Hi everyone!
Yesterday was a good day for a few
reasons. Let me tell you about them!
We had lots of people come to church
again, so that was cool. It's hard. And crazy. And wears you out. But good,
too. :) Aida came for her last Sunday in Indiana. She's moving to
Louisville this week (if all goes well with the apartment). We are sad to see
her go, but she has already been to the branch over there and has made friends
with a lot of people, so we think that it's for the best that she goes to
a unit where there are more Hispanics for her to interact with. She is so
amazing, and after Gospel Principles class she said, "I just want to tell
y'all something. Thank you so much for being so kind and helping me learn the
gospel." And she talked about how good she feels now, how strong she is
now, and that she's so happy, etc, because she has come to know the
awesomeness of the church! It was possibly the neatest experience of my mission
to hear someone that I met, taught, and watched progress talk about their love
for the gospel.
If that wasn't my favorite moment,
it's possible that going to Michael's baptism was my favorite mission moment.
The Assistants work in the Louisville Singles branch, and they are the ones
that received Michael after we contacted him in the park a while back. They
come play basketball with us on Mondays, so we would ask how he was doing,
progressing, etc. They told us a few weeks ago about his baptism, and we really
really wanted to go. So, we asked the Assistants what the rule was on it.
Technically, we aren't really allowed to leave our area for stuff like that
unless the investigator requests that the missionaries come. But the Assistants
asked president (after all, we're only 20 minutes away), and we got to come! So
being friends with mission leaders is helpful. Haha.
When he came around the corner and
saw us, he was absolutely stunned! Totally speechless. He was really excited
that we were there, and after the baptism he told us that we were the third set
of missionaries that had met him and tried to share the gospel with him. For
whatever reason, he decided to give it a try after we saw him that day at the
park. And here he is, a strong convert! He is so so so cool. It was way fun to
be there for him. Also, it was so bizarre to be around a lot of
singles. I'm really glad that I'll never serve in that branch because I'd just
want to pal around with them and do normal stuff. Haha. Anyway, it was just
kinda crazy to watch it all happen, because it was the miracle of missionary
work in action. Here's the timeline: Contacted in a park -- nice conversation
-- receive address and phone number -- pass it along to other missionaries --
he is taught -- he keeps commitments -- he gains a testimony -- he is baptized!
Most of the time that line never really makes it past the "taught"
phase, since not everyone keeps commitments or gains testimonies. But it
happened! And we witnessed it! It was cool. :)
As the big-wig district leader I am
(joke), I went on two exchanges into other areas last week. It was hard leaving
our car behind -- I'm super paranoid that another missionary is going to screw
it up. But I left it and Elder S behind to work in two English areas
for a day. One day was in a bike area, and I just about died. It was so hot that
day! But I definitely got a tan, so that was exciting. Then a few days later I
worked in a car area, but we still walked a lot, so I tanned a little more! It
was kinda lame, because neither companionship had any appointments, so all we
did was contact people and tract. Pretty ordinary days. But it's fun to spend
time with other missionaries and get a breather from your area and your
companion.
I think that's about all that we
were up to this week. We're doing good. It's so hard to believe that it's just about
August. Where has the time gone? Before I know it I'll be heading into my
second (and final) winter. And phone calls. And General Conferences. All that
jazz. It's crazy! But really really cool too.
Thanks for everything! Have a good
week!
Love,
Zac
No comments:
Post a Comment