources). I'm amazed that a man as intelligent as he is, and as in tune with the Spirit as he has been, is so set on reading about the BOM rather than reading it. He just about dropped us. He said he wasn't opposed to us stopping by, and if we wanted to have another appointment, he was okay with that, but we could tell he was ready to be done with the weekly visits. We asked to come by at least one more time and then see where things go from there. Here's hoping that he will be honest with himself and will recognize the Spirit pointing him to truth.
Saturday morning we were on our way to the mission home for an interview with Pres. Collins, and he called and said he was going to be about 15 minutes late. I initially thought we'd just go and wait for him, but then I felt that we should tract. So we did, and we found Lisa. She was reading her morning devotional and we talked with her a bit. We brought up the BOM and we set her straight on some things that she'd heard that were incorrect. She said it was interesting and she said she'd have to read it. Yay for coming up with her own answer. :) She asked us about our view of Christ being God. Initially she saw our views as different, but as we were able to talk more in depth, we came to a common understanding. However, she is confused about the Godhead and doesn't even know it. It's so sad when that happens. She affirmed that They were different Beings, but then later said They were all one. Silly Trinitarian notion - no one can make sense of it. We had a good conversation with her though and she said we were welcome to come back and talk some more. I was glad that I followed that prompting to tract rather than go wait for President.
Sunday we had a lot of tracting time. And amazingly, a lot of people were home and a lot of people were very friendly. They say that Sundays are great days for tracting because people are home, but that's not been my experience here in Indiana where everyone goes to church pretty much. But we had as many tracting lessons that day as we had had the whole rest of the week.
Yesterday I wasn't feeling well, so we didn't go out much. But we did go see Rodney, Charlotte's boyfriend. We now have 4 investigators in that house. We see someone different every time. They now each have their own BOM. We talked a bit with Rodney about the BOM. He's got a good heart. He brought up that as we're baptized we are saved, but to stay saved, we have to continue on that path. He's the first person that I've come across out here that stated so clearly the principle of enduring to the end. We read with him from 3 Nephi 27 and he really liked it. He asked about what it meant by "my church" because he thought all Christian churches were Christ's church. We talked about authority and the restoration of that authority. We asked him if he wanted to know that this was Christ's church, and he said he'd have to do some more reading and learning. We pointed him to Moroni 10:3-5, and he really liked that. He's so honest. I think if we're able to find him at home enough and teach him the whole picture, I think he'll readily accept it. That whole household is neat. They've all got such great potential. They're not the most consistent in keeping their appointments, but they've got good hearts and good intentions.
Welp, that's about it for this week. I'm looking forward to meeting my greenie tomorrow! Take care!
sister humpherys
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