Infectious Missionary Work

The two Elders in our ward are so excited about their job. And that makes me want to do more. Thanks Elders...

Learning from Investigators

I think as a member of The Church I feel the Spirit like I do hot water in the shower. Over time I get used to the temperature and I don't feel as warm. Unless I turn up the dial, I'm not going to feel greater heat. The same goes, I suppose, with the Spirit. Unless I keep trying to improve and "turn up the dial," I lose that feeling of heat until I can't perceive it anymore. At a baptism on Saturday in the Casas Adobes Ward, an investigator family present said they felt the peace and joy of the Spirit so strongly. I didn't feel it. I had played basketball in the morning and was looking forward to some things in the evening. I didn't give as much attention to the baptism as the investigator family had. And the result was they were blessed with a portion of the Spirit. They taught me to be still a little more and listen to my feelings instead of focusing on things, that while good, were a distraction to the moment.

A faithful response

On Sunday I told drove an investigator home after church. She is getting baptized this week. When she stepped out of the car I told her, "Now comes your test of faith this week." Hoping to provide a helpful warning for possible resistance to her decision of being baptized she replied, "Oh, why do I need to watch out, I have finally found peace."

I loved her answer. It reminded me that the Gospel is nothing to be defensive about, or ashamed about, as Paul taught in Romans. It is a position of proactive faith, not reactive faith.

THE family

Last night I acocmpanied the Elders to a family's house to discuss, "the fun things we do in the church." It was fun to talk about the fun because Mormon fun is always tailored around service and family. The missionaries gave the family an FHE booklet, which they grabbed zealously. They had just had FHE the night before and it extended late into the evening. After getting ready for bed the daughter realized they didn't have a closing prayer so she rallied the gang for the final step of a succesful FHE. This family represents the one you will hear about in a missionary's homecoming talk. Eager to learn and literally thirsting to know more. The father actually took his vacation time so he could attend church to prepare for baptism. They read, at least on the last occasion, eight chapters at a time from the Book of Mormon. They loved Mosiah, especially the conversion of Alma the Younger and the Sons and their subsequent missionary labors. They got me excited to read more! They will be baptized this Saturday! Tonight reminded me once more why missionary work is the lifeblood of the church: it's like an infusion of fresh motivation into your veins, making you want to be better so you can be as happy as a new convert. Plus it gets you motivated to share the gospel with others. I love that double-effect!

Soooo.... How'd you learn Spanish?

This is a question that often starts off a discussion about my mission and the church. One such time was when I had to drive a co-worker to New Mexico. We hadn't made it out of the city limits when I mentioned as part of some conversation that I knew Spanish. He asked how, and I said I had served a church mission in Argentina and that was the end of that for a few miles. Around Benson he asked what one does on a mission, then the conversation lasted for the next few hours until we got to our destination. We talked about missions, youth standards (he has two YW age girls), Book of Mormon stories, church services, etc. His questions were very intelligent, and that was the great part- he was asking the questions. The best conversations occur when the other person poses the questions. The whole experience created a good friendship and I thought, duh, I need to give him a Book of Mormon. This happened about a year ago, and last I checked he hadn't read. I was surprised, but that was his choice. It felt good knowing I had helped him better understand our faith, and that book is waiting at his home if he ever changes his mind.

Even dead ends have a purpose...

I signed up for an elective that is both time-consuming and sometimes pointless. It takes three hours out of my week. I often daydream during those three hours. However, into the semester I began receiving the prompting to give a Book of Mormon to one of my class-mates in the same elective course. Two weeks ago I gave him a copy and the following week he came up and thanked me for the gift because he has started reading it from the beginning. Moral of the story: If you can't find a purpose in life, do missionary work!!

Domino's

A few weeks into this semester, after finally remembering to pray for missionary moments daily and actually think about through out the day, I recognized someone in one of my classes. He had been in the class the entire time but I never saw him till then, a guy I knew from basketball at the rec center. Had a feeling I could at least introduce him somehow to the church. That Sunday they announced and started stake basketball. It was all perfect timing to introduce him to the church and hes going to come play in a game with the team soon. It was amazing that the pieces had been there the entire time but it took me pushing over the first domino and realizing an opportunity for anything to actually happen.