Good afternoon everyone and Merry Christmas!
This week has been an eventful one for sure. Something I've learned to appreciate this week is just being there to help those in need. A lot of missionaries get caught up in the numbers, myself included sometimes, and it really takes away from what our calling is. First off, we're teachers of the Restored Gospel. But the calling of being a missionary is much more than just that. We are to minister, that is, do as Christ would. It's been a joy as I've been able to do that this week.
We were not able to meet with a lot of our investigators this week due to various things, but we did have a couple pivotal lessons. A especially. It's been quite the adventure with him this week. He's a very special kid and I just love him. I'm excited to help him progress in the Gospel. Let me tell you a little more about him. So he's half Mexican. His dad barely speaks English and his mom is American and apparently abusive. Read last week's email for a little more on that. So they finally found a house to stay in this week and we were able to go over and check it out. It's a little double wide that needs a lot of work, so of course we have offered to help them with that. We taught A the Restoration AGAIN and it was like teaching him for the first time. I guess his retention isn't the best. But he seemed to understand everything clearly and we drew a little picture for him to keep, so I think he'll be okay in that department. We told him though, that he can't get baptized unless he gains a testimony of the Book of Mormon, so that's what we committed him to do. He needs to read and pray and be solid so that he doesn't just slip away after his baptism. And if we do our job right, we'll be able to teach his dad as well and have the makings for a solid family. So that's A this week.
The next guy we met with was R. We met him knocking doors a couple weeks ago and we're glad we stopped by again. This man is very friendly and lives in a somewhat ritzy neighborhood, so it's almost surprising that he let us in. But he's very open to us and wants to learn a little more about what we do as missionaries. He's a very strong Christian man and even has his own online ministry. So we got to talking and it was like he was interviewing us or something. I played a long for a while and then I had to turn it on him. We got to talking about why people try to make God conform to their lives, rather than making their lives conform to the will of God. I don't think he ever had thought about that before, so it gave him the perspective we needed to start teaching the Restoration. He had to leave, but we invited him to read the pamphlet of our unique message to the world, the Restoration. I'm hoping he reads it and gets intrigued enough to allow us to keep teaching him. We have an appointment of Wednesday so we'll see what we can do.
We also had the opportunity to meet with B. I told ya'll about him last week. He's the man with the feeding tube. Well, he's been having a hard time so we've made sure to give him special emphasis this Christmas season. We bought him a DVD player and some movies for him so he can stay busy and sane. He has to gain a lot of weight for his surgery, so we can expect him to be laying on the couch for most of the time, trying to maintain his calories. I really hope and pray for this man. He has an amazing attitude and a great heart. I hope he gets better so he can enjoy food again. I can't even imagine.
Other than those individuals, no one really progressed. When we're not teaching, we're finding ways to help people during this season. It's that time of year when no one should go cold, hungry, or unloved. We try to make sure that we are touching as many hearts as we can with our service and wonderful message of hope. That's really what this season is about. Love and hope. We show loves to those around us and give them hope through the light of Christ. I love reading the Christmas story because it reminds me just how amazing the birth of the Savior is. The Jews were expecting him to come in power and glory, but instead he came as a humble baby. And the other amazing part is that shepherds and great kings traveled many miles to go and worship him. The wise men even brought him gifts of great value. Yet, he was only a baby. It's clear that those who visited him knew exactly why he came. The worshiped because of the hope he gave them. They knew that in that little stable was born the light and life of the world.
Should we not glory in the Savior? Should we not take this time, to truly show our love to Him? He came to give us hope and light and it's through us that others can experience that. We didn't teach as many lessons as I would have liked to this week, and of course we're not perfect missionaries, but as we go out knocking doors and visiting less active members, we make sure to show them the light of Christ.
He lives. I know it.
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and that you let the light of Christ radiate as you worship and serve him. Please know of my love for each one of you.
Until next week,
Elder Landon Carroll
This week has been an eventful one for sure. Something I've learned to appreciate this week is just being there to help those in need. A lot of missionaries get caught up in the numbers, myself included sometimes, and it really takes away from what our calling is. First off, we're teachers of the Restored Gospel. But the calling of being a missionary is much more than just that. We are to minister, that is, do as Christ would. It's been a joy as I've been able to do that this week.
We were not able to meet with a lot of our investigators this week due to various things, but we did have a couple pivotal lessons. A especially. It's been quite the adventure with him this week. He's a very special kid and I just love him. I'm excited to help him progress in the Gospel. Let me tell you a little more about him. So he's half Mexican. His dad barely speaks English and his mom is American and apparently abusive. Read last week's email for a little more on that. So they finally found a house to stay in this week and we were able to go over and check it out. It's a little double wide that needs a lot of work, so of course we have offered to help them with that. We taught A the Restoration AGAIN and it was like teaching him for the first time. I guess his retention isn't the best. But he seemed to understand everything clearly and we drew a little picture for him to keep, so I think he'll be okay in that department. We told him though, that he can't get baptized unless he gains a testimony of the Book of Mormon, so that's what we committed him to do. He needs to read and pray and be solid so that he doesn't just slip away after his baptism. And if we do our job right, we'll be able to teach his dad as well and have the makings for a solid family. So that's A this week.
The next guy we met with was R. We met him knocking doors a couple weeks ago and we're glad we stopped by again. This man is very friendly and lives in a somewhat ritzy neighborhood, so it's almost surprising that he let us in. But he's very open to us and wants to learn a little more about what we do as missionaries. He's a very strong Christian man and even has his own online ministry. So we got to talking and it was like he was interviewing us or something. I played a long for a while and then I had to turn it on him. We got to talking about why people try to make God conform to their lives, rather than making their lives conform to the will of God. I don't think he ever had thought about that before, so it gave him the perspective we needed to start teaching the Restoration. He had to leave, but we invited him to read the pamphlet of our unique message to the world, the Restoration. I'm hoping he reads it and gets intrigued enough to allow us to keep teaching him. We have an appointment of Wednesday so we'll see what we can do.
We also had the opportunity to meet with B. I told ya'll about him last week. He's the man with the feeding tube. Well, he's been having a hard time so we've made sure to give him special emphasis this Christmas season. We bought him a DVD player and some movies for him so he can stay busy and sane. He has to gain a lot of weight for his surgery, so we can expect him to be laying on the couch for most of the time, trying to maintain his calories. I really hope and pray for this man. He has an amazing attitude and a great heart. I hope he gets better so he can enjoy food again. I can't even imagine.
Other than those individuals, no one really progressed. When we're not teaching, we're finding ways to help people during this season. It's that time of year when no one should go cold, hungry, or unloved. We try to make sure that we are touching as many hearts as we can with our service and wonderful message of hope. That's really what this season is about. Love and hope. We show loves to those around us and give them hope through the light of Christ. I love reading the Christmas story because it reminds me just how amazing the birth of the Savior is. The Jews were expecting him to come in power and glory, but instead he came as a humble baby. And the other amazing part is that shepherds and great kings traveled many miles to go and worship him. The wise men even brought him gifts of great value. Yet, he was only a baby. It's clear that those who visited him knew exactly why he came. The worshiped because of the hope he gave them. They knew that in that little stable was born the light and life of the world.
Should we not glory in the Savior? Should we not take this time, to truly show our love to Him? He came to give us hope and light and it's through us that others can experience that. We didn't teach as many lessons as I would have liked to this week, and of course we're not perfect missionaries, but as we go out knocking doors and visiting less active members, we make sure to show them the light of Christ.
He lives. I know it.
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and that you let the light of Christ radiate as you worship and serve him. Please know of my love for each one of you.
Until next week,
Elder Landon Carroll
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