August 27, 2012
Missionary Slim and the dodgeball tragedy (Week 29 in Pennsylvania, Week 11 in Pittsburgh, PA)
Tragedy struck the Pittsburgh Downtown District - Elder Van Der Spek, the fearless leader and stalwart example of missionary work, suffered a tragic injury... playing dodgeball. Yep. Things got a little bit too heated, and he took a bad fall, landed on the side of his leg, and tore his ACL. The reason I start with this is because it has affected my entire week.
You see, Elder Van Der Spek is the only missionary in our district who has a car (other than the Senior couple, the Neals, who, by the way, are the best people in the whole entire world... or at least in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), and his companion cannot drive. Then he decides to go injure his pedal-leg, thus denying himself the ability to drive as well. So, here come Elder Anderson and Elder Walker to the rescue.
Tuesday Morning, bright and early, Elder Walker and I hopped onto a bus with the morning commuters to drive downtown. Then we hopped onto a light-rail train to cross the Monongahela (say that ten times fast) river, to get to the South Side. Then, we took an incline (it's like a box that gets pulled up and down a really steep hill) to get us up to where we could finally walk to his apartment. Then, Elder Walker drove Elder Van Der Spek all over town to various doctors while Elder Lucio and I tracted. All. Day. Long.
And we did that two more times this week.
Needless to say, it's been a long week.
But! We've gotten a lot of awesome stuff done. We've got a lady who lives a few blocks down from us. We talk to her all the time as we pass by her house, and she asks us all kinds of questions. She's really impressed because we actually know the answers. We've invited her to learn from us, but she didn't want to. Well, a few days ago we were walking past, and she stopped us again. She asked us a few questions, and then we asked her a question: What is on your shirt? It had a bunch of Native American (aka. Lamanite) chieftains with the caption "Department of Homeland Security: 1810" or something like that. Really clever. Then she mentioned that she was actually related to Native Americans. "I wish I knew more about my family history." Boom. We gave her the link to familysearch.org, set up a time to come by and show her around, and then went on our merry way.
We came over for the appointment, and brought the Neals with us to help us out a bit (because I know nothing about Family Search). This launched us into a huge discussion about more of her questions, ranging from the purpose of church, to the true name of God, to if there is a Heavenly Mother ("If there is a Heavenly Father, wouldn't it make sense?" We quickly gave her a Family Proclamation and said "The answer is in there") Then, Elder Neal invited her again to hear our message, She finally agreed!
We started re-teaching another guy. He's a non-member husband of a less-active member. He's really cool, and has loved missionaries visiting and teaching. He's just stuck to his old Catholic ways. He's certainly a good man, though. He just needs some encouragement. He's been reading the Book of Mormon too, and is all the way to Mosiah 22, which is pretty good, all things considered. We'll see where this goes. Hopefully, he isn't just visiting with missionaries just for fun. Hopefully, he really is trying to gain a testimony.
This weekend was pretty excellent. Once a year, we have a general authority tour the mission and teach the missionaries. It was our privliage to hear from Elder Bruce Porter, and boy, was it an experience. Every 15 minutes or so, he would stop speaking, and open up for questions about the things he just taught. You could tell that when he wasn't using his prepared material, but was still teaching truths of the Gospel, there were times when he just sounded... different. His words felt... different. My only explanation is those were times when he was truly speaking as a General Authority of the Church, and as such has the authority to present the true doctrine of the church. When he answered questions, you knew his answers were final - if you were to ask an apostle, they would probably answer the same thing. It was cool.
Here comes some doctrine:
His prepared remarks were centered on the Gospel of Christ, or specifically the Doctrine of Christ. That is to say, how are we saved? For those of you scripture masters, I'll give a list of the scriptures and chapters he drew from:
2 Nephi 31
3 Nephi 27
3 Nephi 11
D&C 138
Mosiah 5
2 Nephi 9
D&C 20:17-31
D&C 19:29-32
2 Nephi 2:5-7
Alma 38
D&C 88:11-13
Whew. I'll bake cookies for anyone who reads all of those chapters (in two years).
Anyway, the gist is this: The fall of Adam was needed so that man could come into the world. (2 Nephi 2:22) But, because of that, all mankind is fallen in two ways: Physically and Spiritually. We cannot return to God and be happy forever if we don't overcome both of these fallings and deaths. Therefore, a savior is required. Christ is that savior - he made it possible for us to return to God. But, there are some conditions which must be followed for us to be worthy and allowed to be in God's presence. First, we must believe in Christ. We must have faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement. Second, we must repent of our sins and transgressions, and cast them away. Third, we must make a binding, solemn agreement that we will keep the commandments and follow Christ, through which we receive remission of sins. Finally, the Holy Ghost sanctifies us and cleanses us to complete the process of becoming more like God and more ready to dwell in his presence. However, we all know that this doesn't happen just once. It must happen over and over again, constantly changing us, making us better, "more fit for the kingdom..."
He also spoke extensively of the atonement, and specifically, the Old testament prophecies in Psalms 22, Isaiah 53, and Isaiah 63:5, 9. I'll let the scriptures speak for themselves on that one.
