Week #23 - 06/22/2015

Black Boxes & Thunderstorms

So I am a a week behind the curve on this to tell you guys, but our mission just got black boxes for all the cars. You have a special card you have to swipe to log into this thing, and it tracts your exact location, speed, how fast you accelerate, how hard you break, if you are wearing a seatbelt, if you hit a bump too hard, and anything else you can imagine. The boxes talk to you to tell you if you are doing anything stupid, and will give you infractions that are sent to church headquarters, and you can lose the car if you get too many. 

We thought it was a bit excessive for missionaries. But the church had done a test where they turned the sound off on the boxes for a month. When they showed us the statistics and how there were 326 over 90 miles an hour speeding violations in one month for a different mission, we changed our minds. Some people just aren't that smart, I guess. Elder Jackson drives like a grandpa, so we are pretty good anyway. 

So this week has been cool. We have had some wild thunderstorms that last only 3 hours at most, but are like mini hurricanes and knock out half the cities power before turning into a bright and sunny day. Iowa is weird. 

We have had some amazing lessons this week. We had a lesson with a less active member that has had a lot of problems with her boyfriend she is living with and her children. She knew she needed to get married, but her boyfriend (an old investigator) had wanted nothing more to do with the church or marraige, and they were fighting a lot because of it. She told us how hard it was sometimes to have that faith in spite of all the obstacles. We just had time to share a scripture with her on her front porch, it was Mosiah 26:14-16. It talks about the people of Alma being in bondage, and how, while the Lord didn't take away their trials right away, but because of their faith, he lifted them up so that their burdens became lite, and they bore them with joy. She said a closing prayer, and the spirit was so strong. When she finished she was crying, and she said she felt how much God loved her. 

The next Sunday her boyfriend came to church with her. We had the chance to set up an appointment later that day, and talked to him. He said that while in the church, he had just felt this peace come over him. Elder Jackson had some amazing questions about what that meant for him, and then I shared Alma 32 and helped the boyfriend realize what he needed to do. The boyfriend said he just knew that it was all true, and couldn't deny it. We set a baptismal date right there with him, and also an appointment with the Branch president later in the week to set up their wedding. The spirit was really strong, it was awesome to say the least. We were both guided by the spirit so much. I can't imagine what to do without it. All we have to do is be worthy to recieve it, ask for it, and move forward. I used to think that the spirit worked like some voice telling you where to go or what to do, but you have to just take the first steps blind, and then you just find yourself doing the things God wants of you. There are so many times when I just find myself saying something I didn't even think of or know, or am about to say something and say something else completely different, or even me and my companion both turning down some street without even thinking about it, even if it is the wrong way, and finding someone amazing to talk to. It is so cool!. 

Week #22 - 06/15/2015

Walking, rain, and Jehova's Witnesses

Iowa weather never ceases to amaze me. It is pouring rain and 80 degrees. We can either burn to death in our waterproof jackets or get soaked to the bone. But hey, that's the work. 

Mostly it has been just more and more walking. I had to replace the insoles of my shoes because I wore giant holes in them. I was kinda proud of that. My feet may be killing me and my shoulder bag may be cutting a hole through my shoulder, but we meet so many more people, and they recognize us as Mormons, and not as other churches, and that this is our full time work. Now that it is summer, the J-Dubs have been really picking up the work, and hindering our work quite a bit. They just flood a town on the weekends with 50 of them and knock every door, thoroughly annoying the people with their very blunt and rude nature of trying to share their beliefs. They live for the bible bash. 

And yet I have yet to run into one. We will just start talking to people in an area and notice they are far less friendly than usual, and then we will see all the pamphlets in the doors and know why. But it is funny to see people's reactions when they realize we are Mormons and not J-Dubs. Mostly it is a look of pure relief. 

