October 15, 2012

Missionary Slim might stay in Washington for more than 4 days this time (Week 36 in Pennsylvania, Week 18 in Pittsburgh, PA)



Transfers are tomorrow. President Topham called me last Tuesday. As usual when the President calls, I didn't even realize the phone was ringing until after he leaves a voicemail. I hastily found shelter from the noise of the traffic, called back, and was greeted by the cheery, friendly voice.

"Elder Anderson, I have news for you!"

"What's that President?" The anticipation was killing me.

"I'm going to be out of town this weekend, so you won't be able to come to my home to interview me for the mission video."

"Oh..." Not what I was expecting.

"While I have you on the phone, I might as well tell you about transfers."

Ahh. There it is.

"You are being transferred... back to Washington."

You know that feeling you get when the Steelers win the Super Bowl? Oh, wait. Yinz aren't in PA. Okay. You know that feeling when BYU beats U of U? Oh, right. Not everyone is a BYU fan. Okay. Oh! You know that feeling when President Monson gets up and makes a sweet announcement? And inside you say to yourself "YES! THIS IS AWESOME! WOO HOO!!" Well, that was kinda happening to me. I'm stoked to go back there. Plus, I'm going to be with one of the companions I was with before, Elder Medina. Plus, I get another companion. Yep. Threesome again.

As the week progressed, and we learned more and more about the changes happening to the mission, we found out that Elder Walker will be training a brand new missionary. I was tickled. Seriously, that was one of my biggest goals - train a missionary that could train another missionary. I didn't realize it would happen so soon, and I'll be honest, I'm not sure if Elder Walker is ready. But I'll be honest again, I probably wasn't either, so I'm sure it will turn out great.

So, my bags are packed, I'm all but ready to leave. I've been saying goodbye all week long. I haven't had nearly the heart-wrenching experience as I did when I left Lebanon, but it's been emotion filled for sure. Brenda is devastated. She wouldn't even say goodbye. She came to church, we visited for a bit, and then when it was time for her to go, she said "I can't say goodbye, because I know we'll see each other again." I don't know if that will be exactly the case, but thanks to Facebook, we'll be able to connect again.

"So," you ask, "When is Brenda getting baptized?" Well, not yet. She needs more time. She asks us about it every time we teach her, but she wont accept a few small things, like: when you get baptized, you join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Priesthood authority has been restored to the earth, or you can know the truth through reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. She doesn't doubt. But she's very nervous. She doesn't want to give up her old ways. Give her time. I'll let you all know if she does get baptized in the future. I'm going to miss teaching her. 

We met with an interesting gentleman. His name is Ryan. We first met him a few months ago when he jumped into a lesson we were having with another investigator and joined us in the discussion. He himself is very interesting, a seeker of truth. He's also very familiar with Anti-Mormon literature, and a few finer points of doctrine. But, he also has the sense to know that if the Chevy dealer tells you bad things about the Ford dealer, you should bring them up with the Ford dealer. So, he brought those points to us. Man. It's hard explaining some of the mysteries of God when I myself don't have a firm solid testimony of them myself. Fortunately, he was totally cool with the answer "I don't know how to answer your question, but I know that [this principle] is true. Not only that, it's biblical. Gimmie a little bit of time, and we'll find an answer for you." Despite all his difficult questions and his apprehensiveness, he's agreed to meet with us regularly.  I wish I could teach him more; I must say, he was a worthy adversary.

Another gentleman we're teaching is named Sedat. He's from West Africa and is visiting his brother who lives here. We met on the bus several weeks ago. I sat next to him quietly for most of a very long bus ride. The whole time, the Spirit was nudging me: "Talk to him....... talk to him........ talk to him........" "OKAY OKAY! I'LL DO IT!" As it usually does, it turns out he is very Christian, very open, and has a lot of time on his hands. I gave him a Book of Mormon, we swapped numbers, and spent the next few weeks trying to schedule an appointment. We finally did, and to our surprise, he had already devoured the first half of the Book of Mormon. He came with a question: "Which church is being described in Mosiah 18?" He knew it wasn't the Catholic church, it had to be some other church. He surprised us with how well he was able to pick up on tiny details and connect information. We later found out that he is a genius. His former profession was translating government and legal documents between English and the native dialects in his home country, certainly not a small feat. Again, I won't know exactly what happens to him in his progression, but if he gets baptized, I'll let everyone know.

And so, here I am. I stand on the precipice of change. All of my worldly possessions will be packed into two suitcases, I'll move once again, and continue the work of the ministry. One thing which I have gained an incredible witness of these past six weeks is that the Lord has all things in his hands. He sees the beginning from the end, and knows exactly what is best for each of his children. He's in charge. He will lead us where we should go, if we follow him. And most importantly, he understands the importance of timing. All good things will be done according to His good will and in His good time. Only after the fact can we look back and understand. "Oh. I see what you did there, Lord. Good move. I would have done it sooner, but that would have messed everything up. You know it." Like Isaiah says, the Lords ways and thoughts are higher than ours. He knows.

As always, I hope that the Lord blesses and watches over each and every one of you. He cares about you. And so do I.
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim

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