Anyway, this week has been pretty good. We are starting to get quite a few potentials and we are going to be doing a lot of less active work here pretty quick.
We have done some fun things this last week. Last P day we played basketball with the Elders. That was super fun but kinda awkward. It was uncomfortable to have to watch every move you made so you didn't bump into one of the Elders. One of the Elders ran into me and I felt so awkward. Haha, I didn't really want to become such an odd missionary that is so awkward when I get home, but I guess it's happening!
We also got to do a service project for the first time on my whole mission! I haven't worn jeans in 6 months! 6 MONTHS!!! I had to squeeze into those suckers! Then it made me question why I EVER thought jeans were comfortable. But as I continued to wear them, they weren't so bad. We helped one of the kids in the ward for his Eagle Scout Project. We planted new flowers into pots downtown. It was a really fun way to get to know more members and to help out. Plus it was the most PERFECT day for it too! It was overcast and breezy and felt awesome. Everybody keeps telling us to savor it because it is getting HOT. We also have another service project this week so that also will be fun :)
This week we met with an old woman. She is inactive and has been for a long time. We have visited her before and this week we were able to uncover some of her concerns. It was super cool. We went completely by the spirit and we were able to ask inspired questions like crazy to be able to uncover those concerns. Turns out, she just joined the church because her husband did and she thought it would make him a better person because he was physically abusive. So she never really had a testimony. Because of that, she only liked the social things, but also got offended easily or just never saw the importance of church. She also loves the bible and had so many questions for us but wanted back up from the Bible. It turns out her other concern had to do with marriage because she is divorced. She thought she was going to have to be a servant to married people in heaven or something. So we were able to help her understand that she will have a chance to be married and we showed her about the Plan of Salvation in the Bible. She told us she wanted evidence from the Bible, and we were able to answer all her questions from it. She was stumped and said we gave her stuff to think about. She agreed to let us teach her the lessons over and we were going to treat her just like an investigator and help her gain that testimony, step by step. I love her so much! She is adorable. So we are excited to help her come back to church and really gain that conversion.
We also taught an active family with a less active son. The lesson went super good and we talked about the Restoration. We asked the son how the scriptures have helped him in his life and he kinda bore his testimony about them! It was really cool. Hopefully he will continue to make progress. We asked them each to read from the Book of Mormon everyday and they all committed to do so. So we will see!
We also taught the mother I talked about before about the Restoration and it went really well too! She was really open and her husband took the kids in the other room so she could really focus. She said she is open to things and has never had the lessons before so she was excited to learn and was curious. However, we took a Book of Mormon to her the next day and she was a lot more closed off. So we aren't sure if something is going on in the home and the inactive husband doesn't want her to learn? But he is always so nice to us and HE is the one that initially let us in the home. So we are trying to figure out what her concerns are.
Also we have some ward missionaries in the ward who are just ON FIRE. They are an older couple but they rock. They are the ones that have a friend we are going to teach. SO we taught their friend this last week and the lesson was FABULOUS. He says he wants to take things slow, but he is really, really, progressing. He agreed with everything we said in the Restoration. The ward missionaries had already given him a Book of Mormon and he said when he read about Joseph Smith in the beginning, he knew right then that he it had to be true and he was a prophet because no one could just make that stuff up. YAY! He also came to the service project. He loves to help and he is going to speak to the youth about being a police officer. He is a retired police officer from Chicago and he was also a fireman for a while. So he is really excited about that. He also came to church and LOVED it.
The ward mission leaders also have another neighbor who they asked if we could practice the lessons on them. The wife said no, but the husband said yes. And they wanted to feed us lunch. So we had lunch on Saturday and they made some fancy stuff and used fancy plates. It was super nice! Then we practiced on the husband with one of our lessons. He loves God and Christ, but he has had the lessons before and just thinks he is right. So maybe someday, his heart will be softened and that seed that we cultivated, will grow :)
Also our assistant ward mission leader here was in PEC with us and had the impression to invite his friend to church so he did. He also loved it and agreed to meet with us this week! Yes! So we will see how that turns out!
We finally made contact with a few people from the area book. We have knocked on everyday door in the area book multiple times and some people were finally home! So we were able to make appointments with them as well. That is exciting!So we have a few people that we have found this week that we are hoping to be able to make new investigators here pretty soon! The Lord really does bless us.