This one man came out of his garage yelling "You have already been by here!", and ready to run us away. But when we explained we were Mormons, he paused for about 5 seconds, and then a smile just grew on his face. "Well that certainly is different. How you boys doing today?" We talked to him about God for 15 minutes, gave him a pamphlet, and he said he would read and that we could come back and talk more about it sometime. 

I swear, we just need to wear signs saying that we are Mormons. But i guess that is why it is a mission rule to always carry an outward facing Book of Mormon in your hand, haha. 

There are actually a decent number of other churches out here that do missionary work. But it is just amazing to see the difference between how other church teaches and others. They pound with information and a constant slew of scriptures as to why their point is right, and try to use nothing but knowledge and their own wisdom and power of speech to convince the people. But for us, it is so much simpler, so much easier. We have all the scripture to back it up, we have the evidence, but we start always by just telling them "We know that this is the word of God and can bless your life, and you know what, we can throw scripture at you all day, but you can know for yourself if you just ask God if it is true, and have sincere intent to follow that answer, and read it for yourself." We do nothing but invite people to go to the source, to ask Our Heavenly Father what his own truth is. I am amazed people don't think of it more on their own.  I am so happy that I don't have to have read the bible 20 times and memorized half the verses to do missionary work. God does 99.99999999 to the infinite percent of the work, we just invite the spirit in, teach the truth without rule or guile, and then invite these people to figure out on their own. It is their choice to just pray and read, and God takes it from there to actually convince them through the Holy Ghost. We have that amazing guide, and infinite support. Others have their books and guile to convince people, and we have an entire chapter in our teaching manual on how to recognize and follow the promptings of the spirit. They teach that the spirit is dead and that God no longer guides his children because they don't have that guide for themselves. And that is just so sad, to me. I can't imagine how exhausting it would be without that spirit to lift, comfort, and guide me. I Love this work so much, and I am always amazed by how little we do compared to the work of the Lord. I will leave you guys this week with one of my new favorite scriptures. 

Doctrine and Covenants Section 24:12

 12 And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump,both day and night. And I will give unto him strength such as is not known among men.

Week #21 - 06/08/2015

Let your soul delight in fatness" Heleman 5:12

So much for being healthy and running every morning. I had a cold so I stopped running on the treadmill for a week until it passed and I could breath, and getting back into habit has been harder than starting. On top of that, Elder Jackson and I have been pigging out on candy lately. I never really bought candy before with Elder Marte, but Elder Jackson and I stocked up on "road-trip snacks" for the upcoming zone conference in Des Moines, but they didn't last 2 days. Then Elder Jackson bought a Reese's and Hershies brownie mix box that was on sale, and we both ate the entire pan over the course of our weekly planning session. So yea, eating healthier is now one of our new companionship goal. We bought tons of fruit and raisins and stuff, so lets see if we can just deal with that. 

We have mostly just been finding and knocking door this week. And walking, lots of walking. We have to put our truck to rest because we only get so many miles a month, and everyone is required to drive to Des Moines this month. I like it, but it takes quite a bit of time when your area is as spread out as ours is. We set apart all this time to knock some doors in this neighborhood we never have before, but by the time we got there, we only had 30 minutes before we had to go back to make an appointment. 

And it is amazing to see the faith that some people have. There is a recent convert in our branch that recently had a brain tumor removed. Her husband was made mentally disabled after a car crash, and on top of that she has a son with autism.  She can barley walk or talk after the surgery, and has had such a hard life, but has more faith than anyone I have personally met. She knows exactly what is important in this life, and you can see the joy and love of God in her eyes, it is incredible. We gave a lesson to her about making Jesus Christ our rock and foundation, and shared this scripture in heleman 5: 12.

  12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty stormshall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

I love that scripture so much, it is such a powerful promise. If we follow Christ and make him the foundation, the center point of our lives, nomatter what the temptation or trials Satan sends, we "cannot fall." When we shared it it her, she said (and I am paraphrasing from spanish) "Well of course! And we have the scriptures, the prophets, and all the people of the Church to help us in everything, on top of prayer and direct help from God and Jesus, what more could we possibly want? He gives me my family, my loved ones, my Savior, and I have more blessings than I could ever count! He gives us everything we could ever want to be happy!" 