That was all good, and it was really much more in depth than that. I'm like Moroni in Ether 12, who cannot write with much power because of the awkwardness of my hands. But I do hope that what I write next will be helpful in some way. Sister Porter talked about D&C 12:7-8. If you read none of the scriptures that I listed, I hope you read this one. It's very important. It isn't about what we do. It's about what we become. That's what really matters. As we become more like Christ, as outlined in that scripture, we will strengthen our light (as in Matthew 5, 3 Nephi 12 - Ye are the light of this world/this people). People will notice us. They will want to be like us and have that light. In effect, they'll want to become more like Christ. If that isn't missionary work, I don't know what is. (Preach My Gospel, Chapter 1, page 1)
Well, I've left all of you with a lot of homework. You don't have to do it, but I am serious about the cookies. More importantly, though, I hope that the study of the scriptures will help all of us gain a greater testimony and greater understanding of the love which Christ and Heavenly Father have for us. It's awesome. It really is.
Love you all!
Elder Alex Anderson
PS. I'm 98% sure I'm getting transferred. Mail me at the (now corrected) mission office address.
You see, Elder Van Der Spek is the only missionary in our district who has a car (other than the Senior couple, the Neals, who, by the way, are the best people in the whole entire world... or at least in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), and his companion cannot drive. Then he decides to go injure his pedal-leg, thus denying himself the ability to drive as well. So, here come Elder Anderson and Elder Walker to the rescue.
Tuesday Morning, bright and early, Elder Walker and I hopped onto a bus with the morning commuters to drive downtown. Then we hopped onto a light-rail train to cross the Monongahela (say that ten times fast) river, to get to the South Side. Then, we took an incline (it's like a box that gets pulled up and down a really steep hill) to get us up to where we could finally walk to his apartment. Then, Elder Walker drove Elder Van Der Spek all over town to various doctors while Elder Lucio and I tracted. All. Day. Long.
And we did that two more times this week.
Needless to say, it's been a long week.
But! We've gotten a lot of awesome stuff done. We've got a lady who lives a few blocks down from us. We talk to her all the time as we pass by her house, and she asks us all kinds of questions. She's really impressed because we actually know the answers. We've invited her to learn from us, but she didn't want to. Well, a few days ago we were walking past, and she stopped us again. She asked us a few questions, and then we asked her a question: What is on your shirt? It had a bunch of Native American (aka. Lamanite) chieftains with the caption "Department of Homeland Security: 1810" or something like that. Really clever. Then she mentioned that she was actually related to Native Americans. "I wish I knew more about my family history." Boom. We gave her the link to familysearch.org, set up a time to come by and show her around, and then went on our merry way.
We came over for the appointment, and brought the Neals with us to help us out a bit (because I know nothing about Family Search). This launched us into a huge discussion about more of her questions, ranging from the purpose of church, to the true name of God, to if there is a Heavenly Mother ("If there is a Heavenly Father, wouldn't it make sense?" We quickly gave her a Family Proclamation and said "The answer is in there") Then, Elder Neal invited her again to hear our message, She finally agreed!
We started re-teaching another guy. He's a non-member husband of a less-active member. He's really cool, and has loved missionaries visiting and teaching. He's just stuck to his old Catholic ways. He's certainly a good man, though. He just needs some encouragement. He's been reading the Book of Mormon too, and is all the way to Mosiah 22, which is pretty good, all things considered. We'll see where this goes. Hopefully, he isn't just visiting with missionaries just for fun. Hopefully, he really is trying to gain a testimony.
This weekend was pretty excellent. Once a year, we have a general authority tour the mission and teach the missionaries. It was our privliage to hear from Elder Bruce Porter, and boy, was it an experience. Every 15 minutes or so, he would stop speaking, and open up for questions about the things he just taught. You could tell that when he wasn't using his prepared material, but was still teaching truths of the Gospel, there were times when he just sounded... different. His words felt... different. My only explanation is those were times when he was truly speaking as a General Authority of the Church, and as such has the authority to present the true doctrine of the church. When he answered questions, you knew his answers were final - if you were to ask an apostle, they would probably answer the same thing. It was cool.
Here comes some doctrine:
His prepared remarks were centered on the Gospel of Christ, or specifically the Doctrine of Christ. That is to say, how are we saved? For those of you scripture masters, I'll give a list of the scriptures and chapters he drew from:
2 Nephi 31
3 Nephi 27
3 Nephi 11
D&C 138
Mosiah 5
2 Nephi 9
D&C 20:17-31
D&C 19:29-32
2 Nephi 2:5-7
Alma 38
D&C 88:11-13
Whew. I'll bake cookies for anyone who reads all of those chapters (in two years).
Anyway, the gist is this: The fall of Adam was needed so that man could come into the world. (2 Nephi 2:22) But, because of that, all mankind is fallen in two ways: Physically and Spiritually. We cannot return to God and be happy forever if we don't overcome both of these fallings and deaths. Therefore, a savior is required. Christ is that savior - he made it possible for us to return to God. But, there are some conditions which must be followed for us to be worthy and allowed to be in God's presence. First, we must believe in Christ. We must have faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement. Second, we must repent of our sins and transgressions, and cast them away. Third, we must make a binding, solemn agreement that we will keep the commandments and follow Christ, through which we receive remission of sins. Finally, the Holy Ghost sanctifies us and cleanses us to complete the process of becoming more like God and more ready to dwell in his presence. However, we all know that this doesn't happen just once. It must happen over and over again, constantly changing us, making us better, "more fit for the kingdom..."
He also spoke extensively of the atonement, and specifically, the Old testament prophecies in Psalms 22, Isaiah 53, and Isaiah 63:5, 9. I'll let the scriptures speak for themselves on that one.
