2013!

Hi everyone!

 

There are a ton of missionaries waiting to email so hopefully I get an hour still! This week went by quicker than usual and I'm not sure why. I'm getting more and more used to my new area. There are already a lot of people here that I really care about. One is Brent Porter. He's 59 and he's a really funny guy that we're helping getting back to church. We plan on going Bigfoot hunting in Montana when Elder Edward and I get home. He's sure that we'll be able to catch him. Besides all of the funny things he says I really like him because he realizes that he needs to get closer to God. He had a really crazy life and I know that coming to church will help him find some more direction. He's just not totally a fan of changing. We challenged him to read two pages a day from the Book of Mormon.

 

Elder Edward and I are working hard and also having a lot of fun. We get along really well and it has been fun having another companion that is easy to work all day with. I find it really interesting having a companion. The Lord puts you with another missionary to learn from and to teach. That's kind of the way I've looked at it so far. This week we helped another set of missionaries get to their appointments because one of them was sick. I went out twice with Elder Jhorth (pronouced yort) and it was nice to get to know him a little bit. While we were out, this SUPER anti mormon came out and just started yelling at us as we were contacting this pretty nice guy on the street. He started yelling about random unclear and far out topics that general authorities have said in the past. I asked him if he thought that the fruits of the Spirit were long suffering and love and meekness after he told me not to touch him and that I was going to Hell haha. It's confusing to me why people like that think they are really doing a good thing by yelling at people. I don't expect anyone else on my mission to come close to the hatred this man had.

 

We actually have ten people that we are teaching right now but none of them have a baptismal date. Each individual has certain needs and things that they need to be taught and I'm learning to really rely on the Lord to figure that out. One lady has been taught for awhile and in fact Elder Sudbury has taught her before ha (he's getting married in April by the way) She is getting interview for baptism this week which is really great. It is kind of strange because usually we have a date set if someone is going to be interviewed but she doesn't. I hope everything goes well for that so you could probably pray for Rebecca. It's kind of sad and since I just got here I don't really know the whole story but I guess the ward really doesn't like her. Her husband used to be married to another lady in the ward and i'm guessing they went through a bad divorce and I bet they blame it all on her. So it's kind of strange because the people should just be happy that someone is working towards coming closer to Christ but instead it's more about drama. Many scriptures about judging people come to mind.

 

I studied diligence this morning partly because we went back to our apartment early yesterday and the zone leaders knocked on our door and weren't too pleased. I know we should have worked the whole night and I'm just glad that we really do try and work as hard as we can (though there is room for improvement). At first I was worried about what they would think of me and if they would assume that I never go out and work and that I'm just a bad missionary. Then, I realized that I should really care about what the Lord expects of me. I prayed and thought that I should study diligence. My study this morning really helped me understand how I can be more diligent. Diligent comes from the Latin word diligen which means "loving". I thought that that was really interesting because I know that if we really do love something we will do it over and over again. I do love being a missionary and I love helping people even more. In Preach my Gospel it says that a diligent missionary works effectively and efficiently. I came to the conclusion that you don't have to be diligent to be effective but you can not be efficient without diligence. To be effective means to accomplish a goal or purpose. Our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ. But to be efficient means to get the most our of what you put in. Each missionary gives two years but it is already obvious that each missionary is effected in diverse ways. I hope and believe that I will get what I need out of my mission. I know that as I am diligent the Lord will enable me to bless other people.

 

Anyways, I hope everyone had a good first week of the year! Is this the kids first day back at school? It is for people out here. I love you all and I have to go! Have a great week.

 

Love

 

Silas