Foggy Fog
This week was neat. It feels like it was another uneventful week but quite a few cool things happened. I don't know what it was but last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we had an unusual amount of people we had been trying to meet answer. A lot, weren't interested but there was still some cool ones.
The first of these is a less-active family, the Millers, that had mostly fallen off the radar for us. But we decided to stop by. The dad answered and let us in. We found out that his wife is a less-active member, and three of their fives kids are too. The other two kids, in high school and middle school, are unbaptized. The family has talked to missionaries off and on for a while and they were pretty cool. They don't go to church because they think it is boring and the non-member husband is not that into religion. We totally could teach and baptize the kids which is cool, but they is a pretty slim chance they would stay active. We would have to get them to like going to church and would probably have to get the whole family on board. We are going to talk to the ward about it, but they might have some potential.
The next one was pretty interesting, we were out and about when we got a random text saying that they had time tonight to talk to us. We were pretty confused because we didn't have their information. We asked and found out it was a less-active we have been trying to talk with for a since I got here. We get in and sit down with the husband (Nathan) who we actually didn't know anything about. Turns out, he is a less-active member and the only person we had any information on was his daughter that lives there with him. It was a very interesting conversation. He was pretty up-to-date on news from the church and has been active most of his life, he even served a mission. However, he doesn't agree with some of the culture and policies associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And because of that and some other things we don't know about, he is completely inactive and separate from the church. It was a pretty weird conversation because he would say something that sounded like he was going to argue with us about, but then would be totally chill and not be bad at all. In the middle of our chat, he asked us what our favorite missionary work scripture was. Elder Craig and I found ours and shared. Then he shared 3 Nephi 3:7 which basically says "join our cult" (this scripture is taken from a letter from the leader of this cult, who opposes God's people). Missionaries joke about this scripture all the time because 1 Nephi 3:7 is an awesome scripture about following God commandments but 3 Nephi 3:7 is almost the complete opposite. Nathan knew this was a joke but it really wasn't what we were expecting. We left a while later. It was sad to see someone who has served a mission go completely inactive like him. He knows so much about the church and the gospel but doesn't be apart of it. I really, really don't want to end up like that.
I started writing this Saturday morning not expecting too many things to happen but today I was wrong. It started when we were able to have a great chat with Suzi. It was a great discussion, and she definitely isn't ready to be taught but she could definitely get there and she is pretty cool. She talked about she had done research into the church and had read some of the Book of Mormon. It was super cool.
Then Elder Craig felt prompted that we should push our dinner back, and to do some more work, before going back to eat. We were greatly rewarded for following this prompting. We had four people answer that have rarely answered before and set up return appointments with two of them. It was incredible.
Then randomly it was foggy this week. It was super foggy at 6 at night and got even foggier the rest of the night. It was super random and driving was a little challenging. It was so foggy, that you could see all the tiny particulates and it felt like walking through a mist. It sometimes gets foggy at night like that here, it was pretty weird. Then the next few days it was foggy in the morning too, but that isn't unusually.
This Sunday was pretty cool for the Ashton Park ward. We got a new Bishopric! We were suspecting it would happen soon, but it was surprising to see the entire stake presidency there when we walked in (The stake presidency is in charge of the stake which covers several wards, they also call new bishoprics). The new bishopric are all pretty young and all really cool people. It was funny because I have never actually met the new bishop. I know the two counselors well, but not the bishop. Anyway, it was a super spiritual meeting as they all bore their testimonies and were called. We are excited to see them lead this ward.
This week it was made clear to me that the work still moves on, it varies a lot day to day but it never ceases. Each day I work more and more to become more like Christ and I can definitely see the results. I feel more comfortable and more kindness towards others. There is still much to do, but it is going well.
Also they lifted like a 2 year ban on basketball, so that was cool too.
The first of these is a less-active family, the Millers, that had mostly fallen off the radar for us. But we decided to stop by. The dad answered and let us in. We found out that his wife is a less-active member, and three of their fives kids are too. The other two kids, in high school and middle school, are unbaptized. The family has talked to missionaries off and on for a while and they were pretty cool. They don't go to church because they think it is boring and the non-member husband is not that into religion. We totally could teach and baptize the kids which is cool, but they is a pretty slim chance they would stay active. We would have to get them to like going to church and would probably have to get the whole family on board. We are going to talk to the ward about it, but they might have some potential.
The next one was pretty interesting, we were out and about when we got a random text saying that they had time tonight to talk to us. We were pretty confused because we didn't have their information. We asked and found out it was a less-active we have been trying to talk with for a since I got here. We get in and sit down with the husband (Nathan) who we actually didn't know anything about. Turns out, he is a less-active member and the only person we had any information on was his daughter that lives there with him. It was a very interesting conversation. He was pretty up-to-date on news from the church and has been active most of his life, he even served a mission. However, he doesn't agree with some of the culture and policies associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And because of that and some other things we don't know about, he is completely inactive and separate from the church. It was a pretty weird conversation because he would say something that sounded like he was going to argue with us about, but then would be totally chill and not be bad at all. In the middle of our chat, he asked us what our favorite missionary work scripture was. Elder Craig and I found ours and shared. Then he shared 3 Nephi 3:7 which basically says "join our cult" (this scripture is taken from a letter from the leader of this cult, who opposes God's people). Missionaries joke about this scripture all the time because 1 Nephi 3:7 is an awesome scripture about following God commandments but 3 Nephi 3:7 is almost the complete opposite. Nathan knew this was a joke but it really wasn't what we were expecting. We left a while later. It was sad to see someone who has served a mission go completely inactive like him. He knows so much about the church and the gospel but doesn't be apart of it. I really, really don't want to end up like that.
I started writing this Saturday morning not expecting too many things to happen but today I was wrong. It started when we were able to have a great chat with Suzi. It was a great discussion, and she definitely isn't ready to be taught but she could definitely get there and she is pretty cool. She talked about she had done research into the church and had read some of the Book of Mormon. It was super cool.
Then Elder Craig felt prompted that we should push our dinner back, and to do some more work, before going back to eat. We were greatly rewarded for following this prompting. We had four people answer that have rarely answered before and set up return appointments with two of them. It was incredible.
Then randomly it was foggy this week. It was super foggy at 6 at night and got even foggier the rest of the night. It was super random and driving was a little challenging. It was so foggy, that you could see all the tiny particulates and it felt like walking through a mist. It sometimes gets foggy at night like that here, it was pretty weird. Then the next few days it was foggy in the morning too, but that isn't unusually.
This Sunday was pretty cool for the Ashton Park ward. We got a new Bishopric! We were suspecting it would happen soon, but it was surprising to see the entire stake presidency there when we walked in (The stake presidency is in charge of the stake which covers several wards, they also call new bishoprics). The new bishopric are all pretty young and all really cool people. It was funny because I have never actually met the new bishop. I know the two counselors well, but not the bishop. Anyway, it was a super spiritual meeting as they all bore their testimonies and were called. We are excited to see them lead this ward.
This week also held my 3rd zone conference (the last one was a mission tour so it is a little different). We met with a few other zones and there was about 80 missionaries there. The main thing talked about was Jesus Christ and our efforts to become more like him in our work. I took a lot of cool notes and it was probably my favorite zone conference so far. There was a lot really great messages and I felt the spirit a lot during it.
This week it was made clear to me that the work still moves on, it varies a lot day to day but it never ceases. Each day I work more and more to become more like Christ and I can definitely see the results. I feel more comfortable and more kindness towards others. There is still much to do, but it is going well.
Also they lifted like a 2 year ban on basketball, so that was cool too.
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| Foggy Fog |
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