I have enjoyed this week so much. Definitely one of my most favorite weeks on my mission so far!
This
week President Schmitt really wanted us to focus on teaching people not
lessons. Teaching to their needs and following the spirit. So a lot of
our lessons didn't go according to plan but it's OK because we helped
them in a way that they needed.
After P day
last Tuesday we went on splits. I went with Brother Day who is a
member of the Bishopric. It was kinda last minute and he told us that
it's probably a good thing that we called him because he just planned on
playing video games all night haha! Brother Day actually used to be a
member of the RLDS church and switched.
We went and visited Richard who
is a recent convert who just got the priesthood. We asked him what he
knew about the priesthood and he told us that he thought it was an
initiation to a club or something. Me and brother Day were really
surprised so that's what we taught him and we feel like he has a better
understanding now.
Wednesday
was a really good day. We had a lot of appointments during the day but
at night we had some time that we set aside to contact some referrals. The first guy we tried to go see lied to us about who he was because
we went and knocked on his door and we asked if the guy was Kenny and
he said no so we went back to the car and we called him. It went to
voicemail and the voicemail said his name was Kenny. Then the dude
called us back and got all mad at us for calling him and knocking on his
door. Then Elder Arney called him to repentance and told him not to lie
anymore haha XD.
Right after that we were debating whether to go try another
referral because it was 8:45
and we could have just gone home but we decided to be diligent and try
one more. That's how we met Charlotte. She is living with
her father-in-law and her 6 year old son and has been going to a
different ward for about 3 months. She already knows the gospel
is true and already knows that she wants to get baptized so she has a
date for February 28!
On Friday
we had zone meeting! My zone leaders Elder Arnsten and Elder Jennings
are amazing! One thing that stuck out to me was when Elder Arnsten said
that as missionaries we didn't sign up to be movers or gardeners or
mechanics or therapists but that's what we do because we love the Lord
and are representing him and we love the people we teach. Zone meeting
was pretty fun. Elder Nielsen (my trainer) and Elder Harrison from San
Diego zone are in my zone so zone meeting was a blast!
On Saturday
we went and helped Peter (my recent convert) with Family History so he
could take a name to the temple. It was pretty sweet. We added his dad and
grandfather and it just filled in like 15 generations. It was crazy. The other crazy thing was that all his temple work on his dad's side is
already done so we are going to keep working on getting him a name!
Later that night we had a prompting to go see Lilly and Alice. Alice is a
recent convert and when we stopped by Lilly told us that Alice was really sad and having a hard time. We
tried to help her but Lilly really wanted Alice to meet with the Bishop so
we set something up with Bishop Prescott to meet with her.
On Sunday
we tell Bishop a little more about what's going on and he told us that
he cancelled everything during second hour to see her. So when church
starts we see Lilly without Alice and we ask where she is and she told
us that she is at home. We tell bishop that and he tells us that we are
going to visit her during second hour still. So we go over and bishop
helps her so much. Her grandfather, who isn't a member, was really
surprised that bishop would leave church to come see if his granddaughter
was OK. He was so surprised and he could feel the Spirit so strong that
he told us that he wanted learn how to become a member of this church!
Yesterday
I went on Exchanges with Elder Arnsten! He is my zone leader and is
amazing. We get along really well and I learned a lot from him and we saw
a lot of miracles. One cool one we saw was that we got a call from a
member in the ward who had got in a bike accident and couldnt leave
his house. He asked if we could go to the store for him so we did and
on the way Elder Arnsten gave this homeless guy $5, which was nice of
him. Then when got in the store we see this member and she gives us
$5 to pay for the things that we had for the other member! It was a way
cool miracle!
Later that night Elder Arnsten had a prompting to go visit
Dawn who has COPD which is a lung Disease and she is really struggling.
We stop by and she is just about to go inside and she told us that she
was kinda ignoring them because she had a lot going on. We talked
with her for a little longer and we asked if there was anything we could
do to help her and she said no. Then I had strong prompting to to
share Moroni 7:46 with her and told her to let us show charity unto her. She just started to cry and she opened up to us and she told us
some things that she really needed help with.
Sweetwater
is amazing! The members here are on fire with missionary work. I have
felt the Spirit so much this week it's unbelievable! I know that this is
the true church of Jesus Christ and that as you follow the promptings of
the Spirit and obey the commandments you will feel closer to your
Savior and you will gain direction in your life! Since I have been on my
mission I have found a greater love for my Savior and for his atonement
and I challenge you all to "go to Gethsemane" as Elder Ballard told us
to do and feel of the love that he has for you!
Love,
Elder Chris LaRochelle
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