That was all good, and it was really much more in depth than that. I'm like Moroni in Ether 12, who cannot write with much power because of the awkwardness of my hands. But I do hope that what I write next will be helpful in some way. Sister Porter talked about D&C 12:7-8. If you read none of the scriptures that I listed, I hope you read this one. It's very important. It isn't about what we do. It's about what we become. That's what really matters. As we become more like Christ, as outlined in that scripture, we will strengthen our light (as in Matthew 5, 3 Nephi 12 - Ye are the light of this world/this people). People will notice us. They will want to be like us and have that light. In effect, they'll want to become more like Christ. If that isn't missionary work, I don't know what is. (Preach My Gospel, Chapter 1, page 1)
Well, I've left all of you with a lot of homework. You don't have to do it, but I am serious about the cookies. More importantly, though, I hope that the study of the scriptures will help all of us gain a greater testimony and greater understanding of the love which Christ and Heavenly Father have for us. It's awesome. It really is.
Love you all!
Elder Alex Anderson
PS. I'm 98% sure I'm getting transferred. Mail me at the (now corrected) mission office address.
August 20, 2012
Missionary Slim is channeling Julia Child with his culinary skills (Week 28 in Pennsylvania, Week 10 in Pittsburgh, PA)
Primanti Bros. Sounds like a Japanese-based video game, right? Well, it's actually a Pittsburgh-based sandwich shop. They have about 15 different kinds of sandwiches you can buy, but they all have one thing in common: Bread - Meat - Cheese - Coleslaw - Fries - Bread. And that's all they give you. Nothing on the side, it's just all crammed into the sandwich. I will admit, it is one of the most interesting sandwiches I've ever eaten, and it's worth having tried once. I'd eat another one too, but only if I were bringing somebody to try it out for the first time. All I really tasted was potato and cabbage, which is okay, but - confession... I like regular sandwiches. Sorry, Primanti.
We keep running into this Indian (from India!) student who lives in our apartment complex named Suraj. He's a really sweet kid - he's studying robotics at Pitt. He seems to get the idea that we are regular University students like him too, so he keeps inviting us over to hang out. "Hey, do you guys like pizza? Want to watch the Steelers game? I'll buy the beer." No thanks Suraj, but we would love to talk to you about the Restored Gospel! We haven't had a good chance to do that yet, but we'll see.
So, two weeks ago, I asked yinz* to pray that we would find an investigator as awesome as Michael. Well, prayers are answered, and we found not one, but two! The first I might have mentioned briefly last week. His name is Ty, and he called out to us as we were walking away from another appointment. "Are you Mormons?" he said. We answered boldly "Yes!" and he started to tell us about how he felt like something was missing, and he needed to come closer to Christ. We gave him a Book of Mormon, told him to read a little out of it, and set up an appointment.
I was freaked before that appointment. I thought it was too good to be true, and that he would pull a gun on us or something (he does live in the area where a gun was actually pulled out in front of us). But we knocked on his door, he opened it, warmly welcomed us in, introduced us to his kids (his wife wasn't home at the time, so he was on babysitting-duty). We kicked everything off great. Everything we talked about he enjoyed, he gave us some great answers to our questions. It was like he read Preach My Gospel before we got there. His sincerity is what really got me - he just wants to be a better husband and father for his wife and kids. It's awesome! He's a cook too (and, as you all know, I love to cook. Quick side note: I've been cooking some awesome dinners for Elder Walker lately. This past week, I made some delicious penne pasta casserole with zucchini, onions, sausage, mushrooms, etc. It was excellent. Anyway, back to the story...) and a techno-geek (Another side track. He set up his entire home entertainment system to be voice activated through a laptop which interfaces through an Ethernet to serial modem which connects to the stereo, TV, etc. As you all know, I would probably do the same thing just for fun), and really loves his family. In other words, he's AWESOME!
But, there's another! Her name is April, and we were referred to her. Actually, we called her member friend, who then called her and told her to call us. So, you could say, she called us asking for a lesson. She's the mother of three teenage children, and she wants all of them to be baptized at the same time. Yep. That's right. SHE WANT'S TO BE BAPTIZED WITH HER KIDS! It's so refreshing to find people who are actually wants to learn and progress, and then use what they learn to help their families. I know this is definitely an answer to my prayers and your prayers. So thank you all so much. You don't know how much it means to me.
I gotta talk about Todd now. Todd is an 18 year old kid we met and tried to teach, but he just won't listen. He is the most intense person I've ever met in my entire life. One example: We asked for water. He went into his home and came back with two cups. "I will never deny the gift of life to a comrade." ... Yeah. He's cool, though.
Missionary Work is still super cool. We had a great Zone Training where we were taught the importance of the Apostasy. Yes, the apostasy. the focus was, if you don't know about the apostasy, why would the restoration even matter? I know that the world fell into darkness following the apostles. I know that the world was lost for a time. But I also know that God always will call another prophet, and he did. And he still does. Isn't that great?
I love the Gospel!
Love,
Elder Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
*Yinz is a Pittsburgh term meaning "You all, y'all, or yous guys." I'll probably say it to an extent for the rest of my life.
We keep running into this Indian (from India!) student who lives in our apartment complex named Suraj. He's a really sweet kid - he's studying robotics at Pitt. He seems to get the idea that we are regular University students like him too, so he keeps inviting us over to hang out. "Hey, do you guys like pizza? Want to watch the Steelers game? I'll buy the beer." No thanks Suraj, but we would love to talk to you about the Restored Gospel! We haven't had a good chance to do that yet, but we'll see.
