January 19, 2016
Soooooo....we have some work ahead of us.
I was able to go down to Clinton again for a district preparation day and visit some more people. I saw Kent (the man who believes Jesus is black) and Sister Tyndall again! I got to talking to Sister Tyndall for a second and she asked me "Do you feel ready to go home?" I said "Nope. I've got some work to do." And that's how I've been feeling the past few weeks. Of course it would be great to be home watching sports and playing with my dog, but I'm just not done here. I don't feel done. Like I said earlier, there's work to be done. I just have to figure out exactly what the Lord wants me to focus on this last transfer coming up.
So let me tell y'all about some of our investigators. A is progressing....we say progressing, but really he just continues to learn. He's not progressing spiritually. We think it's due to his lack of understanding and lack of spiritual experiences. I guess what it comes down to is making sure that he understands the sacredness of baptism and the covenants he's preparing to make. He's under the impression that going through the missionary lessons prepares one for baptism, when in reality it's living the commitments that we extend. That's what changes people and that's what gets them living the Gospel even before their baptism. So we have some work to do with him. He has all the desire (we need to figure out why), but he just needs to keep his commitments and come to church with some consistency. But I'll keep you updated! He'll get there!
I was able to go down to Clinton again for a district preparation day and visit some more people. I saw Kent (the man who believes Jesus is black) and Sister Tyndall again! I got to talking to Sister Tyndall for a second and she asked me "Do you feel ready to go home?" I said "Nope. I've got some work to do." And that's how I've been feeling the past few weeks. Of course it would be great to be home watching sports and playing with my dog, but I'm just not done here. I don't feel done. Like I said earlier, there's work to be done. I just have to figure out exactly what the Lord wants me to focus on this last transfer coming up.
So let me tell y'all about some of our investigators. A is progressing....we say progressing, but really he just continues to learn. He's not progressing spiritually. We think it's due to his lack of understanding and lack of spiritual experiences. I guess what it comes down to is making sure that he understands the sacredness of baptism and the covenants he's preparing to make. He's under the impression that going through the missionary lessons prepares one for baptism, when in reality it's living the commitments that we extend. That's what changes people and that's what gets them living the Gospel even before their baptism. So we have some work to do with him. He has all the desire (we need to figure out why), but he just needs to keep his commitments and come to church with some consistency. But I'll keep you updated! He'll get there!
Most of our other "elect" investigators have either vanished off the face of the earth or just don't have the capacity to receive us right now. So the past week we've just been knocking.....and knocking....and knocking. And we're getting pretty good at it! I don't know why, but my door contacting is a little rusty, but we're starting to get in the groove of things. What's hard is that as soon as someone sees you on their porch, they've already made up their mind up about whatever it is you're about to offer. So it's our job to try and give them a spiritual experience on the porch so that they'll want us to come back. And we did do that last week. We have some appointments today because of it.
An update on Elder Christensen and his training experience. He's doing really well! He's much better than he was when he first arrived to the field. He knows how to teach, testify, and he's even starting to get the hang of Spanish. I'm just hoping I will have taught him enough before I head out. He's got a lot of potential to do a lot of good and I want to make sure he reaches his full potential.
Something funny (and creepy) that happened the other day. Add this to your list of cat stories (and reasons dogs are better than cats). So Elder Christensen and I were knocking doors in a neighborhood at around 6:30-7:00 pm. So we parked our car on the side of the road and began to get our stuff out. Then we look behind us and we see this black cat approaching. We named him Nightmare :). As we began knocking doors, he continued to follow us around. I think he was attracted to the lantern we were carrying or something. So we bade him follow. He kept following until we reached a certain point in the neighborhood where he was content to stay put. So we knocked some more doors and then headed back toward the car only to find Nightmare sitting in the same place we left him. We tried to get him to follow us, but he wouldn't budge. Then he started hissing! Didn't know why...So we bade him follow again....and he started talking. Like literally talking like a human. You couldn't understand what he was saying, but it sounded like someone possessed with a demon or something. He continued doing that and hissing and we began to wonder if maybe he was pregnant? Or in pain? Weirdest thing. I was just about to perform an exorcism when out of the corner of my eye I see something white sitting in the middle of the road. It was another cat. I approached it only to find that it was even creepier than Nightmare! It was just an orange cat, but it was so large and so ominous looking that I was compelled to shew it away. And then we got Nightmare to follow us again. He took a seat next to our hubcap and breathed a sigh of relief. I guess we....saved his life or something? Anyways, that's my cat story of the week. Still gives me the creeps. This is why you get a dog.
And that was my week! I hope that I can continue to work hard and testify every moment I get! Continue to pray for me as I wind this thing down!
Con mucho amor,
Elder Landon Carroll
No comments:
Post a Comment