March 25, 2013

Missionary Slim witnesses the power of the Priesthood. (Week 59 in Pennsylvania, Week 23 in Washington, PA)

Folks, its been a good week. An incredible week. There's a main over-arching theme going on too. That theme is exemplified by D&C 84:20. Check it out, or read on if you want to just guess (or don't feel like pulling out your Standard Works - and if that is the case, you should repent.)

We got a call Tuesday morning. It was from an odd number from Maryland. On the other end of the line was Brother Haskie, from the Susquehanna, Maryland ward in the Baltimore stake. I've never met this guy before in my life, but somehow he had gotten our phone number and was calling with a plead for help - his mom is in the hospital, her lungs are not functioning, and she has a pretty high chance of passing on. He was desperate. I love helping people (it makes me feel like a super-hero), so we rearranged our plans and made some time to go and visit his mom in the hospital.

She was in such bad shape that, when we got there, because of her condition we needed to wear special gowns and gloves.





After we were all suited up and looked like spiffy surgeons, we went in to see her. She was in pretty bad shape. Gurgling, coughing, a machine breathing for her, tubes and IVs and all sorts of stuff. We anointed and blessed, and she very feebly mouthed a "Thank you" because she was unable to speak. She was barely strong enough to open her hand for a handshake. We left, with the son comforted to some degree.

Two days later we got a call. "GUYS, IF YOU WERE HERE, I WOULD HUG YOU ALL!" It was Bro. Haskie, and he was just overjoyed to tell us that it worked - the blessing worked. He said that his mom was going fantastic, that she was breathing on her own, that she was losing weight (which is a good thing, in this case) and that she was doing the chicken dance! Yep. Sure enough, when we went to visit again, she was moving and grooving. No joke. When it came time to leave, she was very sad. This time, when we shook hands, she held on with a very firm grip, wanting us to stay and spend more time with her. We promised that the new missionaries who would be coming in would definitely visit her.

And with that, I suppose I had better spill about transfers. Yep, as it turns out, not one, not two, but all three of us are leaving Washington. It's pretty incredible if you ask me. I don't feel so bad because I've been here a while and, in spite of how much I love it here, I'm ready to move on. But my two companions, both of whom have been here for less than 6 weeks, are feeling a little shafted. But, as always, I am sure this is the right thing, both for me, and my area, and my companions. 

As of yet, I know that I won't be in leadership. I'll be taking a much-needed rest from that responsibility. I also know that I won't be training. Who I'll be serving with, I do not know. Where I'll be serving, I do not know. But I do know that Whoever and wherever I go, it'll be right.

One more thing.
 



Yep! A baptism! That there is Dan the Man! He seriously is awesome. I've been teaching him since the end of November, and he has come such a long way. Like I mentioned last week, after debating with himself, he finally got the guidance and direction he needed from the Spirit to make this essential step. He asked me to baptize him, which I was truly grateful to be able to do. The entire baptism was full of the spirit and went through without a hitch. Even Elder Colvin was able to show up, which really made both his and my day - Elder Colvin made a big difference in the conversion of Dan. Dan's testimony at the end was incredible too - he talked about how faith lead him to make this decision, and how strongly he knew that this church is the true one.

Oh, and that little photo-bomber down there is Mary Faith. She's awesome.

That's my week! Take care all! 
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim

Read More

March 18, 2013

Missionary Slim celebrates St. Patrick's day in the traditional Irish way, by visiting a bar. (Week 58 in Pennsylvania, Week 22 in Washington, PA)

This week has certainly been a week of weeks. I'll just jump right into things.

