August 26, 2013

Missionary Slim has a REALLY great, great-great-great grandmother (Week 81 in Pennsylvania, Week 5 in Dover, PA)

As usual, the work continues.

We've finally been able to find some investigators to start teaching. One of them is a great Mexican lady, named Bolvina. She and her family are all interested in learning more about the Gospel. In our first visit, we ended up talking about the Plan of Salvation, which of course answered many of their questions. The husband was not home, but the wife seemed really excited to introduce us to her husband. The daughter, too, was incredibly excited about going to Primary. We'll see where this goes.

We visited with another gentleman who isn't necessarily investigating the church, but is alright with us stopping by. When we did come over, he seemed less than excited to talk with us. We got going, though, and found out that he actually read the pamphlet that we gave him, and he had a lot of questions. He sat, fully intent on our answers, and seemed very satisfied with them. I was amazed. Even more amazing was when he started telling us about how impressed he was with the Mormon pioneers, especially the Martin and Willie handcart company. That gave me a great chance to tell the story of one of my great-great-great (etc. etc. She was REALLY great) grandmother, Wee Granny, who attempted the trek at the ripe age of really old. She made it as far as Chimney Rock, and then, in her last breath, said "Tell John (her son) that I died with  my face towards Zion." And she expired. That story gets me every time - There is a great spirit that comes from the stories of our faithful ancestors.

My companion mentioned a movie about those companies (17 Miracles - great show. I highly recommend it.) The guy we were talking to perked up immediately. He really wants to watch it now. Who knows where this will go.


 
This past weekend, we had the pleasure of witnessing the baptism of Desiree. She's just barely 8 years old, and ever since seeing her cousin and brother baptized a few months ago, she's been anxiously awaiting the time that she herself could be baptized. To me, Desiree is a great example of always doing the right thing.

Desiree lives in a very difficult environment. Her grandma recently made a big turn-around and started coming to church very regularly. Unfortunately, her mom and dad are people who very often make very bad choices, almost to the point where they can't make good choices anymore. To put it nicely, the home that she lives in isn't very conducive of the spirit. Regardless, she is like a beacon shining in darkness for her family, as her brother and cousin have been before her. She knew that baptism is an important thing to do, and did everything in her power to make it happen for herself.

As you can tell, she had a little bit of opposition in the form of a broken arm, but that didn't stop her. She was baptized by someone who might as well be her brother, Kenyon, a priest in the ward. It was apparent both at the baptism and the confirmation the next day that she was overjoyed at everything. It was a dream come true for her.

It was a little touching for myself, too, because I have a niece who is preparing to be baptized in a few months. It amazes me that these two, among so many children in the church, almost instinctively know what is the best way to follow the example of the Savior. Desiree herself wasn't even part of the church her entire life, and yet recognizes the truth and importance of this ordinance. It reminds me of King Benjamin's address where he said:

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

These children, well, they already are children! They already are willing to submit to the will of the Lord. For the more grown-up people that we teach, this truly is what I've seen is what helps them to come into this covenant and blessing - becoming as a child, even a saint. And all this is through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have a fantastic week, all!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
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August 19, 2013

Missionary Slim "two lions among a flock of lambs, or is that 2 lambs among a flock of lions? We may never know." (Week 80 in Pennsylvania, Week 4 in Dover, PA)

We're trying our hardest out here in Dover, PA. It's challenging, though. Still, it's plain to see that there are greater forces than our own working alongside us.

The biggest challenge we're facing is simply this: we have nobody to teach right now. We've been working with members, less-active members, part member families, etc. to find as many people as we can in the shortest time possible, but all of these resources have yielded no results as of yet. We've been trying our hardest to avoid just going out and pounding doors, since it is probably the least effective of the ways to find investigators, but we've gotten to the point where we have no choice.

Tuesday, we decided to take a different approach to finding - we would go to contact some former investigators, and near each person, we would knock the doors of about 4 neighbors, just to see what we can find. We prayed super fervently before, hoping that we could find somebody.

We went to the first one, who lived in some townhouses. The person we were looking for wasn't home, so we started knocking. Door after door brought nothing but silence. And seriously, the most frustrating thing when tracting is to not have anybody to talk to!

