January 19th
So every morning at 6:30 I roll out of bed extremely grumpy…I get it from my dad. All I can think is, “Ugh! It’s morning already? Noooooo. Its not fair! Life isn’t fair!” and the dramatic monologue continues on and on. And every morning when I roll out of bed in my super grumpy mood, Sister Davenport laughs at me in her sleep. Haha. I’m only grumpy for about 20 minutes and then I get back to my normal hyper happy self.
This week Juliette, Bonnie, Joanne, Justin, and Keeley have decided to get baptized. It’s been a good week. It is incredible how much the Spirit is guiding and directing us right now. I’m trying to figure out if I’m noticing now because it happens way more with missionaries or if I’ve just been blind because of my own faithlessness before I got out here. I’m leaning toward the latter, but I definitely think the former has something to do with it. Anyways, there has been time after time where Sister Davenport says we need to do something and then we do it and then something miraculous happens.
The scriptures are fabulous. I love searching for all the multiple layers of meaning. I used to think the old testament was completely whacked out, but now….no wait…it’s still completely whacked out, but I understand the other scriptures a lot better now. And from a sociological standpoint, it’s fascinating how government and regulation had to be carried out due to the social “maturity” of the nomadic tribes. But that’s neither here nor there.
One thing I learned was that in the old testament sacrifices had to be made for sins that people committed unknowingly. But for these sacrifices, instead of the person herself offering it, the priests were supposed to offer it for her on her behalf. I thought this was really significant. Even when people are unaware that they are committing a sin, a sacrifice still has to be made on their behalf. Christ sacrificed for all sin, even sins that the sinner was unaware they were committing. It makes me think of how children and mentally handicapped people are saved. I guess it could also be interpreted as those we have stewardship over are under our responsibility and if they commit a sin while under our care their sin is upon our own heads.
I love you all!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
not enough time!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 12th
So, this is weird. I was expecting a whole lot more resistance than this, but I guess I’m not going to complain. Juliette was taught by the missionaries back in August and liked it, but was too busy to make any changes. In the mean time the missionaries who taught her get transferred and she’s forgotten. But then out of the blue (and after some experiencing some incredible things) she calls us and says she wants to be taught more. Then people came up to us at church and said that Rachel Fuller and Sis. Redden are ready to be baptized. Then Ruthy calls us and tells us that her friend, Lauren, would be willing to listen to our lessons and go to church with us. Then Brother Hall whose been in active for years all the sudden comes to church. And he said he did because his son whose been inactive for years randomly (as random as random really is which is not really all that random, but that’s a philosophic debate for another time, another place) decides that he wants to repent and come back to church. Then we meet Shannon who lets us teach her the plan of salvation in the middle of her cigarette break and says she wants us to come back, then we keep getting all these text messages from Church headquarters telling us that people are ordering bibles and Books of Mormons and DVD and they want us to come share our message. Then Bonnie prays that she wants to get baptized and go to church. Then nine-year-old Sierra says she wants to get baptized. Every time someone agrees to listen to us I almost want to stop and say, “Wait…you know we’re Mormons, right? We believe in Joseph Smith and his golden bible…you know that, right?” But they know it and they believe it too…which is really cool…I’m not complaining, but it’s slightly unexpected.
Lauren is an amazing 23ish-year-old. She had a stroke before she was born and suffers from auras or seizures. Sister Davenport and I have noticed something extremely special about Lauren. Before we even met her we’ve been having very interesting experiences that have made us aware that Lauren is not just any girl. There’s something very special about her and I’m interested to see how everything unfolds. She’s an incredible painter and has this great boyfriend who lost both his legs in a bomb in Iraq. Ruthy warned us that she has auras quite often when she’s around people because she gets excited. She told us that if it happens Lauren usually is exhausted afterwards and has to sleep the rest of the day. So we went and taught Lauren and sure enough in the middle of the lesson she had an aura. It lasted about 15 minutes and we were expecting to leave because she was going to need to recover. But when she was finished she sat back up and brightened up again as if nothing had happened and we finished the lesson. Ruthy told us afterward that that hardly ever happened. I’m convinced it’s because of my incredible teaching abilities and the charm that reeks from my very being…haha. No.