So, two weeks ago, I asked yinz* to pray that we would find an investigator as awesome as Michael. Well, prayers are answered, and we found not one, but two! The first I might have mentioned briefly last week. His name is Ty, and he called out to us as we were walking away from another appointment. "Are you Mormons?" he said. We answered boldly "Yes!" and he started to tell us about how he felt like something was missing, and he needed to come closer to Christ. We gave him a Book of Mormon, told him to read a little out of it, and set up an appointment.
I was freaked before that appointment. I thought it was too good to be true, and that he would pull a gun on us or something (he does live in the area where a gun was actually pulled out in front of us). But we knocked on his door, he opened it, warmly welcomed us in, introduced us to his kids (his wife wasn't home at the time, so he was on babysitting-duty). We kicked everything off great. Everything we talked about he enjoyed, he gave us some great answers to our questions. It was like he read Preach My Gospel before we got there. His sincerity is what really got me - he just wants to be a better husband and father for his wife and kids. It's awesome! He's a cook too (and, as you all know, I love to cook. Quick side note: I've been cooking some awesome dinners for Elder Walker lately. This past week, I made some delicious penne pasta casserole with zucchini, onions, sausage, mushrooms, etc. It was excellent. Anyway, back to the story...) and a techno-geek (Another side track. He set up his entire home entertainment system to be voice activated through a laptop which interfaces through an Ethernet to serial modem which connects to the stereo, TV, etc. As you all know, I would probably do the same thing just for fun), and really loves his family. In other words, he's AWESOME!
But, there's another! Her name is April, and we were referred to her. Actually, we called her member friend, who then called her and told her to call us. So, you could say, she called us asking for a lesson. She's the mother of three teenage children, and she wants all of them to be baptized at the same time. Yep. That's right. SHE WANT'S TO BE BAPTIZED WITH HER KIDS! It's so refreshing to find people who are actually wants to learn and progress, and then use what they learn to help their families. I know this is definitely an answer to my prayers and your prayers. So thank you all so much. You don't know how much it means to me.
I gotta talk about Todd now. Todd is an 18 year old kid we met and tried to teach, but he just won't listen. He is the most intense person I've ever met in my entire life. One example: We asked for water. He went into his home and came back with two cups. "I will never deny the gift of life to a comrade." ... Yeah. He's cool, though.
Missionary Work is still super cool. We had a great Zone Training where we were taught the importance of the Apostasy. Yes, the apostasy. the focus was, if you don't know about the apostasy, why would the restoration even matter? I know that the world fell into darkness following the apostles. I know that the world was lost for a time. But I also know that God always will call another prophet, and he did. And he still does. Isn't that great?
I love the Gospel!
Love,
Elder Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
*Yinz is a Pittsburgh term meaning "You all, y'all, or yous guys." I'll probably say it to an extent for the rest of my life.
August 13, 2012
Missionary Slim creates a meaningless statistic (Week 27 in Pennsylvania, Week 9 in Pittsburgh, PA)
It almost seems like I've been out of my area more than I've been in it this week. Seriously. Our district leader, Elder Van Der Spek (He's Belgian, and his name, roughly translated means 'of the bacon.' That might give you an idea about his personality too.), needs to exchange, or switch, with each elder in the district once during the transfer. He decided, to save on... something (I'm still trying to figure out his reasoning), he would exchange with both Elder Walker and I in the same week - not unheard of, but it is unusual. So, some of the stories for this week are going to be with people who do not live in my area, but are still investigating the one true church nonetheless.
The first was actually someone who used to live in my area, but moved very shortly after I got here - so shortly that I actually had the chance to call her on the phone, but never met her in person. Her name is Sandra, and she is hysterical. The whole time we were there, she was throwing jokes at us Elders, and we would just throw them back. She's super sincere, though, and is super excited to get baptized. Yes, she's getting baptized in two weeks. It's always reassuring, though, to see someone who really has found the answer for herself and is willing to act on it.
I think I'd better add one to the tally of types of people we've disputed with: Murderist. Yep. Don't ask me what it means, and don't Google it - if it's a real thing, this guy doesn't need any hits on his website. He was one of those people who was trying to catch us in our words and find a mistake. He would ask questions about God or the commandments, when we already knew that he is Atheist. We later found out what his agenda was. In keeping with the G-Rated theme of this blog, I'll just say he wants to legalize the breaking of just about every commandment. Seriously. He freaked out when we said we didn't trust him too, which, hello, was not a hard thing to do - he had giant, hideous tattoos all over his body and he was filming us and everything. So, again, if I pop up on YouTube, down-vote it the video.
Oh, and by the way. Elder Walker and Elder Van Der Spek were on exchange and ran into him again later during the week. He asked "Hey. Do you guys have anything else to say to me?"
"No, turn off that camera," Elder Van Der Spek said.
He recoiled and ran away.
Granted, I've met a lot of really nice people with tattoos. One guy stopped us on the street, talked to us about his family, and then straight-up asked if we wanted to come over and teach him. No joke.
So we were tracting, and ran into these two guys smoking on their porch. We couldn't tell from far away, but as soon as we started talking to them, we realized what they were smoking - yep. Weed. Regardless, we invited them to the YSA activities, and to learn about the church, etc., but they just blew second-hand death into our faces. Man, that stuff is noxious. It stuck in my throat for several minutes before the feeling went away completely. Don't smoke anything - it's gross, it doesn't make you look cool, and it makes you 60%* less likely to get into the Celestial Kingdom.
