hello from a beautiful day in Eagan Minnesota!!!
Sorry i couldn't email yesterday...the library was closed for the 4th of July so that means no computer. ha ha. Everything has been going pretty awesome here!!! I absolutely loved to celebrate the 4th of July!!! Me and Elder Baker were able to go to the parade in Eagan with 2 other Elders who are serving in Farmington. I am so grateful for our Heavenly Fathers love and support for the Founding Fathers, who were truly God-inspired men determined to find this choice land prepared by our Father in Heaven. I'm so thankful that we have the freedom of religion in this country because it allowed for the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to come to pass. It allowed Joseph Smith to bring forth our Heavenly Fathers work and glory upon the face of the earth before the Saviors Second Coming. Such a blessing that we all have in our lives, to live in this wonderful nation given to us by our Father in Heaven.
Anyways, I'm starting to be able to approach people a little bit better. I'm not perfect by ANY means though. ha ha. In fact just yesterday, there was a lady about 20 years old. we knocked on her door and she opened...lets just say her outfit wasn't the most modest of all clothes. lol so i was so embarrassed because i wouldn't look at her because of her outfit. I was sweating up a storm (the humidity didn't help of course). I kind of had no idea what to do so Elder Baker took over and thankfully, she is now a potential investigator. So I'm glad the Lord blessed me with a companion to bail me out whenever i mess up due to inexperience. ha ha I'll get used to it and I'll get better at it, but talking to people is so much harder than i thought because when people reject the gospel in a rude manner, it's sad. These people are saying no to something that I KNOW will bless their lives. but I'm praying for them. I'm also praying for myself that i will know what to say to people when i am finding them.
Unfortunately, the work is still moving pretty slow and I found out that it is because the last elders somehow abused the trust of the members and now its my responsibility, as well as Elder Baker, to get that trust from the members back. It is so key to have the trust of members because a good chunk of the people baptized are from referrals from members. So we are struggling with that. But the Lord has blessed us with at least one potential investigator everyday since last Thursday. But there are ALLLOOOTTTTTTT of Lutheran and Roman Catholic people up here. I think I officially despise the statement: "Sorry. I'm Catholic/Lutheran. I'm happy with that faith." Its soooo frustrating because we're not trying to take away that faith that they already have in Jesus Christ, we just want to strengthen it and add some more truths to the ones that they already have!!! but it's their agency and we are always here to help them if they ever need any help. We met some Jehovah's Witnesses and surprisingly, they were VERY nice to us. Elder Baker said that they usually get pretty nasty with missionaries. So we haven't met with Dylan yet because he is still with his dad. I believe we are meeting with him on Thursday so ill let you all know what happens. We haven't met with the Nelson family, Timothy, or Jennifer yet either. Not a lot of people actually follow up with us unless they are actually trying to come closer to Jesus Christ. However, we did have a few lessons! First was for Sister Orvela Hampton. She is an upper aged African women who is a less-active member in the Church. She lives in a nursing home due to Crones disease. She had just a couple of problems. First off, her granddaughter is sadly starting become a lesbian. :[ We taught her about the Atonement and about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End). Just as I was bearing my testimony of repentance, she also mentioned that she had some Word of Wisdom issues. We are working with her to come to Church again, to read the Book of Mormon, and to apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ in her life. She said she appreciated my testimony and it brings me SOOOOOOOOOOOO much joy that i am now touching people's lives in behalf of the Lord. I can't even begin to explain the pure happiness that it gives me. Next, we taught a less-active family, the Schweigert family. They have 2 little kids and a dog. I don't know their names yet (there are soooooo many names to remember in the mission!) so bear with me. The father REALLY wants to receive the priesthood to bless his family. So we are working with him to reactivate them to full activity in the church so that they can enjoy these blessings as well as their desire to go to the temple to be sealed for all time and eternity. Finally, we are teaching a less active member named Kathy. She is a unique less active member. She doesn't believe in Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon but she believes in the Doctrine and Covenants. We committed her to pray about these things last time and she said that she'd do it. So we will see what happens when we meet with her tomorrow and help her receive that personal witness from the Spirit that these things are true. So that's all that has been happening in the area of Eagan other than LOTS of tracting! haha
So last Friday, there was ALMOST A TORNADO!!! IT was a HOT HUMID DAY (about 105 degrees with 90% humidity) but then it got cloudy around 7 and then the skies turned green!!! It was sooooo crazy!!! we were pretty excited. lol. It turned out to be a VERY severe thunderstorm. Lightning was constantly lighting the sky. haha unfortunately there happened to be a tornado in a different area. it did some damage but nothing too major. There was a part-member family whose driveway was covered with trees. The very next day, their branch came to help them clear the trees and after that, the father of the family was so impressed with their self-less service that he said that he wanted to be baptized after 10 years of investigating the Church. That is an amazing miracle. There are miracles in this mission everyday and they are all amazing!
So I'm sorry that i forgot to provide a spiritual thought last week so to make up for that, i found a very touching quote from President Boyd K. Packer for those who feel that all is lost in their life or that there is no hope: "Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and you cannot fix is the very purpose of the Atonement of Christ...there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the Atonement of Christ." Brothers and Sisters I know that this is truly the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ not only because i see it working in my life but also in the lives of those that i come in contact with. I know that it has the ultimate enabling power to heal us of any inner wound or struggle that we have in our lives. That is why we should never give up, no matter what! there is always hope in ALL of the lives of God's children. Find someone who is struggling and share this good news of hope with them. I love you all and ill talk to you in another week! YOUUUUUU BETCHYAAA! ;]
Love,
Elder Mower
Dear Family:
Thank you soooooo much for the sweet letters and notes that you wrote to me. I want each of you to know individually how much i love you! You are the ones that matter most to me. As i take on the most challenging, yet best, 2 years of serving the Lord in my life, you are my biggest fans and encouragers. It is through your love that helps me press on in the hard times. Every time the adversary attacks with anything, I hear your sweet voices shout for joy exhorting me to carry on! and I find that the hard times are not defining my mission, they are refining it. They are making me stronger. I know that its not easy but I do know that it will be absolutely worth everything. Next P-Day I WILL set some time aside to write each of you a personal letter to each of you. Mom, thank you soooooo much for sending me all of that stuff. I know I ask for a lot sometimes but you so willingfully do it for me. I'm so grateful for that. Dad, Thank you for sharing your mission experiences! They helped remind me that the hard times are only for a short time. I love you all MORE THAN ANYTHING! <3333333333333 Ill talk to you soon! :]]]
Love Your son, brother, and missionary
Elder Mower
No comments:
Post a Comment