In fact, let me tell you all about my “incredible” teaching abilities or lack thereof. I am having a really hard time cause I’m outside of my element. If I had my choice I would sit down and pre-write every lesson and every door knock situation. Then I would memorize it and then I would perform it….but no. I’m asked to prepare, but not as much as I want to. I can be eloquent when I have the time, but when I’m put on the spot…haha. It’s a great humblying experience though. I fall over my words and stare blankly at another person as I try to piece together some coherent sentence. Mostly people just smile and think to themselves (Wow…what a train wreck). But you know what? I’m not really discouraged by it. I think people like hearing train wrecks more than they like being caught up in some poetic production of words. Anyways…you should have seen me when I was completely thrown off by a women that said she was Jewish. “Well….we believe in ….a Messiah who came to America…who happened to be Jesus Christ….” Oh boy. Or the lesbian who called the referral center who apologized for unconvincing us with her questions about religion…”Um…I know the Book of Mormon is true.” Or the Hindu woman who rolled her eyes as I tried to explain why I had anything of value to offer her. Haha. I’m getting better though. And I do know that I have something to offer everyone. My teaching skills have much to be desired. I lack the experience that comes with age. I’ve spent most of my life in…what’s it called?...A bubble? And I hiccup quite a bit. But don’t be fooled by my own personal appearance and character because the message I have to offer is one of such significance and such consequence that I feel the angels beside me and I stubble through my presentation and I know that they make up for my personal deficiencies. And luckily Sister Davenport is my companion and she bails me out. Haha. Wow…this is fun.
I wanted to talk about church meetings really quick. I’ve never prayed so hard in my entire life as I do when we bring investigators to church. Holy moly. Sister Davenport has more faith than me and she says that everything happens for a reason, but when a sister got up in fast and testimony meeting and said that she sometimes stopped going to church because she would get “p*#@ed off” I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Luckily she finished with that despite that she could deny the way she felt when she read the Book of Mormon. Nice Recovery!
I got super sick on Saturday and thought that I was going to miss Church the next day cause I was really really sick. I got a blessing, but I’ve got this weird thing where I know God can heal me, but I just assume he won’t so he can teach me a lesson or something. Anyways, I went to bed Saturday night with a high fever and headachy and had a yucky stomach and the next day I woke up feeling absolutely perfect. A good thing because I would have missed some amazing stuff.
The anti-nephi-lehis made a commitment not defend themselves with bloodshed. There was no formal law requiring them to do that, but they we're listening to spirit and the higher law that they spririt was requiring them to live personally. listen to the spirit and to your personal laws
Thank you for your prayers and your packages. I love you all!
So, this is weird. I was expecting a whole lot more resistance than this, but I guess I’m not going to complain. Juliette was taught by the missionaries back in August and liked it, but was too busy to make any changes. In the mean time the missionaries who taught her get transferred and she’s forgotten. But then out of the blue (and after some experiencing some incredible things) she calls us and says she wants to be taught more. Then people came up to us at church and said that Rachel Fuller and Sis. Redden are ready to be baptized. Then Ruthy calls us and tells us that her friend, Lauren, would be willing to listen to our lessons and go to church with us. Then Brother Hall whose been in active for years all the sudden comes to church. And he said he did because his son whose been inactive for years randomly (as random as random really is which is not really all that random, but that’s a philosophic debate for another time, another place) decides that he wants to repent and come back to church. Then we meet Shannon who lets us teach her the plan of salvation in the middle of her cigarette break and says she wants us to come back, then we keep getting all these text messages from Church headquarters telling us that people are ordering bibles and Books of Mormons and DVD and they want us to come share our message. Then Bonnie prays that she wants to get baptized and go to church. Then nine-year-old Sierra says she wants to get baptized. Every time someone agrees to listen to us I almost want to stop and say, “Wait…you know we’re Mormons, right? We believe in Joseph Smith and his golden bible…you know that, right?” But they know it and they believe it too…which is really cool…I’m not complaining, but it’s slightly unexpected.
