So this past week was... Pretty darn fun and stressful all at the same time.
The stressful part was Tuesday. I had a big ol' bout of homesickness to where I actually felt sick. It normally hits missionaries at about a year out but I guess I was doing something to make it not hit til later. Anyway, that's done and over with and I'm doing a lot better now.
Then Thursday we set up a table at UVA campus and handed out copies of the Book of Mormon. It was scary but fun. I really thought Elder Harrison was going to have a panic attack or something cause he did not want to be there but he endured. The Lord blessed him because about five minutes after we got there someone came up to him and was actually really interested in learning more. It helped him a lot. We were there for two hours and we handed out about fifteen copies of the Book of Mormon. It was fun. There were two things that I really remember about it. The first was this one guy who asked "Are you Mormons?" I told him yes. He said he had a question about our theology. He asked (and no, I'm not joking) "How do magnets work?" My first thought was "magnets and theology? Seriously?" I just told him "I have no idea" and he said "you don't know... hmm... okay" and walked away. So that was the strangest theological question I've ever had asked to me. The second thing was this really nerdy looking kid walking by. I asked him how he was doing and he said "I'm doing well" in a very monotone voice. I then asked him how his day was going and he replied "adequate"................. I've never had an adequate day in my life I don't think. Either it was good or bad. Then I got thinking about what would be in an adequate day and I came up with......... I have no idea.
Then, this Saturday, we taught one of the families we're working with. They are doing good. It was such a spiritual lesson and so much happened that it's hard to write it all. I know y'all want to hear about everything but my fingers aren't fast enough to type everything in the hour that I have to email. I'll give you the jist of the lesson though.
We were able to find out why the dad didn't want to pray with us. He didn't feel like he was worthy to ask for anything. The mom, who wasn't raised with a Christian belief, wants to believe in Christ. They are coming closer and closer to being baptized. What I learned at mission conference will truly help us with them.
At mission conference, Elder David Evans of the Seventy, who is now the Executive Director over the Missionary Department, came and trained us for six hours yesterday. He talked about how sometimes we forget to emphasize Heavenly Father's role in everything when we're teaching people. He shared 3 Nephi 11: 32-36. In that section, the name Father is mentioned whenever Christ talks about what he did here on the earth and it's mentioned 11 times. When God repeats something that many times, it's important and we better listen. Everything Christ did was something His Father commanded Him.
He then talked about how people who have a connection with the church, either to an active member or less-active member, and get baptized, are 20 times more likely to get to the temple than people missionaries find on their own. He asked us about that (How likely are people who get baptized who had a previous connection with the church to get to the temple than ones you [the missionaries] find), the person Elder Evans called on said like 4. I was thinking 10. When he said 20, I thought, "well, I was way off."
He also talked about how we can better get referrals from people without making it awkward or ineffective. It was an awesome mission conference.
I'm running out of time but I love y'all and hope you're doing good.
-Elder Ricky-dude
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P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God
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