September 10, 2012

Missionary Slim and the Law of the Harvest (Week 31 in Pennsylvania, Week 13 in Pittsburgh, PA)

Slim asked me to add my letter to him as a preface to his post this week. He thought you would enjoy it.
Slim's dad
    From the Crossroads of the West, we welcome you to the 33rd weekly broadcast via the interwebs of the letter to Elder R. Alex Anderson and his further adventures in the heathen realm of outer Pittsburgia.

    I don't say heathen lightly. He has had some truly life threatening adventures there in that land rich with iron and other natural resources. Much of the area is a rich tapestry of the bounty of the land of William Penn and fans of the ritualistic game called Football, even though it has very little to do with the feet. Yes, he is surviving, even thriving under the constant, vigilant watch of his noble sidekick, Elder Walker.

 Enough of this drivel.Now on to Missionary Slim

We went to visit that crazy investigator I mentioned. We were running a little behind, so we were a bit out of breath. The ward member coming to teach with us was even more late, so we didn't feel so bad. We knocked before he got there, so we could get the small talk out of the way. As soon as we did, though, streams of profanity came bellowing from behind the door. It swung open to reveal our investigator in a frenzy of what only could be termed insanity. Seriously. We found out later that she wasn't taking her med's at the time, and later was admitted to Western Psych ("They get Med's, and are Fed till they're Dead" said our member when he finally arrived.)

This member had something else for us to do. A sister from Cleavland was in the hospital for a checkup on her double lung transplant and needed a blessing. This is pretty common (us going to give blessings in hospitals - there are about 8 or 9 hospitals in our area, and we've been in about 6 of them), so we ran over there, chatted, gave the blessing, gave cheer, and then went home.

A few days later, our phone rings with an Ohio area code. It's this sister. She told us that she had made a friend while at the hospital, and wanted to share the Book of Mormon. NICE! We went back over (we only had plans to tract, so it worked out really well for us), and met this woman. Her name is Keri, and she is full blown Presbyterian - totally active, her former husband was a deacon or elder, and she herself was in some kind of leadership calling. She studied her bible every night, said her prayers every night, but still felt there was something missing. We talked to her a little bit about the Book of Mormon, gave her a copy, read a little bit out of it, and then went our way. Before we left, she told us that she was going to share this with her women's group. (I had to resist the urge to ask if we could share HER with our women's group.)

The moral of this story - the first sister we visited in the hospital was fairly young, severely weakened by her condition and medication, the only member of the church in her family, and had the courage to not only let others know she is Mormon, but also to share it. That's cool. That's really cool. I hope I can be like her when I stop wearing the name tag.

We visited with a few sweet families too. One, the Anderson's, are super cool, and not just because they have an awesome last name. They just barely moved from Philly, (that was a blast from the East - she speaks like the people from Lebanon), her family has been less active in the past, but really wants to get back into it. They've invited us over EVERY DAY of the week. We had to decline, but we will be visiting them a lot to help them come back.

Another family, the Howie's, are just as cool, if not cooler. The mom moved from Pittsburgh (the "Ghe-tto" she called it) to Mormon Suburbia in Las Vegas. Holy cow, was the culture shock there. She was so surprised at how nice everybody was, she immediately jumped on. Her son was baptized as well. Her daughter, on the other hand, couldn't be baptized because of an abrupt move back to Pittsburgh due to complications with her marriage (long story. Really long story). Anyway, they've been here for a while now without any contact with the church. We happened to get her records in our ward, and the Bishop sent us to investigate. We could only leave a card because nobody would answer the door. No more than 10 minutes after we left, we get a call basically begging us to come and visit - they missed the church so much. Our first lesson was so good! She shared her testimony, her desire to come back, and how much she loved the church and the teachings. She talked about how important her baptism was for her. It was so sweet. And, when she said the closing prayer, she said "In the name of the Father, and the Son, and Joseph Smith, and the Church. Amen" We couldn't help bust up laughing. She was so sincere and so sweet, it was wonderful. Her daughter is just about the same, really wanting to get back and come unto Christ. The only difference is the daughter isn't baptized yet. That should change very soon.

We were walking down the street when I got the distinct impression that we needed to track a specific street. A few days later, we hit the pavement right on that street. We had mild success, that is to say none. It was starting to get late, and we were pretty far from our apartment. I distinctly remember saying "Lets cross the street, knock a little bit more, see if we can ask someone for a drink of water, and then head home." I know. Not "One more door," but close enough.

Well, we knock on the door and a woman comes out. "Hey guys, how's it going?"

"Uhh.." we ask, "Have we met?"

"No, I don't think we have. I'd invite you in, but my husband isn't here, and I don't want to set a bad example for the kids."

"Uhh...."

We were apparently the first Mormons this woman has ever met. She grew up Catholic, but became disillusioned to religion in general and gave up the organized part. You could tell, though, that it was still in her heart - her kindness, generosity, and love which she just gave freely was apparent. When we asked for the water, she came out with a basket of produce from her garden - exotic tomatoes, cool peppers and FRESH BASIL! I'm totally making pasta this week! She gave us her number and said "Yeah, come over later. We'd love to have you over." Later she texted and said "Thanks for the visit. Enjoy the vegetables and be safe! Hope to see you again soon." We still don't know where she came from. But we hope to see her again soon too. We'll see.

There are so many more things I could talk about, but I don't have the time. We've been blessed so much. The continued prayers and support are so appreciated. Thank you all.

Love, Elder Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim

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