We were pretty disappointed at church yesterday. We were expecting a large number of investigators and less actives, but only Deven and Sister Boonstra came. :( We don't know what happened. People said they were coming. Even the ones who usually come weren't there. It was really sad.
We taught Ruth twice this week. She's read up through 1 Nephi 8 now! She really enjoys it, even though she sometimes has to read and re-read it. We've begun teaching her the Plan of Salvation, and she is accepting it. She keeps telling us that she's gone to a lot of churches, and none seem to make sense like this one does. Brother Lamons said she's really wanting to get baptized, and she agreed. She hasn't come to church yet, so we talked about how establishing that habit of coming to church is a requirement for baptism. She said she's getting less shy as time goes on, and she sees herself coming soon. Brother Lamons' health has been an excuse so far, but it's just that - an excuse. He goes other places, there's no reason he can't come to church. I don't quite understand it though because he has a strong testimony and says he loves church. Friday we taught her the Atonement. It was kind of a disjointed lesson because S. Mat and I weren't completely on the same page, but I felt it was a breakthrough lesson for me. It was the first time that I was able to break away from merely teaching the facts of the Atonement and actually teach about how we can access the Atonement, and what it does for us. As Bro. Phipps from the MTC pointed out, so often we teach the Plan of Salvation merely as a story, rather than teaching it as Their Plan of Salvation. This lesson I think was the first time that I've been able to reach that ideal (or at least come close).
We finally got in to see Melody on Tuesday. It's been about 3 weeks since we've been able to meet with her. We used to have regular appointments at least once a week, sometimes twice a week, but things are crazy in her life, and she keeps canceling on us. So we were grateful we could finally sit down with her. We shared Elder Wirthlin's talk with her "Come What May, and Love It". It was a good lesson for her, as many negative things keep happening to her. Speaking of, while we were there, her daughter and her boyfriend got in a fight and got taken to jail. Good news: Melody was left alone at the house to enjoy some peace and quiet. :) Melody told us she fully believed that she could've quit smoking by now if her daughter hadn't have been living with her. Maybe some progress will start to happen.
We met with Desiree again. She had asked if we had anything about angels. We were planning on teaching about the Atonement and after death, so we tied in angels to that. She works at a nursing home, and she shared an experience with us about a patient who was dying and heard the angels singing and inviting her on. We talked about the purposes that beings from beyond the veil communicate with us, and shared some experiences of the Savior in Gethsemane, Joseph Smith, and Wilford Woodruff. Desiree is really awesome. Our visits are such a boost to her, and a distraction from the negative influences of her boyfriend and work. I wish she didn't live 30 minutes away so that we could see her more often. But, it is what it is.
We went to see Jamie Wednesday morning. We couldn't find anyone to come with us, so we had to stand outside for our visit. He was very nice to stand with us for 45 minutes in weather that wasn't the ideal. Good thing it wasn't super cold though. S. Mat and I had different ideas for what we wanted to have happen. She wanted to let him do most of the talking and leading, whereas I wanted to take the reins and not let him go off on a wild goose chase. It threw us off guard having to dive right in to the lesson on the porch. So I started in with the Plan of Salvation as we had decided. I wasn't really liking how the lesson was going, but I wasn't sure how to change tracks. S. Mat mostly just stood there, until we brought up the need for additional scripture. She then jumped in, and from that point, it was a good lesson. I get dragged in to the trap often of trying to show and prove things (the curse of a logical brain). But we pulled it back to reading and praying about the BOM, and he offered that he would need to read the BOM and compare it to the Bible. Realizing that he didn't accept our view of the pre-earth life, we decided to focus the next lesson on the BOM and show him the need to gain a testimony of that first, before going in to all the little details that take you on a wild goose chase if you start with them. So yesterday we took Sister Lalonde with us and we got to go inside his house. He was more in the attitude of listening this time, until towards the end when Sister Lalonde fell into the trap of following him on the wild goose chase and trying to prove to him the answer to his questions. But we did get to talk about the Holy Ghost and asking for guidance. We ended off with him asking what it was in the BOM that would be of worth for him to read that's not in the Bible. We talked about the BOM clarifying/enriching the Bible, and before we could give specific examples, he went off on a tangent, and we ran out of time. But we'll pick up next time with helping him to see the value of what's contained in the BOM. If we do this right, I think he'll be sincere enough to ask and find out for himself. But it's so easy to do it wrong lose him. I hope we can do it right! His friend Kim walked in during the lesson. She'd just been kicked out of her apartment, so she was in a distressed state. But she sat in on the rest of the lesson and participated. She's recently turned her life around from drugs and such. Maybe we can get her to investigate as well.
