Holy cheeseburger macaroni Hamburger Helper! (We eat that a lot here.)
We have been SO incredibly blessed this past week! God was so good to
us! Despite our doubt and discouragement! We have quite a few new
investigators, and lots have accepted baptism! Obviously, we'll see what
happens from here, but they are super great people. Whatever happens, I've learned so much from the experiences of this week!
Goodness, I love the Lord! And all y'all! First of all, thank you for the package!! Came on Satuday, just to my door, not at the Post Office. It was there when we got home to go to the A's for dinner. But it was safe. It was such a blessing! Any mail is a huge boost to my day, and a package, esp. cause of this particular one's contents, is even more exciting! The Camelbak is great! Dare I say, perfect! Well...it's pretty close;) It really is a huge blessing though. I love getting new things, plus it is SO much more convenient! No more hauling around that huge-o backpack. It fit a lot of stuff, but this one can fit basically all of it too, but takes up very little space and AH! i love it. Also, Annie's CD is incredible! I told her this, but I listen to it all the time! It's amazing! I have such a talented, amazing family!! I can't believe how amazingly blessed I am sometimes. I didn't appreciate hardly at all, till I got here. It is such a huge blessing!
Also, thank y'all for your letters each week! Reading them lifts me more than almost anything else. Special shoutout to Shelle for her weekly letters, yeah...every week! It's amazing! Shelle, I think we have similar humor or your humor is just especially hilarious to me. I laugh out loud every time I read your letters. Tato, you should learn I am a Child of God on the uke, like it is played on the I am a Child of God Mormon Message. It's sweet action. And Mama, Consider the Lilies comes on the iPod all the time, and I think of you every time. I may have mentioned that before, but I guess I just keep thinking about it cause I hear it a lot:) Also, I love advice! And any and all you have to offer is happily accepted:) Speaking of...any advice, from anyone, about door approaches in wealthier areas? Especially faithful Church of Christ members/ any church's faithful members. And how do you address polygamy? Any tips, hints, etc? Also for people who stop you just to tell you the Church isn't true...silly people. We had this happen twice this week, on Tuesday. We've searched these things out and found some things, but just wondering if anyone had more insight. Also, any suggestions on how to be better at using scriptures and asking inspired questions while teaching? Teaching tips in general, really. I feel pretty inadequate with that. I know i'm not really the teacher, but I want to help our investigators be taught by the spirit. Also, with focusing completely during lessons...yeah, distracto-man strikes again..:/ But I just need to work on my focus. Again, i've searched these out for myself and have tried to apply what i've learned. I still am having trouble with them though. So, if anyone (siblings, parents, extended fam, missionaries, anyone!) has any suggestions/advice, i'd love to hear:)
Anyway, back to miracle week. Tuesday the 17th (the first one I've experienced and not watched that psych episode during, since my psych-hood began) was an incredible day for me! Not so great for Elder P though. I loved talking to people who bashed our church and tried to prove it wrong. It strengthened my testimony, as the Holy Ghost kept prompting me that what he was saying wasn't true, and I knew those aspects of the gospel were true. For Elder P, that made him start to doubt a little and made him think again about his testimony, though it didn't really shake it. But then it distracted him because he was preoccupied with thinking about how he could prove this man wrong. He overcame this the next day. I told him a lot of the things Mama says when we get discouraged:) We gave the silly man, Willie, our number and he said he may call in a week or two and have us come talk more about it. Good or bad idea? I asked, calmly and nicely, if he could give us examples of how the BofM goes against the Bible. That stumped him:) and he said he'd have to get back with me...he didn't know. But is it better to just leave it alone, or, if he calls, go talk calmly again? We didn't ever argue, cause we almost had a bad experience with that with a guy earlier that day. Which we believe the Lord had us experience, so that we would talk about it at dinner, and then when we ran into Willie, be able to handle it calmly. Crazy, how the Lord works. I like it though.
Also, we went tracting in Rolling Hills, the rich part of town. It was kinda intimidating, but not that bad...to me, at least. This was another really hard thing for Elder P. He said that after a few doors, that it was really hard for him. He's been out for over a year and he's never tracted in nice neighborhoods like that. He's been in the Spanish Branches before Clinton, but been in Clinton for almost 6 months now. He showed faith by doing it anyway though! Great example to me. I'm not trying to bash on Elder P at all! He did an incredible job of getting over it the next day, this doubt and discouragement. I was super blessed to be happy, outgoing, and confident in the Rolling Hills neighborhood. I've never been so excited about tracting, ever. I thought it was way cool, though we got rejected at like 5 out of 7 doors, with just one potential investigator, a member of the Church of Christ, whose husband is a minister there. But God blessed me to love it, a lot actually. It was so cool. Then we had an incredible lesson with a Native American guy (there are lots here), and he loved that the BofM is about his ancestors. The Native Americans have VERY similar beliefs to us, just changed over time. It's really cool to see, actually. He accepted baptism, not a specific date, yet. We taught his fiance last night and hope to teach them both tonight! They're a young, almost-married (engaged) couple with a few kids. Pray for them, his grandpa is super into the Native American religion, so that could be a hold up. They didn't come to church, but I think they will soon, if not next week.
