March 17, 2014
Well
this past week has been great! We have seen a lot of good things happen
this week. We met with B. a couple of times this week. He had a
family member pass and his funeral was this past week. It's been hard on
him. We visited him the evening after the funeral just to help him out
and let him know that we love him. On Saturday we went over the
baptismal interview questions with him to see where we need to focus our
teaching to help him continue to increase his faith. As we were going
over the questions his brother interrupted us and started talking to us.
He was really hard to understand. He kinda mumbled and was kinda
rambling on about religion and didn't really make any sense. I looked
over at B. as he was talking and B. gave me this look like "He
doesn't know what he is talking about and is crazy." After a while B. interrupted his brother and said "They grew up with this stuff. They
already know about all the things you are talking about. Ok so just let
us get back to our study." After his brother left B. told us that
his brother has some difficulty mentally and that he was just in town
for the funeral but usually stays in the mental hospital. B. is
really trying to learn and grow. This morning we watched the Joseph
Smith Prophet of the Restoration DVD and he really enjoyed it. After the
movie ended he said, "This really showed how Christlike he was in
helping people and even healing people too." I think it really helped
him to understand much more about what a Prophet is and does. It's such a
blessing to have a DVD that is completely accurate in telling his
story.
On Saturday we met with A. again. We went over with T. and shared the restoration lesson with her. It was amazing! We were a little late to our appointment but she was waiting outside for us. When we pulled up she had a big beer can next to her which was a surprise to me because I didn't think she would be a person who would like beer. She invited us in though and trashed the beer can and started asking questions like crazy! She asked about why churches meet on Sunday and how she read that it was because of the Roman Catholic church and then she asked about why there were other books left out of the Bible like the Book of Enoch. We asked if we could share what we came to share with her and told her that the lesson would answer many of her questions. She agreed to let us teach but kept asking. It was funny because we would say things like I'll answer that in one minute. And then we would move on to the next point in the lesson and we would answer her question and then move on. The most amazing thing though was when we talked about Joseph Smith. I told her about his back ground and she said he sounds just like me. I'm faced with the same thing. It's amazing that so many people feel just as Joseph Smith did when he was seeking for truth. I told her that I wanted to share his experience in his own words. As I was quoting the first vision to her she started to cry. It really touched her. She is the first person I have taught who cried when they heard his words. After I was finished quoting his experience to her there was just quite as we all took it in. She apologized for crying and said, "It's just so beautiful. The way he described it with his words. Just imagine it." We bore testimony to her of how the church was restored through God and Jesus Christ answering the prayer of Joseph Smith and giving him instructions and then later on, the priesthood. She said she would read the Book of Mormon and pray to know it's true. It was amazing to see how the spirit touched her.
Also this week we were knocking on doors in a neighborhood that we found and no one was answering or home. Then we knocked on an apartment home's screen door. The door behind it was open so we could see into the home and we watched a man walk really fast to the door and hit it open very forcefully as he said "What the Heck do you want!" With a little more color that that. Elder Kidd tried as hard as he could to not laugh which made me want to laugh because this is a grown man who is acting like a child. Elder Kidd then started to speak and the man then turned around and slamed the door behind him. A year ago that would have really startled me and made me feel really uncomfortable. We then went to the next door and a teenage girl answered and Elder Kidd said that we were out sharing a message about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon and she invited us in. We talked to her for a little while and got her phone number and gave her a Book of Mormon. They had just moved into that apartment just that morning because her patents got a divorce and they had just found it the day before. Her name was T. and we are going to be going back this week hopefully. It's amazing to see Gods timing. He will get those who are ready for the gospel to the places where they will find it. We just have to do our part as tools in His hands.