Elder Lucio and I taught someone that exact principle - actually, it was a member who relapsed. Fortunately, we had a solution - a problem-fixer, so to speak. A few months ago, our mission president sent us a "Stop Smoking in 7 Days" program which was written ages ago by a missionary who was severely under the influence of the Spirit - we're talking about fasting, prayer, serious study, temple visits - you name it. This program is supposedly so effective, people completely stop within 4 days. Crazy, I know.
Well, we went by to visit this woman and present this program. Holy cow, is it effective. Part 1: Crush your cigarettes in your hand. Grind them to a pulp. Throw them away. Part 2: Stop it! Don't ever smoke again. Here's what you do to make it so you don't want to smoke. Part 3: Here's what you do if you ever do want to smoke. The woman was shaking as she handed the cigarettes to me. I handed them back. She had to do it. She held her breath... and crushed them. It was awesome! With that one simple step, you could tell a burden was lifted. Just from that one choice, you could see the repentance process begin. It was cool.
Elder Walker and I tracted. A lot. One night, we came to a particular door, knocked, and waited. Out came a little old lady who, as far as I could tell, was literally glowing with the sheer joy and happiness she possessed. She smiled, and the first thing she said to us is "Well, isn't this unusual." We explained who we are and what we were doing, and she became even more surprised. Apparently, she'd never met missionaries before ("And I've been living here for 64 years!"). She's a "good Catholic," and loved the message we shared with her, but wasn't interested in learning more. But the whole time, she told us "You two are so unusual. Do you know that? Who does what you are doing?" Some college-age girls walked by and she said "They're probably very impressed with you because of what you are doing." (which is debatable). Regardless, she certainly brightened up my day and gave me a smile.
Brenda is doing great! We talked with her last night. For the past couple of weeks, our Ward Mission Leader has been encouraging us to reconsider teaching her. He's never met her though. We were thinking about it a lot, and finally decided we needed to have a "Come to Jesus" lesson and reset expectations to make sure she is actually worth our time to teach. And, for good measure, we brought the Mission Leader.
Holy cow. That lesson was like a bazooka of the spirit aimed right at the source of all evil. With our WML's help, we were able to explain to her baptism, ordinances, the church, the Gospel, prophets, authority, commitments, covenants, blessings, the atonement... all so clearly and powerfully. He fellow-shipped and invited and was just a pro. At the end of the lesson, she gave us a perfect Preach My Gospel answer: "So, you're not trying to take away from the things which I already know and do. You're trying to add to them." Yes, Brenda. Yes. No baptism date yet, but it's coming.
Immediately after that lesson, we stepped out of her house and were hailed down by a guy who was walking past. "HEY! Are you guys Mormons?" Our WML was the first to answer "Absolutely." We stopped right there, and he said he was looking for more in his life, and wanted to meet with us. He said we had tracted his neighborhood before, but he was in the shower. We said "Sure! When would you like to meet?" Without skipping a beat he said "Tomorrow." Sadly, we couldn't do it that day, but we did get an appointment for ACTUAL tomorrow, being Tuesday. We'll see where this goes. Just from our first impression of him, he might be the answer to our prayers for an investigator like Michael. We'll see.
So! Lots of cool stuff happened this week, but the rest of this transfer will be even better. Since we don't have to worry about exchanges anymore, we will be able to devote all of our time and attention to our own area and companionship. I only have 3 more weeks until the next transfer, and I very well could leave. We'll see what the Lord has in store for me.
Take care, yinz!
Love,
Elder Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
*Actual figure dependent on your repentance and the mercy of the Lord.
The first was actually someone who used to live in my area, but moved very shortly after I got here - so shortly that I actually had the chance to call her on the phone, but never met her in person. Her name is Sandra, and she is hysterical. The whole time we were there, she was throwing jokes at us Elders, and we would just throw them back. She's super sincere, though, and is super excited to get baptized. Yes, she's getting baptized in two weeks. It's always reassuring, though, to see someone who really has found the answer for herself and is willing to act on it.
I think I'd better add one to the tally of types of people we've disputed with: Murderist. Yep. Don't ask me what it means, and don't Google it - if it's a real thing, this guy doesn't need any hits on his website. He was one of those people who was trying to catch us in our words and find a mistake. He would ask questions about God or the commandments, when we already knew that he is Atheist. We later found out what his agenda was. In keeping with the G-Rated theme of this blog, I'll just say he wants to legalize the breaking of just about every commandment. Seriously. He freaked out when we said we didn't trust him too, which, hello, was not a hard thing to do - he had giant, hideous tattoos all over his body and he was filming us and everything. So, again, if I pop up on YouTube, down-vote it the video.
Oh, and by the way. Elder Walker and Elder Van Der Spek were on exchange and ran into him again later during the week. He asked "Hey. Do you guys have anything else to say to me?"
"No, turn off that camera," Elder Van Der Spek said.
He recoiled and ran away.
Granted, I've met a lot of really nice people with tattoos. One guy stopped us on the street, talked to us about his family, and then straight-up asked if we wanted to come over and teach him. No joke.
So we were tracting, and ran into these two guys smoking on their porch. We couldn't tell from far away, but as soon as we started talking to them, we realized what they were smoking - yep. Weed. Regardless, we invited them to the YSA activities, and to learn about the church, etc., but they just blew second-hand death into our faces. Man, that stuff is noxious. It stuck in my throat for several minutes before the feeling went away completely. Don't smoke anything - it's gross, it doesn't make you look cool, and it makes you 60%* less likely to get into the Celestial Kingdom.
