I forgot to mention a funny story from last week. We were tracting and one man came to the door and I could just tell he didn't like us. He said to give him 10 points and we only had 2 minutes. We briefly shared part of the Restoration. Then he went off on how lots of people were digging for gold and such during that time in that area, blah, blah, blah. I could tell he just wanted to argue, and I could feel my natural self want to argue back, but I kept a tight rein and I just let him say what he wanted to say. Then he asked what made our story any different or more special than the others. I simply said "it's true" in a very matter-of-factly way. He chuckled, and then slammed the door in disgust. Can't argue with the truth. :)
Hopefully no tornadoes touch down here. Our district leader called one night telling us there was a tornado warning and to get in the bathroom if/when we heard the sirens that night. We didn't hear any sirens, so all is well. I have zonked out every night here (despite the crummy mattresses), so I worried about maybe sleeping through the sirens. Apparently, my fears came true. A few nights ago (on a different night than when our district leader called), there was a huge storm, and the sirens went off. A tornado didn't touch down here, but about an hour away it did - an F4 tornado. It was the same storm that apparently hit the St. Louis airport. S. Charsley and I slept through everything. We had no idea it had even rained that night until people were talking about it the next day. So, we may just end up in Kansas one morning if a tornado hits. :) I think that would be cool.
Monday we got to teach Frank again. Yay! We were so excited for his lesson. He had read 1 Nephi 4-7 like we assigned, and he read chapter 8 that we said was a super good one. He's understanding a lot of it. We asked him what his thoughts/feelings were about the BOM, and he told us he was reading it as if it were truth. YAY! Talk about golden! We taught him the rest of the Plan of Salvation. His beliefs about being judged based on your actions, no fire and burning-like hell, and the like fit so perfectly with the truth. He's so used to his beliefs being different than most people's that I'm not quite sure he sees how in line his beliefs are with the truth. He has truly been taught by the Spirit before even meeting us. We left him with a PoS pamphlet, and I think as he reads it, it will begin to sink in a bit more. He did say that our views did make a lot more sense than anything else he'd heard. Sister Scoresby came with us again (she's so awesome!) and she bore a sweet, powerful testimony of the need for Christ for the PoS to work. It was exactly what we needed to complete the lesson. But, to finish it all off, we invited him to say the closing prayer. He said he doesn't really give formal prayers, but he talks with God all day long. We encouraged him to offer formal prayers in addition to that to know the truth. He was a little hesitant to say the closing prayer, but he said he'd give it a shot. Wow, with the exception of not addressing God or closing in the name of Christ, the prayer was the most perfect prayer ever. It was more than just heartfelt. He was truly having a conversation with God, and talking to Him like he was in the room. I've never heard anyone pray like that (to that extent). S. Charsley and I were in awe of how powerful and tangible his relationship with God is. We raved about it all the way home and talked about trying to make our prayers that good. We weren't able to meet a second time with Frank this week because he went out of town for Easter, but we're meeting with him tonight. I always look forward to his lessons! He's so open and so awesome!
We visited with Sister Robinson, a less active again this week with Sister Forrest. Last week we talked with her about the importance of prayer and reading the BOM to help her with her challenge of lacking patience. She was excited to get a start on that commitment. So this week we followed up, and she was so excited to talk to us! She told us she hadn't been able to do it every day, and she still lost her patience at times, but she had a revelation that morning, and she realized Satan working on her to keep her from feeling the Spirit and reading and praying. She realized that she doesn't have to fight Satan alone. She was so excited that she came to that realization, and it gave her the motivation to keep working at it. It was awesome! We talked about God sometimes breaking us down so that he can help us build back up on the correct foundation - Christ. That really meant a lot to Sister Robinson. We had to leave, but the story keeps going. Sister Forrest felt impressed to go back inside and invite her to the stake Relief Society activity that Saturday. So she went back to invite her, and she came! And she loved it! Sister Forrest is awesome! What a self-proclaimed fellowshipper. I love when that happens. :)
We met with Tim 3 times this week to prepare him for his baptism interview. The first visit we talked about the commandments of praying often and studying the scriptures. We talked a lot about receiving revelation. It was a really great lesson, and Tim pointed out that he really felt the Spirit. He told us he'd been reading in the gospel principles book and he read a story about someone who had prayed each night to know what he needed to repent of, and then he started each day with a prayer. So Tim decided to try that too. He just commits himself to do awesome things! We asked him how much he had read since we met last. He said he didn't read very much, "just a few chapters in 2 Nephi, a chapter in Alma, and I started 3 Nephi". Ha! Not much! We had something akin to a party for his next lesson. We already had Sister Stoddard lined up for an exchange, then Pres. Snow invited us to have the lesson in his home, then he invited 2 friends over. Not the ideal setting for a lesson, but it worked. It's great to see the ward rallying around Tim. It's sad that it's taken this long, but better late than never! The 3rd visit we talked about chastity, and it wasn't awkward at all. Yay. I don't see why some people make it awkward. But we had a really good discussion on the importance of families and Tim liked what we shared. Saturday we drove down to Bedford to have Tim witness a baptism and then have his interview. He thought the baptism was pretty neat, and it made him kind of excited, but kind of nervous. He was really nervous for his interview. We went over the questions the night before, and he seemed fine. He was just worried over nothing though, because he passed with flying colors.