We had a specialized training and it was awesome. I learned a lot from it. There was a portion of the meeting where we could get up and share a lesson we learned from another missionary. There were so many who had learned something from another missionary. Elder Hoopes got up and shared that he learned kindness in Lufkin when he was my companion. He shared how every night we would finish our prayers and then I'd give him a hug, tell him I love him and say good night. I love Elder Hoopes! I learned something from him when he shared that. When you're a missionary you can go your entire mission and not see any success and yet you are still successful. You could go without a baptism but could have touched a missionary. You could have done something small that helped them to be a better missionary. Their success then kind of becomes yours. All the good that they then go and do is effected by what you did to them. I'm so grateful to all the people who have taken part in helping me become a better missionary! Every companion I have had has had a significant impact on me and helped me be a better missionary! It's great being on the Lord's team! And its amazing to see how He molds our lives!
Love y'all tons! Be soft clay and look for Tender Mercies. They are there every day!
Love your missionary,
On Saturday we met with A. again. We went over with T. and shared the restoration lesson with her. It was amazing! We were a little late to our appointment but she was waiting outside for us. When we pulled up she had a big beer can next to her which was a surprise to me because I didn't think she would be a person who would like beer. She invited us in though and trashed the beer can and started asking questions like crazy! She asked about why churches meet on Sunday and how she read that it was because of the Roman Catholic church and then she asked about why there were other books left out of the Bible like the Book of Enoch. We asked if we could share what we came to share with her and told her that the lesson would answer many of her questions. She agreed to let us teach but kept asking. It was funny because we would say things like I'll answer that in one minute. And then we would move on to the next point in the lesson and we would answer her question and then move on. The most amazing thing though was when we talked about Joseph Smith. I told her about his back ground and she said he sounds just like me. I'm faced with the same thing. It's amazing that so many people feel just as Joseph Smith did when he was seeking for truth. I told her that I wanted to share his experience in his own words. As I was quoting the first vision to her she started to cry. It really touched her. She is the first person I have taught who cried when they heard his words. After I was finished quoting his experience to her there was just quite as we all took it in. She apologized for crying and said, "It's just so beautiful. The way he described it with his words. Just imagine it." We bore testimony to her of how the church was restored through God and Jesus Christ answering the prayer of Joseph Smith and giving him instructions and then later on, the priesthood. She said she would read the Book of Mormon and pray to know it's true. It was amazing to see how the spirit touched her.
Also this week we were knocking on doors in a neighborhood that we found and no one was answering or home. Then we knocked on an apartment home's screen door. The door behind it was open so we could see into the home and we watched a man walk really fast to the door and hit it open very forcefully as he said "What the Heck do you want!" With a little more color that that. Elder Kidd tried as hard as he could to not laugh which made me want to laugh because this is a grown man who is acting like a child. Elder Kidd then started to speak and the man then turned around and slamed the door behind him. A year ago that would have really startled me and made me feel really uncomfortable. We then went to the next door and a teenage girl answered and Elder Kidd said that we were out sharing a message about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon and she invited us in. We talked to her for a little while and got her phone number and gave her a Book of Mormon. They had just moved into that apartment just that morning because her patents got a divorce and they had just found it the day before. Her name was T. and we are going to be going back this week hopefully. It's amazing to see Gods timing. He will get those who are ready for the gospel to the places where they will find it. We just have to do our part as tools in His hands.
We had a specialized training and it was awesome. I learned a lot from it. There was a portion of the meeting where we could get up and share a lesson we learned from another missionary. There were so many who had learned something from another missionary. Elder Hoopes got up and shared that he learned kindness in Lufkin when he was my companion. He shared how every night we would finish our prayers and then I'd give him a hug, tell him I love him and say good night. I love Elder Hoopes! I learned something from him when he shared that. When you're a missionary you can go your entire mission and not see any success and yet you are still successful. You could go without a baptism but could have touched a missionary. You could have done something small that helped them to be a better missionary. Their success then kind of becomes yours. All the good that they then go and do is effected by what you did to them. I'm so grateful to all the people who have taken part in helping me become a better missionary! Every companion I have had has had a significant impact on me and helped me be a better missionary! It's great being on the Lord's team! And its amazing to see how He molds our lives!
Love y'all tons! Be soft clay and look for Tender Mercies. They are there every day!
Love your missionary,
Elder Bowen
 |
| Elder Bowen & Elder Kidd |
No comments:
Post a Comment