We also got to do a service project for the first time on my whole mission! I haven't worn jeans in 6 months! 6 MONTHS!!! I had to squeeze into those suckers! Then it made me question why I EVER thought jeans were comfortable. But as I continued to wear them, they weren't so bad. We helped one of the kids in the ward for his Eagle Scout Project. We planted new flowers into pots downtown. It was a really fun way to get to know more members and to help out. Plus it was the most PERFECT day for it too! It was overcast and breezy and felt awesome. Everybody keeps telling us to savor it because it is getting HOT. We also have another service project this week so that also will be fun :)
This week we met with an old woman. She is inactive and has been for a long time. We have visited her before and this week we were able to uncover some of her concerns. It was super cool. We went completely by the spirit and we were able to ask inspired questions like crazy to be able to uncover those concerns. Turns out, she just joined the church because her husband did and she thought it would make him a better person because he was physically abusive. So she never really had a testimony. Because of that, she only liked the social things, but also got offended easily or just never saw the importance of church. She also loves the bible and had so many questions for us but wanted back up from the Bible. It turns out her other concern had to do with marriage because she is divorced. She thought she was going to have to be a servant to married people in heaven or something. So we were able to help her understand that she will have a chance to be married and we showed her about the Plan of Salvation in the Bible. She told us she wanted evidence from the Bible, and we were able to answer all her questions from it. She was stumped and said we gave her stuff to think about. She agreed to let us teach her the lessons over and we were going to treat her just like an investigator and help her gain that testimony, step by step. I love her so much! She is adorable. So we are excited to help her come back to church and really gain that conversion.
We also taught an active family with a less active son. The lesson went super good and we talked about the Restoration. We asked the son how the scriptures have helped him in his life and he kinda bore his testimony about them! It was really cool. Hopefully he will continue to make progress. We asked them each to read from the Book of Mormon everyday and they all committed to do so. So we will see!
We also taught the mother I talked about before about the Restoration and it went really well too! She was really open and her husband took the kids in the other room so she could really focus. She said she is open to things and has never had the lessons before so she was excited to learn and was curious. However, we took a Book of Mormon to her the next day and she was a lot more closed off. So we aren't sure if something is going on in the home and the inactive husband doesn't want her to learn? But he is always so nice to us and HE is the one that initially let us in the home. So we are trying to figure out what her concerns are.
Also we have some ward missionaries in the ward who are just ON FIRE. They are an older couple but they rock. They are the ones that have a friend we are going to teach. SO we taught their friend this last week and the lesson was FABULOUS. He says he wants to take things slow, but he is really, really, progressing. He agreed with everything we said in the Restoration. The ward missionaries had already given him a Book of Mormon and he said when he read about Joseph Smith in the beginning, he knew right then that he it had to be true and he was a prophet because no one could just make that stuff up. YAY! He also came to the service project. He loves to help and he is going to speak to the youth about being a police officer. He is a retired police officer from Chicago and he was also a fireman for a while. So he is really excited about that. He also came to church and LOVED it.
The ward mission leaders also have another neighbor who they asked if we could practice the lessons on them. The wife said no, but the husband said yes. And they wanted to feed us lunch. So we had lunch on Saturday and they made some fancy stuff and used fancy plates. It was super nice! Then we practiced on the husband with one of our lessons. He loves God and Christ, but he has had the lessons before and just thinks he is right. So maybe someday, his heart will be softened and that seed that we cultivated, will grow :)
Also our assistant ward mission leader here was in PEC with us and had the impression to invite his friend to church so he did. He also loved it and agreed to meet with us this week! Yes! So we will see how that turns out!
We finally made contact with a few people from the area book. We have knocked on everyday door in the area book multiple times and some people were finally home! So we were able to make appointments with them as well. That is exciting!So we have a few people that we have found this week that we are hoping to be able to make new investigators here pretty soon! The Lord really does bless us.
So I said earlier we were finally able to make contact with people we had been trying to for a while. So the Lord really guided us there because we weren't planning on going to this specific person at the time. We were trying to go to another person but the spirit literally blocked our memories. I knew where we were going but was thinking that they lived in a different neighborhood. So we are riding along and when we got close to a different neighborhood, I finally realize that we had gone the wrong way. I was a little frustrated and though "what was I thinking! I know where they live!" So since we were in the other neighborhood, we decided to knock on a few doors that we also knock on almost everyday. So we knocked, and they were FINALLY home! They were one of the people that set up a return appointment with us! YAY! I truly believe that that was the spirit. We have gone so many times and they are never home.
So my testimony is definitely growing. I know that if we will just listen to the promptings we receive, even if we think it is just us or aren't sure if they are promptings, the only way to know for sure, is to act on them. Then we will be able to recognize those promptings better. I love being a missionary and helping people come closer to Christ. I know this church is true and this is God's work...or else I would have messed it up a long time ago! :)
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