April 22, 2013

Missionary Slim meets someone who says that she is, "Mostly Catholic." (Week 63 in Pennsylvania, Week 4 in Somerset, PA)

An interesting (or perhaps, very uninteresting) thing about Pennsylvania, and something that has been a big part of my mission so far: There are 50,000 members in this state and 104 congregations, according to LDS.org. An average congregation has had anywhere between 180 to 200 members in attendance each week, although my current branch only has around 55-65 each week. Doing the math, it would appear that each congregation on average has about 200 less-active members. This congregation, being smaller, naturally would have a smaller number. As far as I can tell, we have about 100 less-active members.

Taking it a little deeper, there are a very large number of these less-actives who are working on coming back to church. One of the greatest joys of my mission has been working through the concerns of these less-active members as we visit with them. I have such a great love for so many of these dear brothers and sisters who have strayed from the fold, and have had such awesome and inspiring experiences teaching them and helping them come back.

At the same time, there are an awful lot of people who have just dropped off the face of the earth. Seriously, I mentioned the experience where we went to the one address to find these lost sheep and end up in a zombie apocalypse movie. Seeking out and finding these lost sheep has become a big part of my missionary labors here in Somerset, and that's a big part of what this week has been. Sadly, we didn't have too many remarkable experiences. It usually just involves us going to the address, knocking on it, waiting for the response, asking if the person who answers is indeed the person we are looking for. If we don't get a response, bugging the neighbors always seems to be effective. Sometimes they are open to visiting with us. Sometimes, they very clearly tell us what they want from us: nothing. That's always a little saddening.

Probably the best part of the whole operation is when we get back to church on Sunday and say "Hey, we met so-and-so this week" and watching the jaws drop. "What, you actually got in there?" "How did you get past the dogs?" "I haven't seen that person in over 25 years!" Hearing those things always gives me a kick.

We had Zone Training this week. My zone is far different from any zone I've ever been in, which made it a... unique experience. The zone goes from the bottom-most border of the state to just about the top-most border of the state. For reference, check out the Altoona stake on maps.lds.org (Go to the "Layers" section and choose to show "Stake Borders" and note that you have to log in with your LDS.org account) That means that instead of just traveling to the stake center for our meetings the day of, we ended up staying the night. We carpooled with the Bedford missionaries and ended up at the Zone Leader's apartment. Which happens to be the home of four missionaries. Yep. We had a grand total of 8 missionaries staying in that one apartment. It was unique to say the least.

I'm sure you are thinking "When is this drivel going to be over?!?" Well, never fear! I saved the best for last. Actually, just yesterday (Sunday) we had an awesome experience. It was one of those really down moments of the day - we were out of plans. So, I picked a street and we went a-pounding doors. The first door we got a response from was a 35-ish old woman, musician who claimed to be "Mostly Catholic." That got us going on a good conversation of how she, being a musician, jumps from church to church performing for them. When we introduced the Book of Mormon, she said "Can I have one?" We testified, got a return appointment, and everything. We stayed out on her porch for a pretty long time just getting to know each other too. She seemed to be very open and fairly excited to read the book and learn more. I certainly would call this one of those times when the Lord prepared the person for us to find and put her in our path in just the right moment - she works 5 jobs in addition to going to school. The time we knocked on her door was one of the only times that she would be home ever during the week. Coincidence? ...Perhaps.

Regardless, the Church is true, regardless of anything else. Christ is at the head. He is the captain of this ship, and the captain of my soul. At least, I hope he is and strive every day to help him lead me. 

Have a delightful week!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim

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