June 17, 2013

Missionary Slim thinks, " I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord. "(Week 71 in Pennsylvania, Week 12 in Somerset, PA)

We've had a pretty interesting week. As usual, lots of amazing, almost miraculous, things have happened.

Monday, we were still on our spiritual high from seeing an apostle, so naturally it bled through to our missionary work and efforts with the members. I was giving a little spiel about the conference to a member family we were having dinner with when the mom of the member family stopped me and said "He's right. We have to go and do."

She said she's been thinking about someone for us missionaries to visit, and then and there she thought of a gentleman she knows who is going through a really rough time. It's one of those families who has been invited to hear from the missionaries time and time again, but has always declined. Well, we came over and found them at home. We sat down, and just started talking.

We talked about his work, we talked about their religious background, we talked about his terminal condition, and ultimately, we talked about the purpose of life. It was a really spiritually uplifting meeting. Granted, he and his wife didn't become new investigators, but they did agree to read the Book of Mormon. I think, though, the visit was more for the members that we brought with us. It was obvious that they were deeply touched.

Wednesday, we had an appointment with another very wonderful family. They own a bed-and-breakfast here in town, and as it happens, a former senior couple who used to serve here always come to their bed-and-breakfast whenever they are in town. Well, when this couple came for the dedication of the chapel, they gave these bed-and-breakfast owners a Book of Mormon and a promise "We'll be sending a few gentleman from our church over."

The first things we noticed is they have a fascination with hedgehogs. Little statuettes are all over their home, and a book on their coffee table all about the spiny creatures. (Did you know that hedgehog blood is incredibly similar to human blood?) We sat down with the two of them and just started talking.

It was one of those lessons where you knew that both the learner and the teacher would be edified. (See D&C 50:22) They were asking us questions, we were asking them questions, and all together, we were able to learn a ton about each other.

This family comes from a very interesting church. Not that the doctrine itself is interesting, nor the denomination. This particular branch of the church is having what I call "denominational identity crisis." Put simply, they've just recently (and very wisely) changed from a more worldly moving denomination to a much more conservative, 'follow the word of God exactly, and don't give into the worldly ways' kid of approach, for which I applaud the pastor and members for doing a very difficult thing. At the same time, though, it's left a lot of the members (many of whom we've met) in a very interesting state of mind. Put simply, all of the members we've met (excluding the pastor, of course. He and his wife were super nice, though.) were all seeking, seeking for something. One of  the church's members has been investigating the church for a couple of years; one of them we met a few weeks ago and really was interested by our message and the Book of Mormon (he turned us down, though), and now this family.

He told us that he doesn't take anything at face value - he doesn't believe anything unless the Spirit tells him it's true. Which is awesome - it's exactly what we're looking for. As we explained and unfolded the Restoration of the gospel as best we could, they were listening intently, questioning some details, not in an attacking kind of way, but in a "Oh, I've never even heard of that before!" kind of way. For example: "Wait, are you telling me that this angel Moroni was once a mortal man?" "Why, yes!" "Wow. I was taught that angels were separate beings from mortals." "Well, actually, we teach all about that in our second lesson!" They were very interested in meeting with us again.

Sadly, I won't be able to do so. We got a call Friday, and a confirmation Saturday that I would be transferred. Yep, after a mere three months of being here in Somerset, I'm packing my bags and making my way somewhere else. Even though we aren't suppose to know where we are being transferred, my mission president told me the name of my new companion, and from that it's pretty easy to figure out the rest of the details.

My new companion is Elder Ramos, a Spanish speaker who has been out for just a little longer than myself. He's currently serving in West York, a town just east of where I am now and south of Harrisburg. It should be exciting.

So, needless to say, this will be a new, exciting page in my adventure. Here to the best!

Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim

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