Lauren is an amazing 23ish-year-old. She had a stroke before she was born and suffers from auras or seizures. Sister Davenport and I have noticed something extremely special about Lauren. Before we even met her we’ve been having very interesting experiences that have made us aware that Lauren is not just any girl. There’s something very special about her and I’m interested to see how everything unfolds. She’s an incredible painter and has this great boyfriend who lost both his legs in a bomb in Iraq. Ruthy warned us that she has auras quite often when she’s around people because she gets excited. She told us that if it happens Lauren usually is exhausted afterwards and has to sleep the rest of the day. So we went and taught Lauren and sure enough in the middle of the lesson she had an aura. It lasted about 15 minutes and we were expecting to leave because she was going to need to recover. But when she was finished she sat back up and brightened up again as if nothing had happened and we finished the lesson. Ruthy told us afterward that that hardly ever happened. I’m convinced it’s because of my incredible teaching abilities and the charm that reeks from my very being…haha. No.
In fact, let me tell you all about my “incredible” teaching abilities or lack thereof. I am having a really hard time cause I’m outside of my element. If I had my choice I would sit down and pre-write every lesson and every door knock situation. Then I would memorize it and then I would perform it….but no. I’m asked to prepare, but not as much as I want to. I can be eloquent when I have the time, but when I’m put on the spot…haha. It’s a great humblying experience though. I fall over my words and stare blankly at another person as I try to piece together some coherent sentence. Mostly people just smile and think to themselves (Wow…what a train wreck). But you know what? I’m not really discouraged by it. I think people like hearing train wrecks more than they like being caught up in some poetic production of words. Anyways…you should have seen me when I was completely thrown off by a women that said she was Jewish. “Well….we believe in ….a Messiah who came to America…who happened to be Jesus Christ….” Oh boy. Or the lesbian who called the referral center who apologized for unconvincing us with her questions about religion…”Um…I know the Book of Mormon is true.” Or the Hindu woman who rolled her eyes as I tried to explain why I had anything of value to offer her. Haha. I’m getting better though. And I do know that I have something to offer everyone. My teaching skills have much to be desired. I lack the experience that comes with age. I’ve spent most of my life in…what’s it called?...A bubble? And I hiccup quite a bit. But don’t be fooled by my own personal appearance and character because the message I have to offer is one of such significance and such consequence that I feel the angels beside me and I stubble through my presentation and I know that they make up for my personal deficiencies. And luckily Sister Davenport is my companion and she bails me out. Haha. Wow…this is fun.
I wanted to talk about church meetings really quick. I’ve never prayed so hard in my entire life as I do when we bring investigators to church. Holy moly. Sister Davenport has more faith than me and she says that everything happens for a reason, but when a sister got up in fast and testimony meeting and said that she sometimes stopped going to church because she would get “p*#@ed off” I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Luckily she finished with that despite that she could deny the way she felt when she read the Book of Mormon. Nice Recovery!
I got super sick on Saturday and thought that I was going to miss Church the next day cause I was really really sick. I got a blessing, but I’ve got this weird thing where I know God can heal me, but I just assume he won’t so he can teach me a lesson or something. Anyways, I went to bed Saturday night with a high fever and headachy and had a yucky stomach and the next day I woke up feeling absolutely perfect. A good thing because I would have missed some amazing stuff.
The anti-nephi-lehis made a commitment not defend themselves with bloodshed. There was no formal law requiring them to do that, but they we're listening to spirit and the higher law that they spririt was requiring them to live personally. listen to the spirit and to your personal laws
Thank you for your prayers and your packages. I love you all!