Elder Lucio and I taught someone that exact principle - actually, it was a member who relapsed. Fortunately, we had a solution - a problem-fixer, so to speak. A few months ago, our mission president sent us a "Stop Smoking in 7 Days" program which was written ages ago by a missionary who was severely under the influence of the Spirit - we're talking about fasting, prayer, serious study, temple visits - you name it. This program is supposedly so effective, people completely stop within 4 days. Crazy, I know.
Well, we went by to visit this woman and present this program. Holy cow, is it effective. Part 1: Crush your cigarettes in your hand. Grind them to a pulp. Throw them away. Part 2: Stop it! Don't ever smoke again. Here's what you do to make it so you don't want to smoke. Part 3: Here's what you do if you ever do want to smoke. The woman was shaking as she handed the cigarettes to me. I handed them back. She had to do it. She held her breath... and crushed them. It was awesome! With that one simple step, you could tell a burden was lifted. Just from that one choice, you could see the repentance process begin. It was cool.
Elder Walker and I tracted. A lot. One night, we came to a particular door, knocked, and waited. Out came a little old lady who, as far as I could tell, was literally glowing with the sheer joy and happiness she possessed. She smiled, and the first thing she said to us is "Well, isn't this unusual." We explained who we are and what we were doing, and she became even more surprised. Apparently, she'd never met missionaries before ("And I've been living here for 64 years!"). She's a "good Catholic," and loved the message we shared with her, but wasn't interested in learning more. But the whole time, she told us "You two are so unusual. Do you know that? Who does what you are doing?" Some college-age girls walked by and she said "They're probably very impressed with you because of what you are doing." (which is debatable). Regardless, she certainly brightened up my day and gave me a smile.
Brenda is doing great! We talked with her last night. For the past couple of weeks, our Ward Mission Leader has been encouraging us to reconsider teaching her. He's never met her though. We were thinking about it a lot, and finally decided we needed to have a "Come to Jesus" lesson and reset expectations to make sure she is actually worth our time to teach. And, for good measure, we brought the Mission Leader.
Holy cow. That lesson was like a bazooka of the spirit aimed right at the source of all evil. With our WML's help, we were able to explain to her baptism, ordinances, the church, the Gospel, prophets, authority, commitments, covenants, blessings, the atonement... all so clearly and powerfully. He fellow-shipped and invited and was just a pro. At the end of the lesson, she gave us a perfect Preach My Gospel answer: "So, you're not trying to take away from the things which I already know and do. You're trying to add to them." Yes, Brenda. Yes. No baptism date yet, but it's coming.
Immediately after that lesson, we stepped out of her house and were hailed down by a guy who was walking past. "HEY! Are you guys Mormons?" Our WML was the first to answer "Absolutely." We stopped right there, and he said he was looking for more in his life, and wanted to meet with us. He said we had tracted his neighborhood before, but he was in the shower. We said "Sure! When would you like to meet?" Without skipping a beat he said "Tomorrow." Sadly, we couldn't do it that day, but we did get an appointment for ACTUAL tomorrow, being Tuesday. We'll see where this goes. Just from our first impression of him, he might be the answer to our prayers for an investigator like Michael. We'll see.
So! Lots of cool stuff happened this week, but the rest of this transfer will be even better. Since we don't have to worry about exchanges anymore, we will be able to devote all of our time and attention to our own area and companionship. I only have 3 more weeks until the next transfer, and I very well could leave. We'll see what the Lord has in store for me.
Take care, yinz!
Love,
Elder Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
*Actual figure dependent on your repentance and the mercy of the Lord.
August 6, 2012
Missionary Slim: Get's an education in world religions (Week 26 in Pennsylvania, Week 8 in Pittsburgh, PA)
The devil has been hard at work this week. We've been contending left and right with all kinds of people. Some of them turned out pretty good, others were just downright nasty.
1. A member of the Gideons stopped us and started talking to us. After he introduced himself, I pulled out my own mini Gideon bible which I've been carrying around. He was impressed, but then jumped right into his attack - "I know what you're doing is good and all, but I've read part of the Book of Mormon and know that it isn't the word of God, and I also know that Joseph Smith was a false prophet..."
I AM SO SICK OF PEOPLE SAYING THAT!
I drilled him with testimony, very similar to when I bore testimony to Todd a few months ago in Lebanon. He tried to say some anti-mormon stuff, he tried to refer us to a book written by an apologetic of the church (someone who left, and is now against the true Church of Jesus Christ), he used a few scripture references ("The bible says dont add to or take away from it." Elder Walker jumped right in and corrected him: "Yeah, it says that in both the last chapter of Revelation and in Deuteronomy 2.") We thanked him kindly for sharing, bore more testimony. He then asked if there was any way he could pray for us. I told him not to pray for us, but to pray for the people who don't know about the Gospel. We left on good terms.
2. A Muslim stopped us and gave us a pamphlet about Muhammed and the Qu'ran. He was super nice, and super friendly ("Why aren't you Muslim?" "Why aren't you Christian?") This was the kind of conversation which pretty much was a compare and contrast - not an argument. It was good. He gave us a copy of the Qu'ran and we gave him a Book of Mormon. He fully intends to read it too. Plus, the pamphlet he gave us smelled like incense - he gets bonus points for that! So, that was actually a cool conversation.
3. Right after that, we ran into some Jehovah's Witnesses. They just went on and on and on! There was no way we could even attempt to bear testimony to those people. When we did, the spirit was definitely there, but as soon as we were done, they drove it away with their arguments against what I said to them. They seemed like robots, at least one of them did. The other one was much nicer, more friendly (more human). We eventually had to just say "We have to go," and I tried to end it on good terms by complimenting their missionary work. THEY JUST KEPT CONTENDING! So we just turned heels and walked away.
