Sitting in ward council, talking about our goals, my phone rings. I look at the screen. I look at my companion. "It's the president." The entire ward council is silent - they know what this means. I quickly hurry out while answering "Hello, this is Elder Anderson"

 

"Hello, Elder Anderson, this is President Topham. How are you?"

 

He had to ask me that question. In all honesty, I was about as nervous as a newbie skydiver on the brink of the abyss. "I'm doing fantastic!"

 

"That's great to hear. As you probably know, transfers are coming up this next week. Elder Nelson will be leaving and you'll be getting a new companion."

 

And that was that. He told me a little bit about my new companion, gave some counsel and encouragement, and I passed the phone to Elder Nelson. He talked for a bit, hung up, and looked at the phone in his hand. Neither of us were told any specifics - he doesn't know where he's being transferred to, and I don't know my new companion's name. We weren't even told then when and where we would be making the transfer. But we knew one thing - Elder Nelson would be gone, and I would be in charge of Lebanon for a little while until the new companion gets the hang of things.

 

And that about sums up my week. Really, while a lot happened, not a lot happened.

 

I'll give a few updates, though. We were able to visit the Galloway family this week. Darren was the only one who was able to really sit down and have a lesson with us. The rest of them were super busy doing other things. Maria, while she isn't doing great is doing better. We're still worried about them, and with Elder Nelson leaving, it's only going to be harder. During the time he's been here, he's made a great friendship.

 

True to their word, we were able to have Book of Mormon study with the Cambodian family again. Rebecca, Sam, and Sambo (Yeah, I was confused too) were all very interested in the Book of Mormon. We were able to talk to them about it and help them understand how it truly does testify of Christ, even from the first chapter of 1st Nephi. They were super excited about it, and were super sad when we said we had to leave.

 

We also got to teach Luz again. She's probably our closest candidate for baptism, and really has a lot of faith. She's been having troubles getting moved into her new house, so we went over to move some stuff around while Hector Morales chatted with her. After that, we sat down and had a lesson. We were only able to cover one of the points of the lesson, because Hector loves to expound on the scriptures (seriously, the guy can take any topic and give you twenty scripture references which relate - in each of the Standard Works!) But she loved it, and gave a solid commitment to come to church (unfortunately, she wound up in the hospital a few days later, so that didn't happen. Ahh, the joys of missionary work.)

 

Speaking of Church, though, I'll tell you about a surprise visit we had from a less-active member. Brother Reich is his name. He's around 67 years old, has difficulty walking (I've only seen the man do it twice in my life), and used to be a Catholic until he joined the church. Well, I'm not sure if I should say used to because he is still pretty Catholic. He still gets all kinds of Catholic literature and magazines. He even let me read out of his book of Catholic Meditations. He's got a strong testimony of the Restoration and of Prophets - he just loves his old Catholic ways. It's funny because of the vast difference between the books which surround his chair. He has Jesus the Christ and 'Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple' on the one hand and The Catholic Minister on the other. Sometimes he mixes up his doctrines too ("No, Brother Reich. We actually do need to keep the 10 commandments." "No, the commandments are dead. We only need to follow the spirit.") We've been visiting him about once a week ever since I got to Lebanon, trying to get him to come to church. We've talked about everything, from the Plan of Salvation to the 10 Commandments. Nothing we can say can get him out to church.

 

This past week, we brought over another member and ward missionary, Brother Brandt. He didn't say much during the lesson, he just sat back and gave his input when we asked him. But for some reason, with him there, there was a change. At the end of the lesson, Brother Reich said "The time has come. I will make an oath that I will come to church this week."

 

This past Saturday was pretty rough. After all of our appointments for the afternoon fell through, we resorted to tracting. Door after door was slammed in our face before we could even get the words "Latter-day" out of our mouths. Days like that kinda get me down. They don't discourage me, just make me feel like pulling a Nephi, going to bed and having my eyes water my pillow. Fortunately, though, we had an appointment set up with John. He always cheers me up!

 

The lesson before, we talked to John about virtue, and how we always need to keep virtuous thoughts. I told him about how, whenever I think something bad, I start singing 'I am a Child of God' in my head. (It works every time!) We then offered to teach him the song for our next lesson.  "Yeah. Alright. We can do that." I was a little surprised.

 

So, on Saturday, we stopped by, pulled out our little hymn books, and started singing. And guess what! He sang too. While he wasn't exactly a tenor, he still held the tune and finished out the first verse strong. We got to the end, and asked him if he wants to sing it again. With a huge grin on his face, he said "No, I'm not a very good singer." Ah, well. At least we tried. He's doing really great though. Still smoking, but his faith is getting super strong. I know he's going to get baptized. Whether that happens while I'm here, I don't know. But it's going to happen.

 

Well, I guess I was wrong. A lot of stuff did happen. I'll definitely have a lot to write about next week. Tomorrow I'll be meeting my new companion, and we go to work from there! Like I said, I'm kinda nervous. But, like John says "With the help of God and Jesus, I can do it."

A lot has happened in these past 12 weeks since I've been in PA, even in the past 6 weeks. It's a bittersweet feeling to go through my planner or my journal (for those of you who don't know, I am keeping a daily journal, so I can tell you exactly who we taught or met on a certain day) and see the names of people we used to teach. Then again, I can look at the blank pages of my planner for the next 6 weeks and imagine the names of people who I haven't even met, people who are ready and prepared to receive the Gospel. The elect are out there. I just need to find them.

 

Thanks for all of the prayers and support which all of you give me. Knowing that I have so many family members and friends supporting me gives me the encouragement to keep going, to work harder, to teach more, and to love more. Good luck to all of you with everything you do. I know that, as long as we do what the Lord asks of us, we will be guided and uplifted by Him, and what a great feeling that is.

 

Take care!

Love,

Elder Anderson, aka Missionary Slim