June 24, 2013

Missionary Slim tries to speak in 3rd person and is on the move to West York. (Week 72 in Pennsylvania, Week 1 in West York, PA)

And again! Missionary Slim packs all of his worldly possessions (including his trusty toothbrush!) into two suitcases, says his goodbyes, and is off to Pittsburgh for the meeting which will determine the next six to a lot of weeks. And as he predicted, he ended up going to exactly where he expected:

West York, Pennsylvania.

In a few words: It's different out here. It's a whole new world. For some reason, the culture takes a dramatic shift as you approach the Susquehanna river. The attitudes of people is very different, the culture is unique. The people are fantastic though.

I'm serving with a full-blown Latino guy named Elder Ramos, a native of Honduras, and a convert of just 3 years. It certainly is a blessing that he's here too, because of the very high Latino concentration here in York. It seems that the main city is just filled with Spanish speakers, and considering I've forgotten all of the Spanish that I've learned on my mission, it's a challenge communicating with people. Fortunately, Elder Ramos is very fluent in both languages, so until he goes, I'll be in good shape. 

Maybe it was a fluke, but this week, it's felt like so many people are ready for baptism. We can't walk down the street without meeting someone who is interested in learning about the Gospel. One family was sitting on their porch when we walked by. We had a spare banana peel that we needed to get rid of, so we asked if we could use their garbage can. "Sure." We kept walking, but that nagging feeling got the best of Elder Ramos and he said "Hey, can we give you our card?" They accepted, we introduced ourselves, and then they told us they've only been in York for just a few weeks. They're looking to get into church. When they found out that we teach lessons, they were thrilled. They set an appointment for the next day. We got there and they were all ready for us. We sat down, started talking, and told them, like we usually tell people "We're here for you, not for us. If something doesn't make sense, or if you have a question, ask us. We'd be more than happy to answer." Well, that opened the floodgates on question after question. Some questions were fantastic: "What is up with all these other churches?" Others were good questions, but gave us a laugh: "Where do dinosaurs fit in with Adam and Eve and everything ?" or "Is it a sin to kill a bug?" One was outrageous though: "Mermaids: are they real?" In the end, they were really excited to read the Book of Mormon and come to church, and one of them actually did come! We were excited! 

We had another cool experience. We were going through the drive through at McDonald's. I had the distinct impression that I was going to give a pass-along card to the lady at the window. I chickened out, though. I know, awful of me. But after gave me back my card, she opened the window again. "Where are you guys from?" That was enough. We introduced ourselves, and gave her our card and number. She told us she just recently got out of the church she was going to and was looking for another. Score!

Another one. We were walking down the street, and gave a card to a lady. She turned to us and said "I actually am a member. I was baptized in Porto Rico. I haven't been since I came to the United States, though. Where is the church?" Awesome.

Yet another. We gave a card to another lady. "Oh, my grandmother was a Mormon. I've really been wanting to learn more." Wow.

Seriously. I'm just overwhelmed. It's been an incredible week.

It finished off in probably the best way possible. Yesterday, there was a missionary work broadcast called "The Work of Salvation". It was amazing. I would invite everyone to check it out. The link for it is: 

That's about all, though. The work is true!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim

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