4. The worst of all came last. We walked by a few dark skinned guys with a video camera wearing Hebrew getup, and they stopped us. The conversation started out nice and friendly - they asked what we believe and we told them we believe in Jesus Christ, and the atonement. Then they went off. They told us that black people were in reality Jews (not uncommon around here, lots of churches around here are based on that idea), and that all white people are going to eternal punishment. They told us that we were not covered by Christ's mercy. We tried to testify of the opposite and use scriptures, but they'd just yell back at us. And they had it all on camera. Our saving grace came when another black guy came out with a megaphone and started reciting the Lord's prayer. With that distraction, we escaped.
Regardless of those unfortunate incidents, we had an awesome week.
We taught an awesome guy named Michael. He was actually found by the sister missionaries in charge of young single adults, and after they started teaching him, they found out that he's actually too old. So, we got to teach him. The lesson went fantastic! He was writing stuff down in his notebook, asked the best questions, and had incredible insights. Best of all, he accepted to come to church, and meant it!
It gets better, though. He actually did come to church yesterday and *bore his testimony!* No kidding. He got up, introduced himself, said it was his first time attending, and then bore a beautiful testimony of the atonement, humility, and the things he's been learning. Everyone was floored (the ward mission leader even texted us during the meeting to ask who this guy is.) Members came up and shook his hand, thanked him for his testimony. He was really happy to be there too, and was really appreciating the fellowship. It was a super positive experience.
The one problem with all of that - he actually isn't supposed to be in our ward. He's supposed to be in another ward which meets in the same building, but at a different time. Because we were not teaching him in his home but still in our area, we assumed he lived in our area. But when he gave us his address and we looked it up, he in fact does not. We were super bummed.The other Elders were there, waiting until after sacrament meeting so they could be introduced to him and we could pass him over to them. We were disappointed, but still glad because - hey! - he is still getting baptized into the one true church! But, not only would we have loved to teach him, but he would have been a great addition to the ward I'm serving in. Oh well. I'm just grateful I was able to teach him that one lesson and hear his awesome testimony. We'll work hard and find someone in our own area as awesome as he is.
We got a text on our phone about somebody who actually called the number on one of the literally hundreds of cards that we've been giving out. He lives about as far away from us as he could, but we still trekked out to meet with him. His name is Mickey, and boy, does he have a sense of humor. He was slightly intoxicated too, but he seems to have some good interest. We'll see where this goes.
Karen is a sweetheart. I think I mentioned her before - she lives right down the street from us, and is always super friendly. Well, this week she topped the cake with a cherry. It was her birthday, and she was having a party. Knowing we couldn't come (mainly because of the alcohol), but not wanting to leave us out, she gave us huge plates of food, and another appointment to teach her! Nice!
I'll mention Brenda too. She's doing good. We had a nice sit-down with her where we watched a DVD about the Restoration. She still really wants to know if it's true, but she just doesn't have the time or energy to do it. We're starting to get frustrated because we keep asking her to do things, which she says she will, but she doesn't follow through. That's always a bummer. Your prayers in her direction would certainly be appreciated. She's got a ton of potential - we just need her to act on what we're teaching her.
One more thing. A long long time ago, in an area far away, I taught a lovely Cambodian family. Well, I just got word today that Rebecca got baptized! Yep! Elder Blake was kind enough to text me and let me know about it, which made me so happy. Elder Walker's been having a hard time with feeling like his efforts are even worth anything, because we haven't had any baptisms yet. Despite the fact that we haven't seen any immediate success, I know that our efforts are not in vain. We are making a huge difference in the lives of everyone we see. Even those people who we don't talk to about the Gospel are influenced by our example and our kindness.
Even those people who contended with us were affected by us - if they opened their hearts to the spirit. All to often, people compliment us for our dedication and commitment to our faith. On average, it takes 7 encounters with missionaries before someone is willing to hear the message. I know that as long as I am setting a good example and impression, many people I talk to will eventually accept the Gospel. Sometimes I reap - sometimes I sow. Just as long as I am working towards building the Lord's Kingdom, I can feel good about my service.
I know that I am a terrible missionary - there is no way I live up to everything I'm supposed to, or do everything perfectly. That's okay. That's life! We're human. What I can do is the best that I can, and let the Lord take care of the rest. In fact, he's already done it all. I just have to strive to be worthy for him to bless me.
Still, all of you praying that we find an investigator like Michael would be neat. ;)
Thanks again for your continued support, encouragement, and love. It means the world to me.
Love,
Elder Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
Read More
1. A member of the Gideons stopped us and started talking to us. After he introduced himself, I pulled out my own mini Gideon bible which I've been carrying around. He was impressed, but then jumped right into his attack - "I know what you're doing is good and all, but I've read part of the Book of Mormon and know that it isn't the word of God, and I also know that Joseph Smith was a false prophet..."
I AM SO SICK OF PEOPLE SAYING THAT!
I drilled him with testimony, very similar to when I bore testimony to Todd a few months ago in Lebanon. He tried to say some anti-mormon stuff, he tried to refer us to a book written by an apologetic of the church (someone who left, and is now against the true Church of Jesus Christ), he used a few scripture references ("The bible says dont add to or take away from it." Elder Walker jumped right in and corrected him: "Yeah, it says that in both the last chapter of Revelation and in Deuteronomy 2.") We thanked him kindly for sharing, bore more testimony. He then asked if there was any way he could pray for us. I told him not to pray for us, but to pray for the people who don't know about the Gospel. We left on good terms.