Finally, though, we had a door open. Elder Ramos decided to play a little game - I would give him a word and he had to use that word when talking to the people for the first time. The word was "Opportunity." When the door opened, there was a middle-aged woman standing there. Elder Ramos started talking to her and explained who we were, etc. etc. Then he said "Would you give us the opportunity to share this message with you?" Her response: "Sure!" and she stepped out onto her porch.

We were both really surprised - it's not too often that people just start talking to you like that. We chatted for a good forty minutes about all kinds of things - God, Christ, religion, family, trials, adversity, temptation, and a ton of others. It was amazing - it was almost like we knew exactly what she needed to hear. That happens occasionally, but whenever it does, it's awesome.

The same thing happened again and again - we found some person who let us talk to them for a little bit and accepted us to come back. For the first time in three weeks, we've found some people to teach! Best of all, one of them was a lady from Mexico, which definitely brightened up my companions day (he's really been wanting to teach some Spanish speakers.)

On another day, we just stopped by a very delightful less-active sister's house. Her name is Cherie. She lives with her daughter and grand-daughter and comes to church whenever she can get a ride. The daughter, on the other hand, does not like the church. Usually, when we visit the Cherie, the daughter goes to her room and hides.

Well, this past week, we stopped by just to say hi and the daughter answered the door. And she stayed to chat with us for a little bit. We talked about all kinds of random things, and then my companion said "You really should come to church." The daughter said "The last time I stepped foot in a Mormon church was for my brother's wedding - no."

"Oh, come on. You know it will be good for you."

"No."

"Please!" My companion was really hounding her. "If you come to church, we'll come with you to Relief Society!"

What does the Book of Mormon say about rash oaths? (Alma 51:10)

".....I'll think about it," she said.

Well, as I'm sure you could guess, my companion and I were the most surprised out of everyone in the entire congregation when suddenly Cherie's daughter walks into the chapel (she didn't burst into flames, as I'm sure she expected she would), sat down, and stayed for all three hours. After Sacrament meeting, she came up to us and said "See you in Relief Society." My companion was about to go against the deal, but we did it - we walked in while they were singing the opening hymn. All eyes turned to look on us. The sister missionaries had the some great expressions on their faces - complete shock mixed with confusion. The teacher seemed really nervous that there were two Elders in the midst of the sisters, like two lions among a flock of lambs. Best of all was the expressions on the daughter's face - surprise mixed with laughter. She ended up having a great time at church, and I'm pretty sure she'll be coming back. And I'm also pretty sure I'm never going to Relief Society again - once was certainly enough to last a man a lifetime.

Life is always full of surprises!

Love,

Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
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August 12, 2013

Missionary Slim has a personal experience with the " Gift of Tongues " (Week 79 in Pennsylvania, Week 3 in Dover, PA)

When the transfer happened a few weeks ago, not only did my area split - my district split as well. All of the elders which I once would have done an exchange with suddenly were no longer in my district and, therefore, no longer under my jurisdiction.

Fortunately, there is a loving Father in Heaven who made a way for exchanges to happen.

As it turned out, one of the missionaries who was placed in the other district is a brand new missionary from Ecuador named Elder Andrade. He's super nice, a little quiet, and doesn't speak a lick of English. Well, that's not true - he's had the six week MTC treatment, but at first glance, it seems like he doesn't know a whole lot.

He actually knows a lot more than anyone gives him credit for.

Anyway, his district leader felt that it would be very much impossible for him to do any kind of exchange, because of a leg injury he's recovering from (requiring a car) and the ability of the other missionaries in the district to drive a car (next to none). Add to that Elder Andrade's 'inability' to speak English, and that pretty much means that he's stuck - he can't exchange.

Well, I figured this was an opportunity. Between the two of us and the Zone Leaders, we figured out a way that we could exchange between the districts. When I suggested the first exchange being with myself and Elder Andrade (so that Elder Ramos could train his fresh-to-the-area companion about the area itself), the scoffed at the idea. "He doesn't speak English, though." I was optimistic. "Well, I speak a little Spanish," I said, "So between my Spanish and his English, we should be able to make it work." So, we were given the go-ahead.

