believe this is happening. It's take 21 months to finally have someone
decide to enter the waters of baptism but it's happening. I am so
happy and I don't think I've felt this much joy in a while. I love
Dennis so much, it's the best feeling ever. I love being here.
Anyways! This week has been good. A little slow, but good nonetheless!
Wednesday we had dinner with a Brother Doxford, we had some chicken
buffalo and meat lovers pizza and seriously, it was way too tasty.
Elder Smiley and I both over ate and had a terrible night. But the
food was good, I got to say the "night night" prayer for the Doxfords
daughter Grace. I am excited to be a dad, it was an incredible feeling
to pray for their daughter. It was an honor to be chosen to pray for
her. It was kind of weird but it was awesome. I love brother Doxford,
he is such an awesome guy and he is totally someone I look up to, and
I aspire to be like him some day.
Thursday was epic, so epic. I got to do 2 Baptismal interviews for
Liliana and Shira Pareja who got baptized on Saturday. It was really
fun and it's cool to have that opportunity to interview people and act
as the lords representative. We did weekly planning, got mail and
headed back to our chapel. The highlight of the night is meeting with
Dennis with Sister Andersen and being able to teach him what he needs.
He is prepared and it was a good visit. There were some lightning
storms which were amazing to see the clouds being lit up, it's
wonderful.
Friday we were supposed to do an APF with water cups and give runners
cups of water to drink but someone jacked the ice we had and the cups
so that was no good. We did the big Book of Mormon board instead and
talked to a lot of cool people. We talked to this Jewish dude who took
a Book of Mormon. Then to surprisingly well versed Muslim, Christian,
Warlock, homeless, drunk guy named Daniel who said he was a lieutenant
in the army. He told us he loves us and he will read the book too. It
was great, he was acting out some cool fights and he told me of a
story of when God helped him rob some shoes because "God needs them".
It was hilarious! We talked to this guy named Alexie, he went to
English class in Russia and he read the entire Book of Mormon but he
finds it hard to believe in God and he created everything. And he has
a hard time with the law of chastity. He said some things that were
unexpected but super funny. He said it over and over again, it was
hard to restrain the laughter. Anyways. We taught our recent convert
Avi about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We then did a ton of look ups,
like so many. That's pretty much it.
Saturday we did service at the temple village and made sandwiches, it
was great. We ate lunch at home and did a quick comp study and then
headed to the temple/Lincoln Square building to go to a baptism with
Dennis to show him another one. On our way to the train station from
our apartment, it was cloudy and it looked like it was gonna rain,
then we got to the 59th street station at Columbus circle and we walk
out side and it's beautifully sunny but clearly we just missed the
rain storm. It was still raining and there wasn't even a cloud in the
sky. Weird but it was refreshing. The baptism was amazing, the spirit
was really strong. Especially as the sisters taught the restoration
right after they were baptized as they were changing clothes. The
spirit was incredibly strong. We taught Dennis the rest of the
lessons, eternal marriage, temples and family history. It was a good
feeling too. He likes everything and he continually says that he wants
to be baptized in one of the fonts in the temple. (The Pamphlet we use
has pictures inside the temple). It was great. We rode the 1 train
back to 14th street with Dennis and he told us that he will put in a
good word to God for us, haha it was awesome! We did look ups
afterwards and sister Andersen took us out to this burrito place, it
was yummy.
Sunday was good too, church was spiritual and the talks were great.
Dennis and Reggie came, that's it. It did bum us out because we were
expecting a ton of our investigators but that's missionary life.
Sometimes people don't follow through with their commitments and
that's how you know if they are sincere or not. Church was good and I
definitely love learning at church, I love being to church half an
hour early as a missionary. I want to be there 10 minutes early when
I'm home. I know I've changed my perspective on church and I want to
go every week to partake of the sacrament. We are seriously blessed
with the restored truth, it's too awesome and sometimes unreal but I'm
grateful to be a member of this church. We did some look ups after
coordination with brother Leal. We taught Yun over FaceTime and talked
with him about his prayer and reading and he says he will do that. We
had dinner with the Maddux's and they were excited about Dennis'
baptism. It was announced at the end of sacrament meeting and in
priesthood. We have a lot of people coming and we are way excited!
Monday we had a surprise zone meeting, about how to work with members
and how to keep our faith up. It was a good meeting and they have some
new district videos that we have been watching and using in meetings.
