September 30, 2013

Missionary Slim encounters a new opportunity and an old one. Coincidence? I think not. (Week 86 in Pennsylvania, Week 10 in Dover, PA)

We were walking down the street. It was a pleasant day; the sun was shining, and clouds glided by, creating shadows here and there occasionally. A gentleman we had passed earlier when he was tinkering with a lawn mower was now out walking his puppy. We decided to say hi. Here's the gist of the conversation:
 
"Hey there!"
 
"Oh, hi guys. How are you doing? I was wondering when you were going to talk to me."
 
"Oh, have you talked to missionaries before?"
 
"No, but I've seen you guys and I know what you do. But I've never talked to Mormons before. Hey, I'm not busy. If you guys want, you can come by the house in about 15 minutes and we can sit down and chat."
 
"....Sure!"
 
We went over and had a great discussion. His name was Tom, and he made it clear that he just wanted to get some information and was mostly interested in what made our church unique. But he also said that he was going to seriously investigate it. We introduced him to the Book of Mormon and he told us "Well, good thing I like to read!" When we asked if he wanted to meet with us again, he said "Give me a couple of weeks to get through this, and then we can talk." That sounds fair to me!
 
Later that day, we stopped by the home of a former investigator. Actually, it was a family. The had missionaries visit them YEARS ago, like 5 or so, and it looked like they hadn't been touched in about that long too. Oh, and they had two pages of notes attached - these guys were investigating pretty heavily.
 
When we went over, we met Cody the adult son. He was pretty awesome and open. "Oh, sure, guys. You can come back. I remember when Sister Basian and Sister Frey used to come over." My jaw probably dropped just a little bit when he said that. My thought was "You remember the missionaries that taught you that long ago?"
 
We met his mom, Kim, when we came by the next day. She explained that she was raised in her parents church, but had a lot of questions and such. She said there were a lot of things that she liked about her parents church, but a lot of things she didn't. I decided to focus on the positive and asked "What do you like about your parent's church?"
 
"Oh, well.... I guess just the familiarity. I mean, it's what I always grew up with. I like how comfortable the worship service is. I don't know." Hmm...
 
Come to find out, she hasn't been attending any church for a while, and Cody has actually been doubting the existence of God for some time. They haven't been praying or reading the scriptures. "When the other missionaries came by, they really helped me through a really hard time," she said, also explaining that they were close to joining the church, but her mom had a fit when she found out. They've been going through a rough time presently, though. Then, after a pause, "Maybe that's why you guys came over now."
 
They both listened intently as we talked about faith and prayer and about how much their Heavenly Father loves them. That small home was full of the warmth of the Spirit - it was awesome. Following our visit, they were more than happy to have us come back and keep teaching them. Also, they told us the names of several ward members who they knew. We'll see where this goes.
 
So, the work continues. Alas, it will continue without Elder Bowcut come the 8th. He got his visa to Australia and will be leaving then. All I have to say about that is Godspeed!
 
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
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September 23, 2013

Missionary Slim forgets that it was ' International talk like a Pirate Day ' last week (Week 85 in Pennsylvania, Week 9 in Dover, PA)

There's an awesome family that we've been able to visit, the Gonzales'. And don't let the name fool you - they're Filipino. The son is a security guard working nights and has a really hard time getting to church because its right when he's supposed to be sleeping. He hasn't come to church in several years. Well, we had a chat with him and found out that he's really been thinking about serving a mission. He's getting pretty old, around 25 years old or so, but he's still technically eligible. All three of us were able to teach and testify about how much the mission has meant for us and encourage him to do everything in his power to make it a reality. Hopefully it happens.
 
We went to visit a guy that I mentioned a few weeks ago. His name is Harvey, and he REALLY wanted to watch 17 Miracles with his wife. Well, we got them a copy, they watched it, and then we went by to visit this week. Actually, I went by myself with another member of the church. It was pretty incredible what happened.
 
As it turns out, this member that I brought lives just two houses down from Harvey's brother. They both were in construction and transportation, both lived out in the mid-west and Wyoming areas and loved it there. They clicked like two lego blocks!
 
I asked about how they liked 17 Miracles. They loved it. It was so touching and so moving for them. They were incredibly impressed, and it was plain that they felt the Spirit. We spent the majority of our visit watching the Restoration, a film about the Prophet Joseph Smith, and talking about it. They ended up telling us that they felt very good about it, that it might be true, and then told us "You know, since you guys have been coming by to visit us, we've been thinking a lot about our church. It's been really hard to go there for the past few months because our old pastor left. We've really been thinking about visiting your church." That was awesome to hear.
 
We did visit them later that week and they told us that they were planning on continuing to attend their church for the time being, at least until they got  a more permanent pastor (their current pastor is only there for the time being while they find a  replacement). Still, they've been touched. It's only a matter of time before that touch of the Spirit turns into a testimony which will become a full tree of conversion.
 