We've been working pretty hard on Dan the Man. Dan is a pretty great guy, looking for the true church and he's pretty much decided that he has found it. Which is great. The one problem was that he could not bring himself to come to church. Well, he finally did it last week, and came this past week too, which is pretty solid. So, we decided on Wednesday that we would talk to him about actually being baptized. The conversation was going really well - I wanted to be there for the baptism, and we were pretty sure that he would be totally ready for baptism by the very last Saturday of the transfer. Which just so happens to be this coming Saturday. So, pretty close. Well, it turns out that Dan wasn't feeling it. "Guys, I know I've come so far, but I don't think I'll be ready by then." He's nervous about being baptized and slipping into old habits, even though he's been doing great for so long. He also is a little nervous about taking upon him the name of Christ. But he told us that he'd be ready by next month. I was a little disappointed, but it didn't bother me too much - he is still going to be baptized. Well, we came to church on Sunday. Dan showed up. I was thrilled to see him. One of the first things he told me was he felt like he should get in touch with his friend from Salt Lake City who referred him to the church in the first place. As it turns out, she is flying to the east coast next weekend and happens to be able to make it to a baptism service, if it were to happen this weekend. He thought about it and decided that he could make it happen this coming weekend. I was totally amazed. Seriously, I was so happy. We set up the details for the baptism right then and there, and are planning on having it right after church on Sunday. I'm incredibly excited, if you can't tell. I'll be sure to put up pictures and such next week!

We had a very exciting Saturday. It being the day before St. Patrick's day, we decided we would celebrate in the traditional way. Brother Anderson, who's probably one of my favorite people I've met on my mission, was telling us about great places to eat and he told us "Rudnick's is pretty great too. It's way down there in Marianna and they give you burgers about this big." He held up his hands and everything to show the sheer massiveness of these burgers. So we get the general directions, and tell him that we would check it out next time we were in that area. Well, we happened to be nearby on Saturday after finishing an exchange, so all 6 missionaries in the area went over there. And guess what. Yep. It was a bar. Straight up: Hockey on the TVs, arcade games, rednecks with giant beards, saucy female bar tenders. And the Spirit obviously wasn't there. But the general consensus among us missionaries was "We're here - we're doing it!" So we sit down, order our hamburgers. We got a couple of good stares from the crowd. After a few minutes of waiting, we get our burgers, and sure enough:




It was big. Really big. So big that I ALMOST didn't finish it. But I did. And it was AMAAAZING! So. I went to a bar on the day before St. Patty's day.

And, as usual, the Lord decided he'd let us know about how he felt about that. We drove back up and were on our way to visit a member of the ward when my car started freaking out. On the dashboard, it put up a warning saying "TIRE PRESSURE LOW." We parked, hop out and try to find the offending tire. Elder Swanson detected a gentle hissing coming from one of them. The wheel had completely worn, right down to the steel mesh on the inside. As we were inspecting it, a call came from behind us. "Elders, I thought you were supposed to be finding converts, not inspecting wheel well!" And like an angel, Brother Kelso is there behind us. He comes over, gives our car a quick look-around, gives some pointers on what to do, makes fun on the guy who inspected our car as part of our Zone Conference earlier this week ("Man, whoever looked at this car is a blind son of a gun!") We've been hobbling around on that spare all weekend.

For those of you who know me really well, this is the SECOND time the Lord has decided to mess with my car to send me a message about how well I follow the Word of Wisdom. The last time he did it, I wrecked my car after being super jumpy and anxious after eating a coffee Twix earlier that day. Since I didn't ACTUALLY break the Word of Wisdom, but went to a bar, He was much more merciful and only popped the tire. You would think I would learn my lesson. 

As is always the case, the work continues. As a word of weekly wisdom, "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak... because in your life, you will have been all of these." ~George Washington Carver.

Take care, all!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
Read More

March 11, 2013

Missionary Slim is running a Bed and Breakfast? " Do you want ketchup with your hashbrowns? " (Week 57 in Pennsylvania, Week 21 in Washington, PA)

