April 15, 2013

Missionary Slim has a week full of firsts (Week 62 in Pennsylvania, Week 3 in Somerset, PA)


This week has been fairly successful. Sadly, it's been a little dull, but that's okay. Although it has been a week of firsts, in several ways. 

We were driving down the road, trying to figure out who to visit where and when. A person popped into my head. Now, mind you, it was weird because I didn't know the face of the person, nor did I know the name. Regardless, I knew there was a person in the direction we were going that we needed to visit. I asked my companion to read off the names of all the members who lived in the direction we were going. Probably thinking I was crazy, he started reading. Then he got to Bro. Kimmel. "That's the one!" He put the address into our trusty GPS and away we went, down the windy, rocky, dusty roads of PA. 

We got to Bro. Kimmel's house to find him inside, smoking out the window. He let us in without any hesitation - he was glad to see us. "Guys, I need some help," he told us. He said that he was working on getting his life together, getting the priesthood, and eventually getting sealed to his sweetheart. I would say wife, but they got divorced. "But we're trying to make it work right. We're going to start it right this time." That was the first time I've ever heard of that. "So, what you're saying it you got divorced so you could get sealed?" His reply was as matter of fact as saying "It's sunny outside." -

"Uh... Yeah."

Man, is that guy humble. He wants to be his very best (he has a bunch of personal motivation books and on top of them all rests his triple combination), but at the same time, easily recognizes his worst (obviously smoking, but he also recognizes his addiction to Pepsi). Best of all, he wants to change. "Whenever I need you guys the most, you always show up," he told us while we were there. 

In fact, my companion and I are starting to know what it feels like to be prayed to people's doors. Another investigator, Kazia, told us "You missionaries always show up right after I have a deep prayer." Wow. Kazia is pretty fantastic. She's super hyper, bubbly, full of energy all of the time. She's got a great desire to follow the Lord, she just has a hard time getting down to it. She's got a lot of great insights to the gospel, but at the same time still has a lot of questions. Best of all, she's got faith. Despite her questions, she does not doubt. She still hopes to be able to get out of this rut that she's in and feel the love of her Savior that she felt before.

Don is another investigator we've been visiting with. He's very much into the Gospel - he loves his Savior and wants to be baptized. He's just so worried about joining a religion that he doesn't want to be baptized a 'Mormon' or a 'Catholic' or a 'Lutheran' or whatever - he wants to be baptized as a disciple of Christ. We found, though, that his main concern came down to his belief in the Book of Mormon. After reviewing the restoration, we asked him "If you find out that this church is the true Church of Christ, would you be okay with joining it?" His answer: "Of course!" When we asked him how his reading of the Book of Mormon has been going, he said that he was pretty sure that the devil has been working on him, trying to keep him from reading it. The member that came with us was sharp and caught on immediately. He asked Don "What does that tell you about the Book of Mormon?" After a moment, he responded "I guess that means it's true!" He still needs that spiritual witness, but he keeps moving one step forward at a time.

We've also been teaching a great family; Ben, Jen, and their four children. He works as a sanitation engineer (AKA garbage man) and she takes care of the kids. They've got a bunch of questions, and also have their doubts. But they're willing to act. After a pretty decent lesson, we gave them the invitation to come to church, and they came! I was more than thrilled. I'm not sure if it made a huge difference - we haven't had the chance to chat with them about it, but they were willing to try the word, to give it a shot and see if it would help them in their lives. Hopefully it does. 

So, we're teaching a lot of people, all very different, but all similar in their quest for peace. Hopefully, we'll be able to help them find that peace. And hopefully, all of us will be able to find that peace ourselves.

Take care!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim

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