We read twice more with Peter. We're almost done with 1 Nephi now. He's starting to retain more information now. He's such a trooper because for the last few visits, we haven't been able to find an exchange, and his wife has been gone, so we sit out on the porch in the cold while he sits inside with the door open. He expressed interest in coming to church with us after he has hip surgery and recovers from that. That'll be the end of May. Maybe by then we'll be through 2 Nephi. :)
We met with Erica, a less active on Wednesday. She was baptized only 5-6 years ago, yet she's so lost. We decided to teach her the lessons all over again. She says she wants to change her life. When we met her last week, she said she had prayed just the night before and told God she wanted to get back to church. Then we showed up the next day. Not a coincidence I'm sure. So we started talking about Heavenly Father, and we realized how far back we have to go with her. She "knows" a lot of things, but she doesn't really believe them. She knows Christ lived and died, but she doesn't believe it applies to her. She hopes things are true, but she doesn't know, and she feels like there's no way for her. But there is so much hope! She shared an experience about feeling what it'll be like to live with Heavenly Father again, and she feels that she's just tormented and that she'll never have that. :( She wants it, she just doesn't think it's attainable. She shared that there's some things in her life she knows she needs to give up, but she doesn't know if she can or if she wants to. I shared with her one of my favorite quotes: "we can have eternal life if we want it, but only if there is nothing else that we want more." That got her thinking a little bit. We invited her to church Sunday, but she said she wasn't ready for that quite yet. Friday we put her on our stewardships and asked our district to pray for her. We were supposed to meet Saturday afternoon, but we had to reschedule because of the baptism. We texted her Friday night to reschedule for Saturday morning or sometime Sunday. She said Saturday morning would be fine, and then right after, she said "actually, I'll come to church with you if I can get a ride" Whoa! S. Charsley and I stared at each other in shock for a few seconds. I'm starting to believe S. Charsley when she jokingly said after seeing so many miracles here: "being a missionary is easy!" :) Sadly, Erica slept through her alarm both mornings. :( She was super bummed too. Hopefully we'll help her wake up next week.
We saw Sister Ashworth Friday morning. She has been a lifelong member, but she too has lost her faith and testimony. Last time we visited, we talked about prayer and we shared the experience of Aaron teaching the Lamanite king, and he prayed to know that there was a God. We invited Sister Ashworth to do the same. She seemed so hopeless (I'm sure her health challenges add to that feeling). This time, she seemed a bit happier. She said she'd prayed a few times, but no answer yet. She said she wasn't sure how she was expecting the answer to come, and commented that it probably wouldn't be the same as it was years ago because of all the nerve damage she's suffered. She's open to any answer, though she's totally lost as to how it will come. We watched the Restoration DVD with her, and she really liked it. She was really impressed that Joseph Smith was only 14 and he had that awesome experience. We assured her that if God cared about a 14 year old farm boy, He cares about her and will answer her prayers. I can see hope for her, though it may be a long time in coming.
As we planned our day for Easter, S. Charsley said she felt we should go see Sister Rogers. So, after church and lunch we drove to almost the middle of nowhere to see her. (I don't have too high hopes for missionary work on holidays because it's been my experience that most people - members and nonmembers - are with family and don't want to be bugged. Most holidays have been spent tracting and getting rejected. What a great holiday.) As we drove to the Rogers home, it appeared that no one was home, but we were wrong! We got to sit and visit with Sister Rogers and her husband who just needs to get baptized. We were supposed to see them on Wednesday, but that appointment fell through. We had planned to discuss Pres. Uchtdorf's talk "Of Things That Matter Most". It was awesome, because Sister Rogers needed that on Sunday. Maybe she didn't need it so much Wednesday, but she needed it on Sunday. She needed us to come by that day too. I love inspiration! :)
On a cruelly funny note, last night we had Easter dinner with a few members in the ward. The drinks that were provided were Jones sodas. The caps always say fun things on them. So, I opened mine up and read it: "A trip by air is in your future." Rude. I've got plenty of time. It's so not fair how fast this month has gone by though!
Take care all. Keep writing!
sister smurf
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