I got a call a few weeks ago from the assistants to the President. "Elder Anderson, what are you up to today?"
"Well, it's P-Day so I'm doing.... P-Day things."
"That's great. Could you drive up here to the mission home and pick up a missionary who needs a home for the next day?"
Due to our closeness to the mission home and the fact that we have three beds in our apartment, we were selected to take care of this missionary who's companion had to go home. So we went up, he hung around us for the whole day as we went from appointment to appointment. The next morning, President Topham came, picked up the missionary, and that was that.
Or was it?
This being the second time President has pulled a trick like this, and being a little bit tired of playing host to missionaries all the time, I decided to see if I could fix the situation. I called the Secretary in charge of missionary apartments. Being brand new in the mission, she did not realize that we had three beds in our apartment. Yet, needless to say, when she found out that President was using our  apartment as a bed-and-breakfast for displaced missionaries, she said "Oh. Well, I guess that means that the bed needs to stay right where it is!"
Foiled again!
With my fingers crossed that the bed would remain unused, we continued about our business. However, the phone rang again - It was the President. My companion answered - Good thing too, because I've come to find when the Mission President calls, it's usually not a good thing. The conversation went like this:
"Hello, President. I love you so much!" (Elder Swanson is awesome - he's such an example to me of pure charity.)
"Hello, Elder Swanson. We have another resident coming into the Washington Walk Hotel." (I kid you not, those were his exact words. Maybe I should get into the hotel business...)
And so with that, we got ANOTHER COMPANION!!!! YAY! His name is Elder Wright, and he will be with us till the transfer (which happens to be in two weeks, BTW). He was formerly serving in Uniontown Pennsylvania, but due to some unfortunate circumstances, needed a change of scenery. He's from Bluffdale, Utah, and has very recently come on the mission. In fact, we'll be finishing up his training for the rest of this transfer. Oh, and he's very tall... Like crazy tall... Like 6'8". Yeah. Tall. (He tells us that the three things he ALWAYS hears is "How tall are you?" "Do you play basketball?" and "I bet you get this a lot...")
So, yeah! That's the biggest change that I've had this week in my life. And trust me, it is a very big change to start living with a guy who is half-a-foot taller than you are.
And I should also mention that most of my poo-pooing and diabolical plans above was for comedic effect, and I actually do love and respect my Mission President - he's amazing. Granted, he's thrown so many curve balls at me that I can't even count it on my hands any more (I'm not even joking). But he really is inspired, and I'm glad to have any missionaries that he sends to stay at the Washington Walk Hotel. Elder Wright is an awesome missionary too.
 
This week, I've been sick. Not really sick, I've just had laryngitis. It's been really fun, actually. I've been doing impressions of smokers and actors and other such things. But it's made it really interesting to teach people. One day, we went tracting. We got to the door, and I got the distinct impression that we needed to sing a song. I'd heard of door approaches like that before, but I'd never done it before myself. Here's how it went.
"Hello?"
"Hi ma'am. We're the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have laryngitis, but we'd like to sing you a song. Would that be okay."
"Okay!" She was very excited.
Elder Swanson is a definite bass (you should hear him sing opera!) and Elder Wright is tone deaf, so needless to say, it was pretty interesting. We sang "Love at Home" and she almost was brought to tears. She didn't let us in, but she was touched.
We started Laurie on a stop smoking program, and as far as we know, she's doing great on it! She hasn't smoked yet. I've been really impressed with this program and how well it works, but I think a lot of it has to do with the people that we teach. Laurie is awesome. She loves reading her scriptures and saying prayers, and she'll even say them in front of us now. She pays tithing... She just can't come to church. And that part is kinda important.
 
We also had a solid lesson with Dan about church attendance. Guess who showed up to church this week? Yep. Dan. He made it finally, and had a fantastic time. Along with Dan were two other investigators, a husband and wife named Shane and Bobbie. Whereas Dan already has a testimony of this being the true church (he texts us all the time telling us about his spiritual experiences he has as he reads the Book of Mormon), Shane and Bobbie have never even heard about the church before. Shane was disillusioned by his own church and wants to see if there is more out there. Well, he got it. The talks in sacrament meeting were specifically focused on the Atonement, but one of them did mention a Mother in Heaven. I got a little nervous then, but no questions were asked. Then in the 3rd hour, the lesson was specifically on our eternal destiny, with one of the main points being "As Man is, God once was. As God is, man may become." Again, no questions. In fact, Elder Wright told me he noticed Shane crying towards the end of the lesson. I was relieved! 

So, yeah. That's that. The Church is true.
 
Remember, also, that "It isn't the load that we carry that breaks us; it is how we carry it." Ponder on that.
 
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
Read More

March 4, 2013

Missionary Slim is making Football analogy's? ( Go Steelers? ) (Week 56 in Pennsylvania, Week 20 in Washington, PA)

Missionary Slim is sick and tired of winter.