But then, the next morning, I had some of my own doubts. Quite a bit... I felt like I could never teach, esp. not by the spirit. I couldn't ask questions as I taught, and I definitely couldn't use scriptures! I don't know them well enough. Those were my thoughts. We, Elder P and I, struggled through these feelings together, and the Lord blessed us WAY more than we deserved, I think. We taught a guy we found at another investigator's house the week before for our first lesson that day, Wednesday. By the end of the lesson, he had a baptismal date! It was such a cool experience. I love lessons like that. We taught him again, on Saturday with Bishop, and had another amazing lesson. Bishop, a convert, rocks. He has an amazing testimony, esp. of the happiness this gospel brings. He's great. The investigator didn't come to church though. We're gonna visit him tomorrow though. I'm sure he has a good reason. We'll assume so, till we know for sure.
Another miracle was our investigators coming to church! We had 5 investigators at church, including C who always comes. C's son came too! First time since I've been here. And we usually only have C or no one at church, so this was huge, though two others didn't come. A guy we weren't sure about at all even came! V, who's 70-ish and lives alone. It was so cool to have him there. And it was the Primary Program, so they loved that! Such pure testimonies.
One more thought/cool experience this week: I tried praying really hard during a lesson to be able to teach by the spirit, cause C and A were upset with each other and I really wanted to help them. The Lord blessed me with the Spirit, and I was able to share some things that I think helped. I felt that it was really from God, and I was just grateful that He trusted me enough to be his mouthpiece at that time. It was really cool. Since then, I've fallen back a little in thinking I can't teach by the spirit, but I'm learning to get past those thoughts and just trust the Lord.
We've been blessed in so may ways in addition to these! I think it's partially cause we followed a prompting to go to wealthy areas, like Rolling Hills. We've been so blessed.
Random side notes, I got hit in the chest or face, can't remember which, by a grasshopper the other day while biking at high speeds (you know how i do)...yeah, weird experience. Didn't know what to think for a while there. Also, I found myself singing "Meteora" from The Christmas Toy movie the other day, as we were biking around. Don't know why, but i liked it. And Bro. S, the new 1st counselor in the Elders Quorum, came out with us on Friday. We got to ride in his Mustang Boss 320, or something like that...too bad I dislike Mustangs. But it was pretty cool to ride in. While we were with him, he got a text on his iPhone, and a flood of memories of texting on an iPhone flooded in, along with a flood of stress. I felt so grateful that I'm away from the worries and stresses of social life for two years. I realized that this is a really nice break from texting, etc. I love this work so much.
I love y'all. A lot. Thanks again for everything!
Love,
Goodness, I love the Lord! And all y'all! First of all, thank you for the package!! Came on Satuday, just to my door, not at the Post Office. It was there when we got home to go to the A's for dinner. But it was safe. It was such a blessing! Any mail is a huge boost to my day, and a package, esp. cause of this particular one's contents, is even more exciting! The Camelbak is great! Dare I say, perfect! Well...it's pretty close;) It really is a huge blessing though. I love getting new things, plus it is SO much more convenient! No more hauling around that huge-o backpack. It fit a lot of stuff, but this one can fit basically all of it too, but takes up very little space and AH! i love it. Also, Annie's CD is incredible! I told her this, but I listen to it all the time! It's amazing! I have such a talented, amazing family!! I can't believe how amazingly blessed I am sometimes. I didn't appreciate hardly at all, till I got here. It is such a huge blessing!
Also, thank y'all for your letters each week! Reading them lifts me more than almost anything else. Special shoutout to Shelle for her weekly letters, yeah...every week! It's amazing! Shelle, I think we have similar humor or your humor is just especially hilarious to me. I laugh out loud every time I read your letters. Tato, you should learn I am a Child of God on the uke, like it is played on the I am a Child of God Mormon Message. It's sweet action. And Mama, Consider the Lilies comes on the iPod all the time, and I think of you every time. I may have mentioned that before, but I guess I just keep thinking about it cause I hear it a lot:) Also, I love advice! And any and all you have to offer is happily accepted:) Speaking of...any advice, from anyone, about door approaches in wealthier areas? Especially faithful Church of Christ members/ any church's faithful members. And how do you address polygamy? Any tips, hints, etc? Also for people who stop you just to tell you the Church isn't true...silly people. We had this happen twice this week, on Tuesday. We've searched these things out and found some things, but just wondering if anyone had more insight. Also, any suggestions on how to be better at using scriptures and asking inspired questions while teaching? Teaching tips in general, really. I feel pretty inadequate with that. I know i'm not really the teacher, but I want to help our investigators be taught by the spirit. Also, with focusing completely during lessons...yeah, distracto-man strikes again..:/ But I just need to work on my focus. Again, i've searched these out for myself and have tried to apply what i've learned. I still am having trouble with them though. So, if anyone (siblings, parents, extended fam, missionaries, anyone!) has any suggestions/advice, i'd love to hear:)
Anyway, back to miracle week. Tuesday the 17th (the first one I've experienced and not watched that psych episode during, since my psych-hood began) was an incredible day for me! Not so great for Elder P though. I loved talking to people who bashed our church and tried to prove it wrong. It strengthened my testimony, as the Holy Ghost kept prompting me that what he was saying wasn't true, and I knew those aspects of the gospel were true. For Elder P, that made him start to doubt a little and made him think again about his testimony, though it didn't really shake it. But then it distracted him because he was preoccupied with thinking about how he could prove this man wrong. He overcame this the next day. I told him a lot of the things Mama says when we get discouraged:) We gave the silly man, Willie, our number and he said he may call in a week or two and have us come talk more about it. Good or bad idea? I asked, calmly and nicely, if he could give us examples of how the BofM goes against the Bible. That stumped him:) and he said he'd have to get back with me...he didn't know. But is it better to just leave it alone, or, if he calls, go talk calmly again? We didn't ever argue, cause we almost had a bad experience with that with a guy earlier that day. Which we believe the Lord had us experience, so that we would talk about it at dinner, and then when we ran into Willie, be able to handle it calmly. Crazy, how the Lord works. I like it though.