We met with Angie Wednesday to kick of the stop smoking program with her. We were super excited! And she was too, but she was also nervous. She's tried a number of times to quit, and she hasn't been successful. And she hates not being successful, because she's good at everything else she does. We were able to testify to her that the Lord had his hand in the program, and that she would be able to quit if she followed exactly. She hopped on board. We saw her each day til Saturday, and she'd been completely smoke free! When we went over Thursday night to see her, we could tell a huge difference! S. Mat and I talked about it after we left, and she made the comment that we're giving herself back to her. We went over Friday for a lesson, and again, we could see a huge difference. What a neat thing to be able to witness! The lesson we shared was on repentance, and I remembered Elder Andersen's talk from 2009 "Repent...That I May Heal You". I figured it would be a great talk to read with her because it would kill two birds with one stone. #1 - it teaches repentance and shows the healing aspect of it so well, and I knew Angie would love it. #2 - she is so in awe about modern prophets, and loves the idea and believes it, but she said she still has a hard time wrapping her mind around it. Reading the words of a modern apostle would help in that regard, and also get her pumped up for general conference! The lesson was AMAZING! Angie was so touched, and so excited to read over and mark up her copy over and over again. She just thirsts after righteousness. She is so golden! She brought up her concern again with her husband not believing, and we reassured her that her example and her kids' examples will have an effect on him. That put her at ease again. She then told us that someone told her mom to stay away from our church, so her mom was concerned. Angie told her that she knows what she's felt, and it's her decision, and she feels right about it. Go Angie! I'm so grateful that she's received such a powerful witness of the truth! Saturday we taught the girls about the Atonement and what happens after death. Angie hadn't heard the 3 degrees of glory yet, so that part was for her too. Emma, Samara (cousin), and Angie all had really good questions about the spirit world and the 3 degrees of glory. We could tell that Emma's and Angie's questions centered on Michael and what would happen to him because of his disbelief. We were able to reassure them that all was not lost. It really brought them a lot of comfort. I love this gospel! They were supposed to come to church yesterday, but for some reason they didn't show. We tried stopping by afterwards and called them, but we haven't heard from them yet. :( I hope everything is okay.
We had a great lesson with Sister Eshelman about receiving revelation through the BOM. She's really opened up and changed a lot since we first met. The first time we met, she was kind of just polite, and she wasn't ready to come to church. But now, she welcomes us in and is glad to see us. She told us she forgot to set her clock forward last week and she'd be there this week. But something happened. :( She's showing a willingness to come now, and she brings it up. Progress! She's had a lot of good job interviews after coming to church that first time. The Lord is fulfilling the promise He spoke through us. But, He can't deliver, unless she keeps coming.
We taught Michael this week about the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. We emphasized the necessity of the laying on of hands to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, to try to help him see the need for baptism and confirmation in this church. He's pretty involved when we teach about common Christian beliefs, but he's pretty stoic when we talk about things unique to our church. He has no testimony of this gospel. He's getting in to the BOM - we read 1 Nephi 5 with him Saturday. But he hasn't been to church the last 3 Sundays. He's falling back into his habits of just coasting and letting things happen to him rather than seeking his conversion. Hmm. Not sure what to do with him.
Wednesday while tracting we found Lindsey. She's 19 and awesome. She's really in tune spiritually. One of the first things she said was that she'd love to come to church if she had a ride. We went back Thursday to teach her and had a good lesson getting to know her and her background and what she's looking for in a church. We went back Friday to teach her about Joseph Smith and the first vision and to answer her question of why there's so many churches. We're really impressed with Lindsey and how prepared she is for this gospel. We set up a ride for her to church, but for some reason, Lindsey was a no show. They knocked and called, and no answer. :( We stopped by later in the afternoon and someone peeked through the window and then ignored us. Unfortunately, we think it was Lindsey. :( I don't know what got to her. Hopefully we'll be able to meet with her Wednesday and see what's up.