So, the work continues! Until next week,
 
Love,
 
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
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September 16, 2013

Missionary Slim has a week of many changes and adventures (Week 84 in Pennsylvania, Week 8 in Dover, PA)

It's been a really fun week. Seriously. Incredibly fun. Here's the rundown:

Monday I went up to Harrisburg. Because Elder Ramos is training during this new transfer, he needed to drive out to Pittsburgh to be part of the trainer's meeting. I was going to be babysat by another elder in Pittsburgh, Elder Brady. 

We did work up there. He's in the walking area, so we hoofed it on bikes, walked, talked to dozens of people. He himself is waiting for a visa to Brazil, so he knows Portuguese, but not very much Spanish, so I was able to speak to some of the Latinos on the streets of Harrisburg. That was cool.

Tuesday I continued working with Elder Brady and we were joined by another misfit missionary waiting for a companion, Elder Staple. Again, we hit the streets, visiting less-active members, chatting with people, teaching the Gospel. Late that night, we met back up at the Harrisburg chapel so I could meet up with Elder Ramos and the new companion, Elder Bowcut.

Elder Bowcut is awesome, by the way. He's a Mandarin speaker going to Sydney, Australia (my dream mission, by the way). He was in the MTC for 11 weeks waiting for a visa before they finally gave it up and shipped him here. As soon as his visa arrives, he'll be on a plane headed out there. Until then, this Highland, Utah native will be working with us. And boy, is it a pleasure to work with him. He's got the lessons already down, he isn't shy at all, but is super humble. He came pre-trained.

Wednesday, we went to work and had one of the most successful days of missionary work I've had in a long time. I blame that good, old fashioned MTC Fire coming out with Elder Bowcut. We had a great lesson with a couple that we've visited several times. They're older, and had a lot of Mormon friends when they lived in Wyoming. Since coming back to PA, they've met the missionaries here and there, but as far as I know, we're the first ones that they've let in. He's really interested in pioneers and such (come to think of it, I might have talked about them before...  Oh well, anyway). We came over to give him a copy of 17 Miracles and ended up talking our way through the entire Restoration. Pretty nifty. We'll see where this goes.

Thursday, we chatted with a great guy named Jerry. He's not quite so interested, but he does like the idea of a modern prophet. He's interesting though - his neurosis in his feet has removed most of the feeling in them. When we stopped by, he had a cast on. "What's that for?" we asked. "Oh, it's a long story..." He then launched into a story about how his little ankle-biter dogs did just that - to his toe! Gnawed it right to the bone before he realized what happened. The only reason I tell that story is because it isn't something you hear every day!

Friday, we stopped by the home of Noel, an investigator who we taught a few weeks ago. She opened the door and stepped out for what she thought would be a 10 minute visit. Fortunately, she had time and was looking for a distraction from her house cleaning because we ended up talking for 45 minutes and gave her the whole run-down of the Restoration of the Gospel. Best of all, she agreed with most of it! I was floored, which you would expect wouldn't happen so much now that I've been out for a long time, but it still happened. 

Same goes with the mother of a less-active member who we visited. She herself is a very cheerful, lovable lady, and a devout Methodist, but she still listened intently as we explained the loss of priesthood authority and the Book of Mormon. When we asked if she would be baptized when she found out that these things are true, her reply was a very positive "yes." Again, floored. In a good way.

Saturday was spent doing service at various homes, the library, and attending the birthday party of Brother Bill, whose wife, Dee, is seriously contemplating baptism. Despite our lack of lessons, the day was still productive.

And finally, Sunday. After a week like this one, a good Sabbath was definitely needed. After church, we had the pleasure of teaching Desiree, who we haven't seen since her confirmation two weeks ago. Still, she was just as happy and just as full of joy as she was then. That was a pleasure and a blessing to be a part of.

We also visited Ferne, a great older lady who I've mentioned before. Out of the blue, she started talking about the Lord's law of health, which launched us into a discussion about the Word of Wisdom. Now, this wonderful lady hasn't been able to come to church yet, but regardless, she still had the faith to say yes when we invited her to give up her only vice: coffee. She gave us a hard time about it too, but in the end, she said she'd pray about it.

In all, a good week. The work really is moving.

Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim


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September 9, 2013

Missionary Slim and his new-found mascot (Week 83 in Pennsylvania, Week 7 in Dover, PA)

Like our usual work, we've been finding, finding, finding. Oh, and finding. Even with all of the awesome new investigators that we got last week, we're still in the midst of an investigator crisis. All of those people we were teaching who were close to baptism did just that. So, we go and find.
 
We knocked on the door of a home and immediately regretted it - football was on, and when football is on, you do NOT interrupt it. A middle aged man came to the door and said "How can I help you?" From my experience, people who say that aren't looking. As usual, though, my snap-judgment wasn't entirely accurate.
"Hello," we said, "We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ..."
 
"Oh, well I go to church already."
 
"Oh. Great! How has the Gospel blessed your life?"
 
"It's helped a lot. My father just passed away, and we just had to put down our dog..."
 
And then the tears started coming. I was surprised. I mean, it's not unusual to see a woman cry in front of you, but here was a grown man bawling in front of us. He explained that over the past few years, he'd lost an uncle, a brother, a grandfather, and now this. As we talked, he softened up. He admitted that he didn't have answers to the questions he's been asking, but did say that God has been helping him.
 