Also, we went tracting in Rolling Hills, the rich part of town. It was kinda intimidating, but not that bad...to me, at least. This was another really hard thing for Elder P. He said that after a few doors, that it was really hard for him. He's been out for over a year and he's never tracted in nice neighborhoods like that. He's been in the Spanish Branches before Clinton, but been in Clinton for almost 6 months now. He showed faith by doing it anyway though! Great example to me. I'm not trying to bash on Elder P at all! He did an incredible job of getting over it the next day, this doubt and discouragement. I was super blessed to be happy, outgoing, and confident in the Rolling Hills neighborhood. I've never been so excited about tracting, ever. I thought it was way cool, though we got rejected at like 5 out of 7 doors, with just one potential investigator, a member of the Church of Christ, whose husband is a minister there. But God blessed me to love it, a lot actually. It was so cool. Then we had an incredible lesson with a Native American guy (there are lots here), and he loved that the BofM is about his ancestors. The Native Americans have VERY similar beliefs to us, just changed over time. It's really cool to see, actually. He accepted baptism, not a specific date, yet. We taught his fiance last night and hope to teach them both tonight! They're a young, almost-married (engaged) couple with a few kids. Pray for them, his grandpa is super into the Native American religion, so that could be a hold up. They didn't come to church, but I think they will soon, if not next week.
But then, the next morning, I had some of my own doubts. Quite a bit... I felt like I could never teach, esp. not by the spirit. I couldn't ask questions as I taught, and I definitely couldn't use scriptures! I don't know them well enough. Those were my thoughts. We, Elder P and I, struggled through these feelings together, and the Lord blessed us WAY more than we deserved, I think. We taught a guy we found at another investigator's house the week before for our first lesson that day, Wednesday. By the end of the lesson, he had a baptismal date! It was such a cool experience. I love lessons like that. We taught him again, on Saturday with Bishop, and had another amazing lesson. Bishop, a convert, rocks. He has an amazing testimony, esp. of the happiness this gospel brings. He's great. The investigator didn't come to church though. We're gonna visit him tomorrow though. I'm sure he has a good reason. We'll assume so, till we know for sure.
Another miracle was our investigators coming to church! We had 5 investigators at church, including C who always comes. C's son came too! First time since I've been here. And we usually only have C or no one at church, so this was huge, though two others didn't come. A guy we weren't sure about at all even came! V, who's 70-ish and lives alone. It was so cool to have him there. And it was the Primary Program, so they loved that! Such pure testimonies.
One more thought/cool experience this week: I tried praying really hard during a lesson to be able to teach by the spirit, cause C and A were upset with each other and I really wanted to help them. The Lord blessed me with the Spirit, and I was able to share some things that I think helped. I felt that it was really from God, and I was just grateful that He trusted me enough to be his mouthpiece at that time. It was really cool. Since then, I've fallen back a little in thinking I can't teach by the spirit, but I'm learning to get past those thoughts and just trust the Lord.
We've been blessed in so may ways in addition to these! I think it's partially cause we followed a prompting to go to wealthy areas, like Rolling Hills. We've been so blessed.
Random side notes, I got hit in the chest or face, can't remember which, by a grasshopper the other day while biking at high speeds (you know how i do)...yeah, weird experience. Didn't know what to think for a while there. Also, I found myself singing "Meteora" from The Christmas Toy movie the other day, as we were biking around. Don't know why, but i liked it. And Bro. S, the new 1st counselor in the Elders Quorum, came out with us on Friday. We got to ride in his Mustang Boss 320, or something like that...too bad I dislike Mustangs. But it was pretty cool to ride in. While we were with him, he got a text on his iPhone, and a flood of memories of texting on an iPhone flooded in, along with a flood of stress. I felt so grateful that I'm away from the worries and stresses of social life for two years. I realized that this is a really nice break from texting, etc. I love this work so much.
I love y'all. A lot. Thanks again for everything!
Love,
Elder Tanner
-I love the Lord-
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