Sonstiges

Shucks, I have been having some serious troubles trying to get members to our investigator appointments. It is definitely my fault on this one but man, there is nothing like reading in PMG and having them tell you over and over again how important it is to have members with your investigators and then failing at it...haha well, always room to improve. I guess I should start with our first "other" lesson that we had this week. We ended up meeting with a certain woman who, in our area book, was named as an Anti-Christ. She seemed really nice on the phone when we talked to her though, so we assumed that everything would be good. We show up to her house and her son and another man are there, we sit down, she gives us water and then she turns on some very familiar music...The Mormon Tabernacle Choir...If you´re thinking what I am thinking, either there are some really confused missionaries or we were about to be heading on the ride of our lives...we ended up taking the latter. After the exchange of some pleasantries Sabine began almost nonchalantly to explain some of our "beliefs". She pulled out a big Atlas and looked at me, then pointed to a certain spot on the world map. You guessed it, the Bering Straight. We then went through the next hour going over some of the craziest Anti-Mormon Material I have ever heard. Normally, she says, she doesn´t tell missionaries this stuff, but she felt "impressed" that she should blast us with it. Luckily, Elder Sollis couldn´t understand half of it, at the same time I was begging for some back-up hahaha but I could distinctly feel the Spirit with me so I stayed calm...and listened. When she had finally finished with some statements she then asked if I had any questions for her. I was grateful that I had the spirit with me, we were able to ask her some very simple questions that helped me get a better idea of the situation and what her thoughts were, etc. She had previously stated that she was unbiased in the situation but that facts were facts. She then stated that she had found plenty of very credible authors on the internet and referred us to an anti-Mormon website...I was able to turn things around a little bit and focus on prayer and the importance of going to the source of all truth. (Relate to Elder Christofferson´s talk from this past conference) I was open and honest with her and I didn´t "Bible bash" with her either...it was pretty interesting actually haha She ended up giving me a much different answer than I had expected. She talked about speaking with certain Spirits and that they help her reach a new point of enlightenment. She said they were making her wright a book and even though there were many times she didn´t want to write it she knew that she had to. (I was praying for the Spirit to stay with me very intensely by this point.) We were somehow able to get out of there by the end. We did close with a prayer though, I was actually really happy about that. Later the next day we received some texts from Sabine thanking us for our kindness. She said some more things and I kindly, but sternly, rejected the offers. After this whole experience I really have realized how wonderful it is to have the spirit with us, but I also realized something else. I´ve probably spoken on this before but I really was so impressed with the one thought "how firm a foundation" I was amazed, and I think Sabine was too, that every single thing she threw at me had absolutely no effect whatsoever. There have been times, and experiences, that have caused me to worry if I really could withstand the intensity of the atttacks that Satan throws at us. From this, over and over again that thought has run through my mind. "How firm a Foundation." My testimony of the savior will always continue to grow so long as I nourish it. There is a wonderful simplicity about the gospel that I really have come to admire. There is genuine peace when the Spirit arrives. I strive for that feeling, I yearn for it. It kills me to see and hear of people who lose it. All that is required is to exercise just a particle of faith. One particle is quite tiny in the vastness of the universe. What an invitation! The lord will never force us, we can choose to come to him. But we have to try and we have to want it. It will always be easier to not do it, to not try, but at the end of the day we´ll regret not having tried. Build yourselves on a firm foundation. There are going to be a lot of bad things coming and if you can´t hold to the simple truths that you now have you´re not going to have them after everything is done. I love you all, I wish I could share more but this thing is to long already. Have a wonderful week! Keep your chins up and always smile!...And never forget to build upon Christ!!

Elder Lee