Truthfully, I was a little nervous. I've had struggles communicating with my current companion, and he's mostly fluent in the language. This might turn out to be more than I was bargaining for. Fortunately, as I said, Elder Andrade knows much more than meets the eye when it comes to English.

Elder Andrade's area has been going pretty slow lately, because both missionaries are brand new there. He has had no opportunities to share the gospel in English. I decided that my first priority would be to help him practice teaching in English. So, with absolutely no plans before hand (it was one of those days...) we set off to find someone, anyone to teach.

We ended up at the home of a less active family - very less active. They haven't been to church in many years. We got there, and were given just 5 minutes to share a message "And then I have to get going." So, I turned to Elder Andrade, said "Lesson 3" and away he went.

Now granted, he had to take time to think of the correct words and grammar, and his questions needed to be corrected occasionally, but he taught beautifully. At the end, we helped this man realize the importance of daily prayer and invited him to do so.

Our next visit was with a semi-active member with some health problems. The Bishop specifically asked us to visit and give a message, so we wandered over and found the family at home. Again, I turned to Elder Andrade and said "Lesson 1" and he taught so clearly and simply - I was amazed.

Finally, we went to a returned-missionary's home for dinner. After, Elder Andrade taught lesson 2. At the end, the member asked a really tough question, one which he had gotten many times during his mission. After a few minutes of thinking, he came up with the answer, but didn't know how to say it in English.

I'm not sure if this was possible because I understood his language, or if it was given to me to understand in that moment, but I felt to tell him to say it all in Spanish, and I would translate for him. He gave a beautiful answer, and I listened intently, understanding not every word, but the entire meaning.

So, when all was said and done, we were able to go through every single lesson in Preach My Gospel. I felt good. We didn't really teach any investigators, but we certainly did something possibly better - we taught a missionary.

I'll leave you all that to ponder.

Take care!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
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August 5, 2013

Missionary Slim thinks, What a powerful sermon in the words, "Thank You, Lord, for boys like these." (Week 78 in Pennsylvania, Week 2 in Dover, PA)

As I expected, the area split has been dramatic, in every way possible. When transfer calls were all said and done, I made sure to get the phone number of the sisters coming to take over West York and to give them a heads up about the area. I caught them as they were driving along the lengthy turnpike from Pittsburgh to the east, gave them a quick briefing, and then welcomed them to the area.
 
I'm sure that somewhere a church clock tower was ringing 12:00 midnight at the same time our phone was ringing. Sleep was distant for me, so I immediately answered. On the other end was the brand new missionary coming into our area, Hermana Law. The poor girl was only in PA for two days, and she had this to tell me: "We just barely got to our apartment and the door was locked! We don't have a key and can't get in. What should we do?" I couldn't help but laugh - it reminded me of when I was only a few days in the mission. Fortunately, some very friendly members live just around the corner, so we were able to arrange for them to stay the night there.
 
Since then, though, they've been able to get the hang of things much better. We introduced them to all of the people that we are teaching - their enthusiasm was hysterical. Because both of them are still very new on the mission, they are still learning Spanish. So pretty much every Spanish person we talked to was greeted with "Hola! Como Estas? Oh, muy bien! Y tu?" etc. etc. you know, the basics. Nothing much beyond that though. But their excitement was obvious.
 
As for us up in Dover, things are moving. Not as fast, but they are going well. We visited an older lady this week who has been visited before, but not in a long time. Her name is Ferne. When we stopped by, she was more than happy to see us and sit us down for a chat. She told us of an upcoming corneal transplant that she was going to have. We talked a bit about the restoration, prophets, and priesthood, and then offered a blessing to her. "Sure!" she said, "I would love one!"
 
The blessing went well. More importantly, the surgery went well. When we stopped by yesterday, she bounded out of her chair and said "Hello, boys!" It hardly looked like anything had happened to her. In fact, she looked more energetic than usual.
 
We had a little lesson with her after chatting for a bit, and then invited her to say the prayer. It was very special when she said what most people sometimes say: "Thank you for having these boys come over to visit me." Then she paused. I heard a sob. Then she spoke through tears. "Thank you Lord for boys like these." The words were simple, but the meaning was intense. It was incredible. I don't know if it's possible to even relate what she was trying to say in words. But it was good.
 
It's those kinds of moments that make it all worth it.
 
Take care all!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
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