I told him "We want you to know that God has a plan for you. Part of that plan includes families being together forever. I want to promise you that you can see your father, grandfather... even you dog again." He felt a little better after that and we got an appointment to see him again next week.
 
We found a mascot!
 


 
We were weeding at an elderly members home, and found this guy scurrying around the garden. When he first zipped past, it scared me half to death! (Although I'm sure he was much more frightened than I was).  After a short game of cat-and-mouse, we nabbed him to take the picture you now see. He was a clever guy, hiding behind the webs of giant spiders (seriously, they were huge, and there were many of them) and making a bolt for the bushes. In the end, we got him. We only hung onto him for a little while, though, and then left him in the tall brush of a nearby field. Hopefully that cat we saw prowling around doesn't get him. Either way, the woman of the house was more than happy to see him gone.
 
I'll close with a short sermon. We just taught a class yesterday to a number of members of the church about how to help fellowship new and less-active members of the church. One thing which came up over and over, again and again is how they NEED to have friends. Not just one person here and there who visits once a month, but they need to know that they are really cared about, that they are wanted at church.
 
We gave an invitation, and I'll repeat it here. If you see someone at church who you don't normally see, say hi to them. Talk to them. Invite them to your house for supper. What will happen will astound you. I'll leave you to find out what happens though. However, I'll say this. Actually, I'll quote Elder Andersen (the apostle, not myself) "You will never be closer to your Lord and Savior than when you are sharing His gospel with others."
 
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim


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September 3, 2013

Missionary Slim finds out that giants really do exist and they are friendly! (Week 82 in Pennsylvania, Week 6 in Dover, PA)

This blog post is probably going to sound like a Shakespeare comedy or a daytime soap opera. Just sayin'.
 
Earlier this week, we called Bolvina, the Mexican lady that we started teaching last week. I'll give a rough paraphrase of what she said: "Oh, I talked to my husband, and we're Catholic. We believe in the Bible. He doesn't want to meet you guys... Bye!" Yeah, that's never fun.
 
Another investigator left a note on the door, which very simply said "DO NOT KNOCK ON MY DOOR AGAIN. DO NOT COME NEAR MY HOME AGAIN." Ooooookay. Great.
 
We had a member tell us to knock on his neighbor's door, which we did. What ended up happening was an hour and a half discussion (debate?) about various points of doctrine. That is to say, a bible bash. Bruce R. McConkie is quoted as saying "We NEVER Bible bash... but when we do, we win." Well, we ended up talking about some of the very basic teachings of the Bible, such as the resurrection, spirit world, etc. and he simply verbally refuted our claims. Hmm... Either way, even though the Spirit was present when we testified of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, he didn't catch it. We did leave on good terms, though, but I certainly wasn't proud of myself that we got in the bash to begin with.
 
And that was our week!
 
That is, until the weekend. We felt strongly impressed to fast for Bolvina, in the hopes that something would change and we could get in just one more time to meet her husband. It felt really good, so we went over there after church on Sunday and knocked on her door. A man opened it and we asked if he was Bolvina's husband. "No, I'm her brother." He invited us in and we sat down and got to know him. We got into a lesson and had an opening prayer. As soon as we said 'Amen', the door opened and in walked Bolvina and a giant of a man. I wasn't worried per se, but I really hoped that this all went well as he gripped my hand in a handshake. They both sat down, and her husband, Benjamin, started firing away. "Who are you guys?"
 
Now, before I go on, I do need to say that this entire exchange was in Spanish. I picked up a little bit of it, and certainly got the spirit behind it all, but my companion was the one doing the talking.
 
My companion explained that we are missionaries, and immediately fired back, asking him about his family, his background, his history. Boom. From that moment, it was over. He realized that we weren't fierce fanatics trying to get converts - we just wanted to be their friends. He opened up, and listened intensely as we explained the Plan of Salvation for them. When we got done, we talked a bit about church and our Spanish Book of Mormon class, and he was thrilled. He told us about his addiction to alcohol, and how he wants to be a better father for his kids. Perfect. That's exactly what we are looking for. Prayers are answered, for sure.
 
Later that day, we had another appointment with another family. Seriously, two, nuclear families all in one day. When does that happen? I'll probably talk about them a little bit more in the future.
 
Yesterday, for Labor day, we had a barbeque with a part-member family, the same member who had us knock on his neighbor's door. They got married just a few months ago, and the non-member wife has been coming to church, and as far as we can tell, loves it. For some reason, though, nobody has gotten a solid answer whether she wants to be baptized or not. Well, as we were chatting, there was an almost perfect blend of Spirit and tender mercies of the Lord which allowed the topic to come up perfectly. We asked; she answered. Someone is going to be baptized in the near future!
 
Oh, and they served us a peach pie. It was baked by their neighbors. :D
 
So, as usual, it seems everything seems to turn out alright in the end.
 
Have a grand week!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim
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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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