Sometimes I wonder if God just likes to hit us with blessings from a direction we didn't fully expect when our attention is elsewhere, like a cheapshot ball to the face in dodgeball. Or water polo.
Anyway, as I was saying last week, or should have been saying last week, we've been getting a lot of referrals. Some of them have been for Marshallese people who are already going to church. One of these people we went and saw yesterday. As my companion was committing her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, I got an impression I followed through on.
"Have you already read from and prayed about the Book of Mormon?"
"Yes."
"How did you feel?"
"That it's true."
I asked her the same thing about Joseph Smith, receiving the same response. Blessing smack to the face! I invited her to be baptized, and she agreed. My companion, either unaware or else having forgotten her current story, invited her to pray about a date to be baptized and that whatever that date was we'd make sure she was able to be baptized on that day. He asked when she would be able to pray about it and when we could meet next. She said she'd pray that night and would be ready to meet with us today. I later informed my companion that she is living with a man that is a member whom she is not married to and would kind of need to have that taken care of before baptism. I would have brought it up in the lesson but didn't feel a need to, letting him give the promise and see what may come. We had taken a couple of Marshallese Young Men with us to the appointment to help them prep for their missions. We let them know afterwards just how rare such a thing is. We've been meeting a lot with those two young men this week, preparing them to teach the lessons to the aunt and cousin of one of those young men. Once they are prepared we'll start teaching them, I'm thinking that will give nearly the same results. I LOVE MARSHALLESE PEOPLE! One of the young men made a really good point, however, that, despite her good english and insistence that she didn't have any questions, probably didn't understand a good portion of the lessons. We may need to have them translate a lot from now on. While one of those young men has only been a member for a few months and was on the wildside before then, both of these young men have the deepest respect from Elder Unsicker and me. They are probably a couple of the most stalwart Aaronic Priesthood holders we've seen on our missions. We're also finding more ways to work with the members, using a concept Elder Unsicker brought from his last zone which is GREAT. We shared it with a family last night and, as Elder Unsicker informs me is the norm, there were tears shed. The major point of the spiritual thought is to have the members set a baptismal goal of their own for the year. In order to double baptisms, all of the members just have to invite 1.2 more people. It's really just that simple. Remember everyone, you're the finders, we're the teachers. Don't you dare, however, try to find without the Spirit. Pray about it and God will direct you. And don't think us missionaries simply assume that it's easy to talk to your friends and that it's simple to refer people to us to teach. Remember, I tried to talk to my friends back at home, too, but I also got missionary experiences because I was praying for them. They didn't come the way I though they would, but they came.
Anyway.
We also followed up with a referral from a member in Bettendorf. It was for her uncle. He has some pretty interesting ideas that revolve mostly around agnosticism. We're trying to focus on just how cut and dry and scientific the experimentation of the truth is: try it out, pray about it, and the Spirit will tell you it's true. Simple as that. I don't know if he will just consider himself too old to change or something, we'll see. We also are still meeting with people in Galena, including a man who is praying about baptism. That was a great and spiritual lesson on just how important the Gift of the Holy Ghost is and how the little flashes of light he gets when we come will be a constant sunlight when he receives that gift. We also taught another investigator in Galena. A good portion of that is more or less convincing her not to drink herself to death. Luckily she did keep her promise and was sober for this lesson.
Some of the investigators that Elder Noel and I were trying to follow up with all last transfer are either sort of dropping us or else I'm just saying forget it about. We're getting enough better stuff in this area that I don't need to keep wasting the Lord's time trying to meet up with people that won't even call us back.
I've also been happy to do a lot of bike riding. A good portion of the week was in the car, however, it slipped back and forth from Death by Storm to Death by Cold. I was pretty proud of myself yesterday in that I biked all of the hills except one without walking. My asthma didn't like it much, so I took my inhaler, just to discover that I had chosen the one that had been expired for over a year. That was fun.
Also it seems that we're on better terms with our landlords. We met them in person and they were much nicer. I think that Elder Jahn, who is over the apartments in the office, worked his magic when he called them. We're still keeping our eyes open, though, for apartments just in case.
Sadly, however, with all of this stuff going on, we are going to be out of town for a couple days due to a meeting Elder Unsicker has to go to. It's one of the leadership meetings I've been to in the past, but now they're inviting everyone who's never gone before, too. And since I have no leadership and have been before, I get to stay... but not in Dubuque. Due to mileage conditions, I'll be staying in Savanna, a small-town area with little going for it and a branch that is so small, the missionaries are basically the first and second counselors. It seems odd that while there is a branch that is on the verge of collapse there, we're working on starting a Marshallese Branch, here. I'm hoping it's created before I leave. Anyway, we just found this out last night, so we have to cancel some stuff and refigure it all out. Great stuff is going to go down, I know it. I love this area, I love this ward, I love the Marshallese, and I love the work.
--
Love,
The Transcendentally Beautiful Elder Gates
(Doctrine and Covenants 137:2)
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