Not only me, but also just about every member of the ward out here in Washington. Over the pulpit, in Fast and Testimony meeting, one of the members said "You can't trust Phil nowadays." Since one of the ward members happens to be named Phil, it did take a little bit of an explanation before the congregation started calming down (Punxsutawney Phil, the notorious weather predicting groundhog!) Gratefully, the sun is actually starting to make an extended stay in the sky every day, but the cold is starting to get to me - and get into me!
 
Yes, after four months of fighting it, my body finally succumbed to the onslaught of infectious viral parasites eating away at the back of my throat and sinuses. Unfortunately, it was able to take advantage of Fast Sunday to gain a greater foothold over my immune system. Fortunately, now that I've downed about a gallon of fluids, I've started getting over it.

With that being said, I've had an average, ordinary week in the life of a missionary. Which is absolutely incredible and amazing compared to an average ordinary week of a normal person, such as a postal worker or car repair man. So I guess I can't complain.

We did have a couple of great visits with some families. The Southerns are doing very well (other than the fact that they were attacked by the diabolical forces of Influenza which kept them from coming to church). Becky and Mary Faith are still ridiculously excited to be baptized. We've actually set them both with a baptismal date (this summer, though, because Mary Faith won't be quite old enough until then, and Becky want's to be baptized around the same time.) We've started making plans for them to be married though, and if all goes well, will give them both a stop-smoking program this week. They're making good progress.

Brian's mom, Donna, has still been meeting with us. We've been getting bold with her as of late, and had a good lesson on faith, intent, and action this past week. After some good conversation, with me rather passionately encouraging her to find her answer, she gave a response: "I'm not saying that I don't think I will ever be a Mormon.... I just need some more time." As usual, the Spirit softly, but firmly, rebuked me telling me to be more patient. We did finish off the lesson with an invitation to come to sacrament meeting. Sure enough, Brian and Donna arrived, and Brian even got up and bore his testimony, very powerfully. "I know with all the surety of my heart that this church is true, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet." I was impressed and inspired.

Our visit with Dan went pretty good too. He announced that his work schedule is changing, and that for all intents and purposes he might be able to start coming to church! I was overjoyed. Thrilled. Ecstatic!

I'll close with a very simple story. We went out a finding less-active members. A name popped out at us, so we drove to the address, knocked on the door, and... nothing. I wrote a note, left it, and we turned to go back to our car just as another person was walking out of their home. Elder Swanson started up a conversation - nothing big, or important. Just getting to know. As it progressed, and we started talking about our calling and such, we found that this individual was Christian, believed in God, but wasn't going to church right now. "Well, how would you like to get into a good church?" She seemed pretty open, so we gave her a card, number, and church address. "I'll be checking this out!" she said, pointing to where it says "Mormon.org" on the card. I don't know if anything will come of that. I don't know if she'll be calling us in the next week, or if it will take months before she actually chooses to learn more. But I do know that I was in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. Sometimes, for whatever reason, the Lord puts us in places and situations for reasons that we may not expect. As long as we are doing what we are supposed to, we can expect to have experiences like this one. 

I once heard is compared to football. If the Lord is the quarterback, throwing the football of the Holy Ghost, we are the ones receiving it. In football, the plays are very carefully choreographed and practiced so each player is in the right place at the right time. If we aren't in the right place, the ball will just fall to the ground; if we aren't there at the right time, the ball will fumble or fall out of our hands. Most importantly, though, is making sure that we are doing the right thing. Just imagine if a pro football player did his play, and then stood there, doing nothing. He'd get whacked in the head! When we do what we are supposed to, then we can be sure that the Spirit will lead us and guide us in the way we need to go. Then when we are in those right places at the right times, us doing the right things will be noticed by others. Then we'll really make some good in the world.

Ironically, it also works better if you don't think about it or try too hard - you just do the right thing, and those experiences will happen. As Elder Bednar describes it, you just have to be "Good boys and good girls."

Wow. I can't believe I used a football analogy... I've been in Steeler's country for way too long.
Take care, all!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
Read More
Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

Popular Posts