We have been using Facebook for teaching and adding investigators on
Facebook as we first contact them. It's been super helpful. We can
send them videos in between visits and if they are say out of the
county we can chat with them and teach them through Facebook
messenger. So if you see me on Facebook, it's because I am. We taught
Tony afterwards at his work and we told him we are gonna drop by
occasionally but he isn't interested and he tries to tempt us. We
shared a video and the spirit was there but he chose to joke around
afterwards. It was very unsuccessful. We did the B.O.M board out front
of the church and talked to this guy named Chris Washington who lives
in Canarsie Brooklyn but he was walking down the street praying to God
for help and then he comes in contact with us immediately afterwards.
We promised him if he read and prays and meets with us that his life
will be better and he can find purpose. He is also looking for a
church who does Immersion baptism. He is solid and we will see if we
can meet with him. Then we talked to this guy named Neil who passes us
on occasion. He talked to us and said he would be interested in seeing
what our church looks like. Then we talked to Reggie Moody who lives
in the Bronx and he gave us all his info to send to those
missionaries. Super solid. We taught Yun over FaceTime and skyped in
Brother Poon. We connected 3 places in 1 call where the spirit could
be felt. Super dope.
Tuesday we ate Chinese food, then did some Tracting and went to a
random floor in a random project and the first door we knocked, the
door opened completely we shook his hand and taught him the entire
restoration. We got his Facebook and all his info and invited him to
the baptism on Saturday. The spirit was there as well and he says we
can come by. Then this dude passed us and we said hey, then 2 doors
later we knocked on his door, he opened up we shook his hand and
taught the entire restoration. The spirit was there and it was cool to
see those miracles. It's cool to be a missionary for sure. It all
happened because our appointment got moved 2 hours later. We had to
get mail and then go see one of our members, Luis. We talked about the
importance of church and why he needs to go. He doesn't come every
week but he does come twice a month. We went to our church to get
ready for Dennis to come to fill out his baptismal record. President
came early and met with elder smiley and Dennis came and he showed me
his pass ports and man. Young Dennis. It's funny. He's 75 years old.
Haha. It was cool to have president meet Dennis and elder smiley and I
were smiling so big it was great. Then the interview happened and it
took like 30 minutes and it killed elder smiley and I, the anxiety but
Dennis Passed! Woot! We met with Dennis later that night with Brother
Swiss who is conducting the meeting. Brother Swiss served in Russia
for his mission and he helped Dennis a lot. We read 3 Nephi 11 and
Dennis told us he notices something about members, he can tell who is
members and he wonders when people can tell that Dennis is a member.
Brother Swiss talked about how it's a continuing process and the Holy
Ghost does that. It was very spiritual and Dennis was comforted. We
showed him the jump suit he will wear for the baptism. I am so excited
and I'm grateful to have the opportunity to bring someone down to the
waters of baptism, New York is my waters of Mormon. Dennis will always
have a special place in my heart. I love the gospel!
I was reading a conference talk from April of 2003 by President James
E Faust called "The Devils throat" and there are some quotes I'd like
to share.
“If you cross to the devil’s side of the line one inch, you are in the
tempter’s power, and if he is successful, you will not be able to
think or even reason properly, because you will have lost the spirit
of the Lord.”
"If we are conscientiously trying to avoid not only evil but the very
appearance of evil, we will act for ourselves and not be acted upon."
"Preparation, work, study, and service are required to achieve and
find happiness."
"All of us want to find out who we really are and what our place is in
the world. Some of you young people are trying to find your identity
by being different from your parents and families in what they stand
for. God made each of us to be different from anyone else in the
world, as our DNA and fingerprints prove. You don’t have to work at
having a separate identity; you already have one."
"the worldly influences of evil will likely increase, and more people
will become vulnerable to the deceit and enticement of Satan."
There is a lot in these quotes. Satans influence is real, don't allow
yourself to cross the line, don't even look for a line to cross, stay
as far away from the line as possible. I like how he talks about how
we can find lasting happiness. I would invite you all to read that.
“One of the best things in the world to be is a boy; it requires no
experience, but needs some practice to be a good one.” It's true.
1. Hair cut last week, just in time for the baptism.
2. This guy named Alexie from Friday's APF.
3. Zelda Hyrulean shield and an old school link.
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