Pittsburgh Mission Memoirs

It was a delightful Christmas for Missionary Slim. Few presents except an overload of candy and goodies, no snow, but still good company and good fun.

Through it all, the work has been moving on. The day after Christmas, we paid a visit to Paul and Melinda, the blind chap and his wife. We explained the Plan of Salvation to them, tying in Christmas and our own personal Spiritual gifts which we have had given to us. Towards the end of our lesson, Melinda piped up with a great question: "After we die, I've always been taught that we will see people we knew in this life, but we'll be praising God so much that we won't bother to remember them. What do you think?"
We talked about Temples and eternal families. We told them that, if they were worthy, they could be sealed as a family for eternity. We talked about baptism as the gateway to this great blessing. They were excited about the temple, but were hesitant about baptism. Believe it or not, that's a good sign - it means they take it seriously and want to make the right choice. We shall see what come of this, though. The spirit was definitely there.

Same goes for a visit we had with a less-active family, the Bolithos. Their daughter who is attending college was home for the holidays and is very active in the church, whether at home or at school. Her parents, on the other hand, haven't been in a very long time.
We just talked for a bit, learning about each other, and then we watched a short Mormon Message. We talked about priorities and what is important to them. Then, Sister Bolitho, who is a very shy woman, just started talking. But it wasn't her words - it was the words of the Holy Ghost which touched her and told her those things that she knew she should be doing. It still amazes me how much the Holy Ghost plays a role in this work.

We also visited a less-active part-member family, the Briggs. Sister Briggs has been struggling with her testimony of the 'one true and living church.' She told of how she listened to the Book of Momron and prayed for three years, and still hasn't had her spiritual manifestation. As we listened and talked and taught and testified (over delicious cake she made for us), we felt that she just needed to know she was loved. She might have a bunch of questions and concerns and stuff, but Heavenly Father still loves her. He wants to bless her with an answer, but in His time and in His way. She did come to church, which was awesome! She put forth her faith to find her testimony for herself.

One more: Luanne. We got word from one of the members that there was a non-member who wanted to feed us, and like the missionaries that we are, we jumped on it. It turns out that Luanne is the sweetest, kindest, most lovable, motherly lady you could ever meet. She let us right in, sat us down on our couch, and started... mothering us! She asked us about our missions, told us that she knew a lot of Mormons. "How?" I asked. "Oh, they just kind of pop into my life!" She's recently changed churches, but is still looking for answers, and while she doesn't want us preaching at us, she is perfectly fine with us talking about the Gospel. Ha! Little does she know, that's exactly how we are taught to teach! So, like King Lamoni, she was caught with guile.
We talked about families and their importance. We talked about God and his love for his children. We talked about all the different churches out there. Most of all, we just listened to her tell us about her children and their triumphs and struggles. And she fed us. That's a pretty good deal to me.

As the mission winds down, I am pretty confident that the Lord loves all His children because of how much He loves me.

Happy New Year, all!

Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim