Well, this past week started as usual - We had a few appointments already scheduled, a few plans made ahead of time. As Elder Nelson and I looked ahead in our planners, we saw the brick wall of Specialized Training and a Zone Meeting looming later in the week, and Stake Conference hovering near the end. These events, while useful, we knew would limit our time to proselyte and teach lessons. I was excited for the change in scenery, though. It would be nice to get out of the usual routine.

Our investigators are... Well, starting to struggle for some reason. This week we went from 4 investigators with baptismal dates down to 2. Fortunately we are still teaching all of them, but they aren't progressing like they should be. I'll talk more about that a little later.

We did get to meet all kinds of really cool people, and had a lot of cool experiences. For example, this past Wednesday we had nothing planned. We had a list of things we needed to do and people we needed to meet with, but we didn't plan when we would do anything. When we actually got out, though, the first things we wanted to do all would happen in one apartment complex. First we needed to set up an appointment with Angelica. We knocked on her door, but she didn't answer. Then, lo and behold, the second person we needed to talk to, Nelida, comes walking up behind us. 'Eldares!' she calls, in her Spanish accent. We go over and chat with her, and she tells us that she's been reading the Book of Mormon we left with her, and that she likes it even more than the bible! Granted, most of this had to be told to me by Elder Nelson after the fact because she only speaks Spanish, but I was able to understand the part where she talked how much she liked when the book describes the Angel Moroni giving the gold plates to Joseph Smith. We set up an appointment, and then went back to Angelica's apartment.

We knocked again, and she poked her head out the window. We took care of what we needed to do, said goodbye, and began to walk over to the apartment of the last person we needed to talk to. Lo and behold: He came walking around the corner before we even took 5 steps. We were 3 for 3 (which almost never happens), and we hadn't even walked 25 feet.

We also talked to Victor that day. He's having some struggles, so his baptism isn't going to be happening for a while. He's still working hard to do what's right, though. I've seen improvement since I first met him.

Thursday brought about the first specialized training, where our mission President taught us. I won't bore you with the details (If you really want to know, we talked about Preach My Gospel chapter 10). Suffice it to say that it was a good training, and we learned a lot.

Now I get to the part where you start to understand the title of this post. This week we have met many of the Average Pennsylvanian. What is the average Pennsylvanian, you ask. Well,

1) Almost every Pennsylvanian is some kind of Christian. Most of them don't know which one though. Seriously, there are about 5 different churches for every denomination out here in Lebanon. No wonder Joseph Smith was so confused which church is true!

2) Because there are so many churches, Pennsylvanians are pretty tolerant of other religions. I cannot tell you how many people have told me "Just let everyone believe what they believe" and "Every church is true," and "I only need to believe in Christ." It makes things interesting when everyone believes in Christ and everyone is religious. Sometimes when we talk to people, they agree with everything we say. We say "We know that our church contains the fulness of the Gospel, and that Joseph Smith is a prophet," and they reply with "AMEN!", but when we ask them to take the lessons, they say no. And it seems like, although everyone has faith in Christ, nobody wants to listen to our message about him. Hmm...

Anyway, we had yet another training on Friday. This one focused on the Doctrine of Christ. I'll talk more about what I personally learned later (yes, you get to look forward to a sermon :p). When we actually used what we learned, a miracle happened.

We went over to teach Maria, who is a recent convert, a lesson. We were planning on teaching the doctrine of Christ anyway, but it turned out to be the best lesson we could have taught. You see, right before we started the lesson, Maria's nephew's fiance (I know, really obscure relation) came over, and actually sat in on the lesson. Eventually, the lesson began to be more focused on her. We taught everything, she understood everything, and before we knew it, we were inviting her to be baptized! We didn't plan on that. After the fact, Elder Nelson admitted he didn't know what came over him. Despite all that, she agreed. She has a date for the 31st of March. (That will probably change, because of General Conference, but she wants to be baptized. That's the big thing.)

We had a bomb shell the next day, though. We got a text from Angelica: she doesn't want to be baptized this week. It's sad, but after visiting with her yesterday, we found that she still wants to get a stronger testimony, and fix a few more things in her life. She also still wants to meet with us. It will take a little more time, but she knows that it's the right thing for her.

Anyway, it's time for the weekly sermon! The most influential topic of all of the training I did this week and Stake Conference we had this weekend was the Gospel of Christ, and how essential it is in fulfilling the 3  fold mission of the Church. Here's a question for you, and for everyone else: Do you know what the Gospel of Christ is? I've been surprised as we've visited members homes and asked them that same question how little they know about it.  As missionaries, our job is to teach it as simply as possible, and a good refresher is always useful for anyone. So, here it goes:

Well, there I go. Being all preachy. I hope everything is going well for everyone. Things are great for us out here. This Wednesday, mainstream Christianity celebrated the beginning of Lent, which is where you fast for something for 40 days. Elder Nelson has decided to give up his girlfriend; I'm giving up the mountains.

Well, take care everyone.

Love,

Elder Anderson