As I said last week: when a member gives you food, you eat it. No matter what it is, you have to eat it. No exception. End of story.

We went to visit a Pennsylvania Dutch member family for a dinner appointment. They were nice and friendly, and had us sit at the table as they finished a few preparations. I saw the wife turn her back to us, and make some very secretive movements towards the baking dish she had just pulled out of the oven. My first though was how good whatever it was that was cooking smelled. She brought a platter over to the table which was filled with potatoes and some kind of meat. Out host noticed our expressions as we gazed with concern at what we were about to eat. "I'll give you a hint: it's the other white meat." Without a moment hesitation, my companion said "Pig intestine!" "Close," our host said.

 

I've been warned about the Pennsylvania Dutch. They are natives to Pennsylvania, and have been here for about as long as anyone. They are firmly rooted in their traditions, and take great pride in that, especially their cuisine. While I was never told exactly what to look out for, I've heard their menu compared to the Scottish, consisting of obscure organs soaked in certain ways and cooked in other organs... Needless to say, I was more than a little worried when I found out that whatever it was that we were eating that night was 'Close' to pig intestine.

 

It turned out better than I expected. In reality, it was just regular pork meat cooked in a pigs stomach. So I wasn't actually eating any strange organs, and it actually tasted pretty good. I was still relieved when they didn't offer us any leftovers, though.

 

Sorry if I made anyone queasy. I know the feeling. In fact, typing this out has made me just a little sick. I'll get back to the less-sickening parts of missionary work.

 

Missionary work is full of miracles. Either that, or it is full of ridiculous coincidences. Whatever it is, we had a lot of those this week.

 

For example, there is one brother in the ward who was supposed to come out with us to visit one of our new investigators. Problem: He lives a long ways away, so we always try to make sure that it is an appointment which will actually happen and not fall through. Another problem: He couldn't come to this appointment which we had set up, and as per mission rules, we couldn't go to this lady's house without another male present. Despite this setback, we decided to visit to explain what happened and to set up another appointment. We go over to the house, but the person who we were teaching wasn't even there to begin with! The brother was saved driving a long way out, and we could focus out time on other things.

 

Okay, that last one was more of a coincidence. How about this. We were suppose to teach another new investigator. We even had another member of the Church with us. We knock on her door, and she isnt' home. We call her phone, but it's turned off. Dejected, we take our member friend and try another potential investigator, who turns out to be home, and we have a wonderful lesson. Well, later that day, Elder Nelson decided to drive down a very obscure back road to get to our next appointment, and guess who we saw walking down the road: the investigator who missed her appointment! We chatted with her for a bit, she gave us her excuse for not being there, and then promised to set up another appointment. (She called us later and told us she really wasn't interested)

 

That may still seem like a coincidence. How about this: A few days before, we went to contact a referral: a friend of a ward member who would be interested in hearing the Gospel. We go to her house and pound on her door, but she isn't there. We had driven quite a long way to get there, so we decide to tract for a bit. One of the homes had a full family - Father, mother, and two sons. We were stoked! We set up an appointment, and went on our way. The day of the appointment, we had a member dinner appointment fall, so we went out to eat at this pizza place called Infinitos (all you can eat pizza, pasta, and salad. And they make good pizza there. Why don't we have anything like this in Utah?) We were talking about our appointment with this family which was supposed to start right after dinner. I mention the name of the father, and Elder Nelson starts freaking out. I ask him what's the matter and he tells me he saw this family's dad walk past our table. I look over, and sure enough I see him sitting there eating pizza with his family! What a coincidence, eh? Anyway, we went over to his table, confirmed our appointment, and left on our merry way. It might also be interesting to note that this pizza place was about 10 miles away from his house. (He wasn't at his home for the appointment, even though we had confirmed it with him half an hour before. Don't you love how people have their agency?)

 

Oh, and another thing: All of these events happened on the same day. And we had a ridiculous number of lessons that day, more than any other day of my mission thus far. It was a great day!

 

Oh, one more miracle. This one didn't happen that day, but it is still pretty amazing. We have cards which we give out all over the place. On them is the Mormon.org website and the Church's toll-free number. We actually had someone call for a Book of Mormon! Apparently they were impressed with the subtitle: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Elder Nelson told me this is the first time in his entire mission this has ever happened! We've got a return appointment this week. I'll give the details next week.

 

I've started playing a few games lately. You know the license plate game, where you write down every time you find a different state's license plate? Well, I'm playing that game.  I'm also playing the religion game, where I write down all the different religions which I come across. It only counts if the person you meet tells you a little bit about how their religion is different, though. So, this past week I learned a bit about Pentecostals, Catholics, Methodists, and (for real) Buddhism. Yep, we tracted into a Buddhist, and he told us about how it gave him great peace and harmony in his life. We gave him a Book of Mormon and told him that reading it would give him peace and harmony. He accepted, and told us he would call us if he liked it.

 

Remember Rick? He's actually doing pretty great! In this past week, he told us that he didn't think he'd be able to keep the commandments. Then, in the same week, he said "Yeah, I think I can do all that stuff." He is a super sweet guy, and really fun to teach. He has a lot of great, basic questions, and loves to learn. We hope, like the rest of his family who have joined the Church before him, that he'll be a good influence on the rest of his family who hasn't joined yet.

 

Elder Nelson and I gave talks during Church. We were both given the topic of 'Every Member a Minister,' and basically prepared the same talk. Fortunately, the talks that we gave were different - That's how the Spirit works. I'll give you a gist of my talk.

 

Check out the Bible Dictionary entry for ministry. It means doing the works needed for the salvation of men, and it lists three ways that ministers accomplish that. I simplified them -

 

1) Teach, especially teach by the spirit. Read D&C 50:14, and then read all of Preach My Gospel to learn how to teach. If you don't feel like reading the whole thing, you could just focus on Chapter 2, 3, 4, and 10.

 

2) Serve, especially in callings and by performing ordinances. Read Mosiah 2:17, and then D&C 58:26-27

 

3) Example, especially in your testimony and how you act as a representative of Jesus Christ. Read 1 Timothy 4:12, and then 3 Nephi 12:14-16.

 

The weather is warming up a lot out here. We've been enjoying tracting around in short sleeve shirts and meeting a lot of people on the streets. We're hoping to get a lot more investigators during these warmer months. The work is really progressing out here. This week marked my 1 month in Pennsylvania; next week marks my 2 month in the mission mark. I've got a lot of work ahead of me, but I've already seen the results. We've got a lot of great plans for this next week, and a very impressive accomplishment. But, I'll talk more about that next week!

 

Take care. Be good. Choose the right.

Love,

Elder Alex Anderson