That is so true. I find out more every day where real happiness comes from. I love the scripture 2 Nephi 9:51 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

We are certainly applying the last part. And I cannot express how much I love this work, and how happy I am to get to meet all these people every day. What more can I say? "The Book is blue and the word is true. Just be baptized already."

Week #20 - 06/01/2015

Studying, Teaching, Finding, Preaching

It has been another awesome week of work. My Spanish is improving so much, even more than before. Having it all rely on both of us forces me to take it even more seriously to learn the harder stuff.  Elder Jackson and I have been practicing a lot more together. It is still great how the spirit works. If I try hard in my Spanish studies that day, even when I am super tired and can't even remember what I learn, I can understand and speak Spanish 4 times better than when I just casually study some grammar principle or learn some words. The Gift of Tongues once again is proven real every day, I just have to keep doing my part or the Lord won't help me. It is humbling always to realize how much I desperately need his help in everything. 

We found an awesome pair of new investigators. We had met them at one of the huge Fiestas that the Mexicans here throw for their 1 year old daughter's birthdays. They go all out, and every Mexican from 30 miles away comes. They are usually a really sweet place to find potentials, and the members usually introduce us. This young couple already have 3 kids and one on the way, they were raised catholic, but are really eager to learn more to find out what religion they should raise their family in. We were really exited to teach them, but they live 35 minutes away, so it took some work to figure out how to schedule them in. But the day before we were going to teach them, the wife called and canceled, but actually told us she was exited to learn and asked if any other day would work! I don't know if you would understand the significance of that unless you were a missionary, but no one ever sets another day on their own. It is either the day you set or nothing. So needless to say, we were pretty exited, and when we taught them, the spirit was so strong. We had to clear up a few things, she thought we were telling her Joseph smith was one of the original apostles (as you can tell, our Spanish needs a bit of work) but it went really well. When we asked one of them to pray at the end of the lesson, they both shook their heads no, that they had no idea how to pray. 

We explained prayer simply, that it is just a conversation with God, thanking him for things and then asking for anything you might need, and ending in the name of Jesus Christ. I can't believe how much I take for granted the ability and knowledge that I can just talk with God anytime I want. It would have been so hard to have made it this far in my life without always having Our Heavenly Father to call out to at all times for help, knowledge, strength, and comfort. After we explained it all, the wife gave a great prayer. It was awesome, and it's moments like that, where you can just teach someone something as powerful but simple as talking with their Heavenly Father, and you can feel a bit of God's joy that another one of his children is taking the time to talk to him.  Even if they don't become converts, they will have learned that, and that is the first step to coming closer to God. Oh, and they told us they are also studying with Jehova's Witnesses, so this should be interesting, haha. I am not worried. The Jehova's Witnesses have their knowledge and learning to try to convince people, we have the actual Holy Spirit of God to testify of the truth. I like our odds. 

My companion is awesome, and it is fun getting to know him. The problem wasn't that there wasn't many Spanish people in his old area, it was that they were all from El Salvador and Guatamala, and it is a bit different than the Vera Cruz Mexican street Spanish or Honduran slang spanish  they all speak here. It is funny swapping phrases and words that we both have learned from different countries. We found a Mexican investigator from Distrito Federal (Mexico City), and it was funny how much different it was and his accent just from Vera Cruz Spanish. I talked to one of the stake councilors who visited Hampton Branch, and he served his mission in Chile Orsorno. Chile is infamous for how fast and slurred they speak, and he told me that he could understand basically everything from Chile, but the could hardly makeup a sentence at times from the people in my area. Makes sense why the MTC Spanish was so much different. Looking forward to learning even more types of Spanish, I will be able to talk to everyone! 

Love you guys, a mission continues to be the best thing I have ever done, and I love every minute of it.