2. A Muslim stopped us and gave us a pamphlet about Muhammed and the Qu'ran. He was super nice, and super friendly ("Why aren't you Muslim?" "Why aren't you Christian?") This was the kind of conversation which pretty much was a compare and contrast - not an argument. It was good. He gave us a copy of the Qu'ran and we gave him a Book of Mormon. He fully intends to read it too. Plus, the pamphlet he gave us smelled like incense - he gets bonus points for that! So, that was actually a cool conversation.
3. Right after that, we ran into some Jehovah's Witnesses. They just went on and on and on! There was no way we could even attempt to bear testimony to those people. When we did, the spirit was definitely there, but as soon as we were done, they drove it away with their arguments against what I said to them. They seemed like robots, at least one of them did. The other one was much nicer, more friendly (more human). We eventually had to just say "We have to go," and I tried to end it on good terms by complimenting their missionary work. THEY JUST KEPT CONTENDING! So we just turned heels and walked away.
4. The worst of all came last. We walked by a few dark skinned guys with a video camera wearing Hebrew getup, and they stopped us. The conversation started out nice and friendly - they asked what we believe and we told them we believe in Jesus Christ, and the atonement. Then they went off. They told us that black people were in reality Jews (not uncommon around here, lots of churches around here are based on that idea), and that all white people are going to eternal punishment. They told us that we were not covered by Christ's mercy. We tried to testify of the opposite and use scriptures, but they'd just yell back at us. And they had it all on camera. Our saving grace came when another black guy came out with a megaphone and started reciting the Lord's prayer. With that distraction, we escaped.
Regardless of those unfortunate incidents, we had an awesome week.
We taught an awesome guy named Michael. He was actually found by the sister missionaries in charge of young single adults, and after they started teaching him, they found out that he's actually too old. So, we got to teach him. The lesson went fantastic! He was writing stuff down in his notebook, asked the best questions, and had incredible insights. Best of all, he accepted to come to church, and meant it!
It gets better, though. He actually did come to church yesterday and *bore his testimony!* No kidding. He got up, introduced himself, said it was his first time attending, and then bore a beautiful testimony of the atonement, humility, and the things he's been learning. Everyone was floored (the ward mission leader even texted us during the meeting to ask who this guy is.) Members came up and shook his hand, thanked him for his testimony. He was really happy to be there too, and was really appreciating the fellowship. It was a super positive experience.
The one problem with all of that - he actually isn't supposed to be in our ward. He's supposed to be in another ward which meets in the same building, but at a different time. Because we were not teaching him in his home but still in our area, we assumed he lived in our area. But when he gave us his address and we looked it up, he in fact does not. We were super bummed.The other Elders were there, waiting until after sacrament meeting so they could be introduced to him and we could pass him over to them. We were disappointed, but still glad because - hey! - he is still getting baptized into the one true church! But, not only would we have loved to teach him, but he would have been a great addition to the ward I'm serving in. Oh well. I'm just grateful I was able to teach him that one lesson and hear his awesome testimony. We'll work hard and find someone in our own area as awesome as he is.
We got a text on our phone about somebody who actually called the number on one of the literally hundreds of cards that we've been giving out. He lives about as far away from us as he could, but we still trekked out to meet with him. His name is Mickey, and boy, does he have a sense of humor. He was slightly intoxicated too, but he seems to have some good interest. We'll see where this goes.
Karen is a sweetheart. I think I mentioned her before - she lives right down the street from us, and is always super friendly. Well, this week she topped the cake with a cherry. It was her birthday, and she was having a party. Knowing we couldn't come (mainly because of the alcohol), but not wanting to leave us out, she gave us huge plates of food, and another appointment to teach her! Nice!
I'll mention Brenda too. She's doing good. We had a nice sit-down with her where we watched a DVD about the Restoration. She still really wants to know if it's true, but she just doesn't have the time or energy to do it. We're starting to get frustrated because we keep asking her to do things, which she says she will, but she doesn't follow through. That's always a bummer. Your prayers in her direction would certainly be appreciated. She's got a ton of potential - we just need her to act on what we're teaching her.
One more thing. A long long time ago, in an area far away, I taught a lovely Cambodian family. Well, I just got word today that Rebecca got baptized! Yep! Elder Blake was kind enough to text me and let me know about it, which made me so happy. Elder Walker's been having a hard time with feeling like his efforts are even worth anything, because we haven't had any baptisms yet. Despite the fact that we haven't seen any immediate success, I know that our efforts are not in vain. We are making a huge difference in the lives of everyone we see. Even those people who we don't talk to about the Gospel are influenced by our example and our kindness.
Even those people who contended with us were affected by us - if they opened their hearts to the spirit. All to often, people compliment us for our dedication and commitment to our faith. On average, it takes 7 encounters with missionaries before someone is willing to hear the message. I know that as long as I am setting a good example and impression, many people I talk to will eventually accept the Gospel. Sometimes I reap - sometimes I sow. Just as long as I am working towards building the Lord's Kingdom, I can feel good about my service.
I know that I am a terrible missionary - there is no way I live up to everything I'm supposed to, or do everything perfectly. That's okay. That's life! We're human. What I can do is the best that I can, and let the Lord take care of the rest. In fact, he's already done it all. I just have to strive to be worthy for him to bless me.
Still, all of you praying that we find an investigator like Michael would be neat. ;)
Thanks again for your continued support, encouragement, and love. It means the world to me.
Love,
Elder Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
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