Last PDay we were in a hurry to rush off to Ames to eat with the other missionaries at a pizza place called Old Chicago. It was very good. This district is fun. President keeps telling us in our emails to quit having fun on PDAY and use it as a day to slave drive ourselves to prepare for the rest of the week. But... I need fun too. My new boots are very nice and warm. I can wear plain socks in them in freezing tempatures and not be bothered. They are very well insulated.
Well, my last week was dandy.
The work is picking up. We have not been able to get the Branch President's referral, to set up an appointment with us yet. I was excited for that one. I wanted to rumble with the Bible in the name of knowing that Mormonism was Biblical. I fear the adversary is making him super busy and pre-occupied with life that he's putting meeting with us on the bottom of his priorities so that I'll be transfered away by the time he wants to meet with us and Im worried there won't be another elder who would be as excited as me to help him delve into serious investigation of the BOok of Mormon. Bummer, but i hope he will still meet with us.
The work is picking up. We have not been able to get the Branch President's referral, to set up an appointment with us yet. I was excited for that one. I wanted to rumble with the Bible in the name of knowing that Mormonism was Biblical. I fear the adversary is making him super busy and pre-occupied with life that he's putting meeting with us on the bottom of his priorities so that I'll be transfered away by the time he wants to meet with us and Im worried there won't be another elder who would be as excited as me to help him delve into serious investigation of the BOok of Mormon. Bummer, but i hope he will still meet with us.
This is the start of my 3rd week with Wayland, crazy, time flies.
Brother Hunt, Our awesome branch mission leader, gave us a referal for one of his friends. We established contact. She is very excited to sit down with us and talk about stuff. We went over there for our appointment and she was in the shower so she never heard us knock. We left a book of Mormon with a testimony in it on her doorstep, and we have yet to contact her again, but she told Brother Hunt that she's excited to meet with us and she wants us to re-establish contact soon.
Other than that, we've been tearing through the Area book visiting formers. We went up to Jewel, and we found a former investigator. He told us he'd been waiting a couple months for us to come back. he said he'd been reading our book and he was excited to talk about it. There was another one who is a Very philosophical man. Very interesting guy. We got to talking and he basically believes everything we believe about the greater things of our religion. That we existed as spiritual beings before we came here and we are here in training to become better than we were before and then we're going to go back to where and what we were before. He kept saying though, "but i'm never quitting my coffee." That's his way of saying he's never going to join an organized religion. he informed us about the scripture that says where two or three are gathered in the Lord's name, there will he be in the midst of them, or in other words, hey guys we're having church right now, the three of us, and that satisfies him as far as his cravings to go to church. he says if he ever was compelled in his heart to join a church it would be ours. He shared a lot of his philosophical theories with us that I rather enjoyed listening to. he's got books about this theory and that theory strewn all around his house, they were all about space and stuff like that. My kind of stuff. Love that stuff. He told us to come back soon.
We found one last former , she is agnostic, but told us she loves having us in to talk. We told her we're not about just getting people to come to our church, we try to help people find God and Christ for themselves and we ask them to let us bring them as close to the Godhead and they will let us. She consented to a prayer before we left. She told us all about how the economy is stressing her and her husband out so bad. She can't find a job, and his job is trucking, barely making profit and it requires him to be gone all the time. We explained to her how we pray and then we prayed and we prayed that her and her husband would be lifted up and comforted and that they'd be able to know GOd's hand in their life and be able to see the many blessings that they still have, instead of being stressed about what they don't have. After we said amen, we looked up to see her rubbing tears from her eyes. She apologized and said she didn't know what on earth she was crying for, but she said that a huge portion of the stress on her shoulders seemed to melt away as she listened to our prayer. We seized the oppurtunity to explain the holy Ghost to her and that he is our friend and comforter and also testifies to our hearts that God and Christ are real and that they care about us. Elder Wayland had yet to have an experience like that on his mission. He liked seeing that alot. I so much enjoy seeing all our struggles bear fruit when we see the hand of God reaching out to his children to let them know of his love. It takes a lot to get him to do it, but when he does it all pays off. Becoming aquainted with the hand of God and Christ on my mission has been its own reward. It is such sweet fruit.
I was rebuked after the block last sunday for having my nose in my scriptures all the time instead of listening to the speaker. I did it through sacrament meeting, not so much throuigh gospel principles, but all through Priesthood. I'll listen to the speakers and they tell me truths that I start to ponder heavily which takes me into the scriptures and the spirit teaches me wonderful insights about the gospel. But, while I do that, I cease listening to the speaker. Hmm, one problem I have to overcome. I'm addicted to the scriptures. Save me. (sarcasm)
Well, I'm trying not to think about March too hard. But time is flying so fast. It'll be over before I know it. Man, that stinks, but on the other hand I'm excited to come home, see family, taste the Babylon I've been so seperated from since my mission call, etc. I love you guys. Love the gospel too. It's freedom, not bondage. Freedom from bondage to sin. I guess, we're either servants to one master or the other, God or the Devil. Paul talks about how he loves being a "slave" to Jesus Christ moreso than being the Devil's. God lets us forsake his service anytime we want, but the Devil grabs us with chains and will not let us go ever until we cry out for Christ to come and break the chains. One or the other, there's really no middle ground. Have a great day and enjoy youth olympics.
ELder Cathcart :)
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