We met with Mike again. He hadn't read his assignment, so we showed our disappointment, and pointed out that reading the BOM are paramount in gaining a testimony, and that if he wasn't willing to do that, we have more important ways to spend our time. We finally got out of him a reason for meeting with us and coming to church. We've asked a few times why he comes because he doesn't show much if any interest in finding out if this church is true. He told us he doesn't have many friends, so Friday afternoon and Sunday are times that he can have some fellowship. We brought up again his conduct at church since the EQP had mentioned some hostility. We explained that church is a place of worship and refuge, where we don't appreciate having to defend our beliefs. Mike said he wasn't aware of that, and he sees now how his conduct was out of line. He asked if we wanted him to not come anymore. We told him we loved him and want him to come because church is a great place to feel the Spirit, but that the attitude of contention is what is not welcome. We'll see what happens. He didn't come yesterday. Hmm. Maybe he was too wrapped up in basketball. That seems to be his main priority.
Saturday we went out with Sister Myers to see Jeff. He told us that Becky had just left to get some food, but she was wanting us to go over with her what we went over with him last time. He said that he talked to her about it and read the passages in the BOM that we left him with her. That's good news! We decided to go ahead and teach Jeff about Joseph Smith since Becky had just barely left and we didn't know if she'd be back in time. We taught him about the confusion of Joseph Smith and the First Vision, and how the BOM is proof that it happened. Jeff was really receptive, and really enjoyed it. He really appreciates our emphasis on finding out for himself rather than pushing it down his throat. He said that's what initially caught his attention. We invited him to begin reading to find out that the BOM is true. He asked us if there was a BOM on CD because he has the Bible on CD that he listens to as he follows along to help him understand better. We told him we'd let him know how he could obtain a copy. In the meantime, we borrowed Sister Lalonde's set for him to use. He then told us that he asked his pastor (non-denominational church) what he knew about the BOM. His pastor said that was a good question and he would talk about it on Sunday. Ahh. Red flag! However, Jeff has good faith that his pastor encourages them to learn about other religions and to seek out truth on their own and wouldn't be biased in any way or present any misinformation. I sure hope he's right! We asked when we could come back and teach more, and he said "oh you're welcome anytime...how about tomorrow?" We took him up on that. It would be perfect to be able to talk to him about what his pastor said. However, he was a no show. :( I sure hope he just forgot or something came up rather than him being dissuaded by the pastor. I hope I hope I hope!
Since our car is in the shop, we have Sister Collins' car. We had the assistants' truck for a day, but then they needed it to haul furniture around in. At any rate, not using our car means we don't have mileage restrictions! We decided to take advantage of that and go less active hunting in Russiaville Saturday night. We made a list of the 9 families who live out there and put them in order of the most logical route. We had a lot of success! We only made it to 4 houses, and we had success at 3 of them!! We met Sister Hawkins and had a brief lesson with her. She was baptized a few years ago, but never really had a testimony. We set up an appointment with the Lamott family to go teach their 10 year old son who wants to be baptized. Then after almost giving up on trying to find Sister Pasquale's house, we stumbled upon it. She is so awesome! She's been less active for 8 years. She admitted she's just lazy. But she hates that she's on the less active list. She decided she'd come to church yesterday, and she invited us for dinner too. We had so much fun with her. The ward really needs her personality. I really think she needs S. Mat to bring her back. Sadly, some of her health problems reared up again, and she wasn't able to make it to church. She kept trying, but ultimately, she didn't feel well enough. She then had to cancel dinner as well. We were so bummed! She's going to the doctor today, so hopefully they figure something out. I hope this chance to bring her back doesn't slip out of our hands! We only have Sister Collins' car a few more days!
End of novel. :) Hope you all enjoyed! And I hope this motivated you to write me a letter. :) Love you all.
sister humpherys
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