December 10, 2012

Missionary Slim has a week of highlights (Week 44 in Pennsylvania, Week 8 in Washington, PA)


So here's an interesting experience. Like anywhere in the church, there is a great structure in missions. The president has two Assistants who preside over the Zone leaders. Zone leaders steward over District leaders, who are in charge of individual companionships. As it happens, one of my Zone leaders happens to be Elder Nelson. Remember him? From way back when in Lebanon? As it turns out, he was my first companion here in PA, one who I respect very much and have always considered to be one of the best companions of my mission. Well, being District leader, I get the privlage of doing exchanges with the Zone leaders, and I got paired with good ol' Elder Nelson.
 
It was a blast, certainly one of the highlights of my week. I was only his second companion, so when we were together first, he wasn't super experienced, and I was just brand new. It was cool to see how far both of us have come. I was super impressed at how much more humble and loving he was. It made me wonder what changes have happened in me. Anyway, like many of my stories, I don't know if it means a lot to yinz, y'all, all of you, etc., but it means a lot to me.
 
A few updates. We stopped by Dave on Saturday and had a little visit. He's still really down about his whole situation. He was okay with us stopping by, but still doesn't feel ready for us teaching him and his family yet. I don't know what needs to change. But at least he's okay with us being there for them. I have a little secret, too. Don't tell him, but we're having the Young Women come by with cookies. We'll see if that helps the situation.
 
Dan is great. Actually, I think he's more in shock than anything. In his personal life, things are declining, but he's holding on to the Gospel and our visits, probably because it's the only stable thing he has to hold on to. He would appreciate being kept in mind and prayer too.
 
Cool story. So, Brian got baptized two weeks ago, and ordained last week. This past week, we came by and had a visit with his mom, who came to the baptism. She really enjoyed that experience, and at the time agreed to have the lessons with us. Well, we get there and come to find out that she had read the ENTIRE Gospel Principles manual. Holy cow. We asked her "What questions do you have?" She went off for a little bit about how she always seeks the Holy Spirit to show her what is truth and what isn't. As far as I could tell, she never told us that she found any errors in the manual. Which is to say, she believed it to be true. She did tell us, however, that she didn't like our hymns. Not much we can do about that. Well, we went on with our lesson, and get to the end, and invite her to come to church with us, seeing as she's never attended. She paused and replied "We'll see." She herself is a staunch Presbyterian, and pretty active too. I was pretty sure that was just code word for "Nope." But lo and behold, Sunday rolled around, and here she was, walking in with Brian and his wife. My jaw dropped to the floor. Better still, she seemed very happy to be there.
 
We've met a cool family, less-active. Her name is Gretchen. You don't have to have her tell you she's ex-army to see it. Everything about her says "Action." She was in Somolia, Afghanistan, all over the place. Her career had to end, though, when she had her son and she made the decision to become a stay-at-home mom. Because of her frequent moving as being part of the military, she drifted from the church. Since then, some things have happened in her life which has led her to "go to war with God", so to speak. In essence, the first time we met with her she told us that he has no intention of stepping into a church, let alone going to services, until things got straightened out. She really is great, though, and her son as well. He's super shy until he gets to know you. At that point, he starts pulling out all of his toys, shooting you with his fake guns (and he fully expects you to die a horrible death whenever he does)... it's adorable.
 
Well, we had a Ward Christmas Party this past weekend. Guess who showed up? A bunch of ladies from the Salvation Army (they were invited. Washington's Salvation Army loves the Mormons). Guess who else? Gretchen and her son! And they loved it. As it turns out, her neighbors across the hall are active members and neither they nor Grechen had any idea. But they found out, got the invite, and she came. It was a good start to the spiritual healing that will need to take place.
 
And that's about the gist. Have an awesome day, week, month, Christmas... Everything!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim

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