This week was a good one. Not to say that I didn't see miracles, but nothing too spectacular happened. We spend a lot of time working with members since that's where President Riggs says that's where our focus should be. I love teaching them the missionary lessons, even though they already know the material. It just proves that even though I'm the one speaking, the real teacher is the spirit! There is ALWAYS something new to be learned, or remembered from the simple doctrines of Christ's church!
We always try to take an hour every day to find people to teach. We don't always get around to it because we have many appointments to run to. But one evening we were checking on a less active member. She wasn't home. We know that God has a purpose for sending us to each place we go each day, so we decided to make the most of the time we had in that small neighborhood. We knocked on every cute little townhouse door we could see. No one was too interested, but most people were polite. Which I DEFINITELY appreciate. I mean, rejection is hard enough as it is! Sister Hansen and I do a pretty good job keeping in good spirits though. We make it fun! My favorite door of that night was a grumpy old man. Haha. It was one of those moments where I really wish I had been holding a camera so I could show him how silly he was acting. It was my turn to introduce ourselves and who we represent, so I gave a nice musical knock. This gentleman opened the door and immediately looked confused. Our conversation went something like this:
"Hello? What can I do for you?"
"Hello Sir! My name is Sister Anderson and this is Sister Hansen! What's your name?"
"Um. Okaayy. What do you want?"
"We just want you to know that your Father in Heaven loves you so much! He--"
"Wait. Who are you?"
"Representatives of Jesus Christ."
"OHHH you people are SICK!!!!!!! GET out of here!"
"OHHH you people are SICK!!!!!!! GET out of here!"
*starts doing a little dance*
"YAH just get off my porch. Come back when you find a God that cares about people!" (Goes on his angry rant for a bit longer...)
"Okay sir, have a good night! :) Goodbye"
Oh man. I couldn't even believe it. I mean, sure people yell at us all the time (you could call it an occupational hazard), but he was the worst by far. I walked away wishing that people would be a little more mature with how they handled themselves. I wish people really knew that we are not walking around just trying to convert people. I mean what do we have to gain? Nothing from a worldly perspective! We talk to as many people as we can every single day so that they can experience the same happiness that this gospel brings into our lives! If they REALLY understood Jesus Christ and His teachings, they would at least give this message a chance. I do not care about numbers. I care about helping my brothers and sisters realize their full potential that they can achieve in this life and the life to come. This is a gospel of love. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ! :)
Anywhooo. That was a fun one. :) I've been learning a lot about people and how different everyone really is. I'm grateful for every experience I've had on my mission and I can't wait for more to come.
We had another lesson with Chad this week. It was a rough one. He is really closed off to anything and everything we say. One of the members that we brought with us to his lesson was bearing his testimony, and Chad cut him off to yell, "NO. Absolutely NOT. I could NEVER believe that." Sooooo....... we decided not to teach him for a while. We are going to focus our efforts on people that are prepared and receptive! Not that we're completely forgetting about Chad, but we're just going to let him simmer down for a little bit until the right set of missionaries feel inspired to start teaching him again. He's a great person! He just doesn't see us as representatives of Jesus Christ... everything we say isn't credible to him and he blows us off. His lessons are just so stressful! So it'll be nice to take a good break for a while. :)
We had a last lesson with Brother Garlock this week! He moved to North Carolina. We prayed about what our last lesson should be about, and we felt like he needed to be reminded of repentance. Again. We gave him a going away gift! We gave him a pen...I had taped a piece of paper to it that said rePENt! in really big letters. Hahaha! So cheesy. But I love it!
Sister Hansen, Sister Taylor and I got to sing our "Amazing Grace" again at a New Member Fireside. There were about 5 new members of the church that bore their testimonies about why they decided to join the church. The spirit was so strong! Their stories about their conversion to Christ are so touching. I felt so blessed to share my testimony with them through song.
I love being a missionary. It really is the best thing I've ever done in all 20 years of my life! I'm learning so much about myself, my Savior, and what I need to do/become in order to become more like Him.
Transfers are coming up this week! I'll be getting a phone call hopefully tonight or tomorrow night that will confirm whether or not I'll be staying or leaving. (I'm probably leaving though. President Riggs himself told me that it was about time. haha!) I'll be sure to email you my new address as soon as I find out!
Love you! Have a great week!!!!
Love,
Sister Anderson
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| Julie @ Arlington National Cemetary |
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