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.
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