July 15 already!
Hello, family!
A pleasure to read your emails, as always. Tall Ships (Jacob's Scouting adventure) sounds like fun, Oregon (Krista's adventures) sounds like fun too! The figs sound delicious, and the most recent painting (Ken's adventure) is beautiful.
There`s actually not much to tell this week - it rained from Tuesday to Friday, making the missionary work a little tough. Elder Leatham and I had almost cleared out our pool of investigators last week, and we didn`t find any new ones this week. Hopefully with clear skies, we should have more success this week.
I bought a bunch of bananas to eat this week! Pretty tasty!
We had a surprising experience a few days back. We had received a referral from the offices to visit a part-member family who was wanting to come back to church, with a son named F who needed to be baptized. However, when we visited the family, we found that the Sisters who work in the area next to ours had been visiting the family for several months, and that the family had already been activated (and F baptized) into another ward. We weren`t sure what to think about that at first, but later we found out that the sisters had gotten permission to teach the family - their records were already in the Padua ward. Why we got the reference 2 months later, I could not say. But at least that mystery was cleared up!
S is having trouble coming to church - he finishes his job driving taxis and arrives at home at 8:00 Sunday morning. The spirit is willing, but 2 weeks in a row he`s fallen asleep before making it to church. We would appreciate your prayers for him.
That`s all the news I have this week. But next week`s will be longer. ;-) I love you all so much! Enjoy your activities this week.
Elder Stockton
Well, hello! I hope the weather`s good up there! We`ve had some really weird weather here, with 2 very hot days and then the coldest day in my whole mission. And now, it seems as if the cold`s here to stay. I`m bundled up with everything I`ve got. Scarves are a blessing. My feet have gone to sleep in the cyber where we`re writing.
Some good things happened this week. We found some very good `future investigators` to go back and visit this week. One man, when we knocked his door, asked us what had led us to knock his door. He had always seen the missionaries pass by since the time when he was a kid and had wondered what we teach, but none of them ever knocked his house. We met another man named M who loves... Elvis. His first son is named Elvis... his daughter is Pricilla, for Elvis`s wife... and his dog is Aaron, for Elvis`s brother. He seems like he really has interest, too, and it will be good to go back and teach him this week.
S gave us a scare this week. We arrived for our appointment, talked for a bit like normal, and then he got really serious and said told us that he had made up his mind that he would be continuing in the Catholic church with his son. (Some backstory: for the last few weeks S has been praying and praying to know whether the Book of Mormon is true, and whether he should be baptized.) It`s devastating whenever an investigator tells you he doesn`t want to investigate anymore, and more so when it`s someone like S who has experienced such a big change in his life since knowing the Church. So naturally we tried to find out what it was that had made him reach his decision. We found out that he felt bad because he was going to both the Catholic church and our church at the same time, and thought he needed to choose one or the other. But we explained to him that there is nothing wrong with going to multiple churches at the same time as he is investigating, if he is being honest with both parties - which he is. We talked about the Alma 32 seed of faith analogy and about the testimony he already has. (Because, he already has a pretty big testimony.) And we encouraged him to keep investigating until he was sure, one way or another, what God was telling him.
Some good things happened this week. We found some very good `future investigators` to go back and visit this week. One man, when we knocked his door, asked us what had led us to knock his door. He had always seen the missionaries pass by since the time when he was a kid and had wondered what we teach, but none of them ever knocked his house. We met another man named M who loves... Elvis. His first son is named Elvis... his daughter is Pricilla, for Elvis`s wife... and his dog is Aaron, for Elvis`s brother. He seems like he really has interest, too, and it will be good to go back and teach him this week.
S gave us a scare this week. We arrived for our appointment, talked for a bit like normal, and then he got really serious and said told us that he had made up his mind that he would be continuing in the Catholic church with his son. (Some backstory: for the last few weeks S has been praying and praying to know whether the Book of Mormon is true, and whether he should be baptized.) It`s devastating whenever an investigator tells you he doesn`t want to investigate anymore, and more so when it`s someone like S who has experienced such a big change in his life since knowing the Church. So naturally we tried to find out what it was that had made him reach his decision. We found out that he felt bad because he was going to both the Catholic church and our church at the same time, and thought he needed to choose one or the other. But we explained to him that there is nothing wrong with going to multiple churches at the same time as he is investigating, if he is being honest with both parties - which he is. We talked about the Alma 32 seed of faith analogy and about the testimony he already has. (Because, he already has a pretty big testimony.) And we encouraged him to keep investigating until he was sure, one way or another, what God was telling him.
S took it very well, actually looking rather relieved as he told us that he would keep investigating. His worries were eased, and he told us that he didn`t felt like he had been convinced, rather that he had been given another opportunity. I think that he was looking for an excuse to keep investigating. Afterward we talked again about the process of receiving an answer, and I shared my experience of coming to know that the Book of Mormon was true. At multiple times in my life I have studied and prayed wanting to know whether the BOM is true, but at first the only answer that I got from God was that the book was good... it was only later in my life, after continued studying and earnest seeking and living according to my faith that I received the answer that the book is true. That helped S. I really see that the experiences that I have had in my life have prepared me to teach people here.
And, S came to church this week! He came back from work at 8:00am, came and picked us up, and went to church. He loved the first 2 meetings, it was like they were just for him... and then he fell asleep during a long talk in Sacrament meeting, so we woke him up and told him he could go home if he wanted. He`s a great guy. I have no doubt that he`ll get his answer and be a firm, converted member of the church. I love him!
And, I love you all. Hope you have a very good week this week, and that you feel God`s love and my love!
Elder Stockton
Week 6 Ituzaingo
Hello! Sounds like a packed week, and a good one! It`s been a good week here, too. I don`t have much time to write, but here are the highlights!
We found 3 new investigators this week. In one instance we had left a pamphlet with a lady to read. When we passed by later on, she hadn`t read it - but her sister had, and was interested in learning more. So we taught both of them, and left the sister with a Book of Mormon, which she began reading.
This week was Ward Conference, and we had some pretty good meetings. There was also a nice musical number, and... surprisingly, to me, a big lunch afterward! Apparently this ward has a tradition of always doing a ward lunch after every 5th Sunday.
And, on the same food theme, several families prepared us really good meals this week - including an asado (big Argentine barbecue) . Pretty special! There are some very nice members in this ward.
Elder Leatham and I went to a special individualized training on Tuesday, along with some others in our district. It was a good training. We had to teach a full lesson to two missionaries (both had been my zone leaders in the past) assuming the identity of two investigators, while President Carter watched in the background. After the practice, they gave us some really good tips, we re-practiced, and they sent us on our merry way. I love things like that, that help us identify ways to improve. Sometimes they`re a little nerve-wracking, but always very helpful. 
Well, that`s about all the news I have this week! This week is transfers - we`ll see what happens.
I love you all very much! Thanks for your great letters. :)
Elder Stockton
No comments:
Post a Comment