Monday, January 5, 2009
I opened my mouth
Only 17 months left on a mission!!!!! I’m not counting down I promise, I’m just realizing that I don’t have very much time left so I better start working…not that I wasn’t before…oh this is a bad start but I’m too rushed to do any revising.
Antonio and Monica:
Amazing couple. We’re pretty sure Antonio wants to be baptized, but Monica is hesitant for which I can’t blame her. They have a good relationship so we know that he won’t do anything without his wife. She’s afraid of organized religion and doesn’t want to conform to just one religion. She wants to keep an open mind and accept all religions for the truth they posses. She started out by saying she didn’t believe that our religion was the only one with authority and that if men were foreordained in the pre-existence to be preachers then they shouldn’t have to have authority given to them on earth. A spiritual commitment should be all that is required instead of physical one (i.e., baptism, laying on off the hands). She was asking why this authority thing was so important. After she got done talking I smiled and said, “Good question” And then I turned to Sis. Davenport to answer it. Haha! But was I going to do--I didn’t know the answer. Why is the laying on of hands so important? Why do you have to receive authority on earth? At least I didn’t know the answer when she first asked it. But the weirdest thing happened. As Sis. Davenport was speaking and reading scriptures the answer popped into my head. Maybe not the only answer, but an answer that satisfied my own personal query. Sis. Davenport finished reading the scripture in the New Testament that talked about how priests had to be called of God as was Aaron and then she talked about anointing. And then she looked at me.
I told her first that I had had major issues with conformity because history has shown us that it’s dangerous and it also impedes on individuality and expression. But then I told her that I realized I was using the wrong word. Organized religion is not as much conforming to rules and authority as it is unifying with the fold of God. Conformity for the sake of unity and not for the sake of control and dominion. Okay, but that wasn’t the answer that popped into my mind. I had to reconcile that question myself along time ago.
So then I turned to the question about authority. I made the disclaimer that I was going into Sis. Johnson doctrine so not to take everything I said as gospel…don’t worry. I told her that we came to Earth for the purpose of getting physical bodies. Part of our purpose on Earth is to learn how tap into our spiritual sense while working within a physical body. Physical manifestations of our spiritual commitments seem appropriate because it involves our soul not just our spirit. Authority is passed spiritually, but it makes sense that the physical body would also be involved to signify what is taking place spiritually. Does that make any sense? It made a lot of sense to me and Monica. Anyways, the point of that story is that I had no idea how to answer her question and then all of the sudden I did. I answered it in a way that she could understand. Was that me? No. I can take no credit other than the fact that I opened my mouth.
I love you all!
Reply Forward
Antonio and Monica:
Amazing couple. We’re pretty sure Antonio wants to be baptized, but Monica is hesitant for which I can’t blame her. They have a good relationship so we know that he won’t do anything without his wife. She’s afraid of organized religion and doesn’t want to conform to just one religion. She wants to keep an open mind and accept all religions for the truth they posses. She started out by saying she didn’t believe that our religion was the only one with authority and that if men were foreordained in the pre-existence to be preachers then they shouldn’t have to have authority given to them on earth. A spiritual commitment should be all that is required instead of physical one (i.e., baptism, laying on off the hands). She was asking why this authority thing was so important. After she got done talking I smiled and said, “Good question” And then I turned to Sis. Davenport to answer it. Haha! But was I going to do--I didn’t know the answer. Why is the laying on of hands so important? Why do you have to receive authority on earth? At least I didn’t know the answer when she first asked it. But the weirdest thing happened. As Sis. Davenport was speaking and reading scriptures the answer popped into my head. Maybe not the only answer, but an answer that satisfied my own personal query. Sis. Davenport finished reading the scripture in the New Testament that talked about how priests had to be called of God as was Aaron and then she talked about anointing. And then she looked at me.
I told her first that I had had major issues with conformity because history has shown us that it’s dangerous and it also impedes on individuality and expression. But then I told her that I realized I was using the wrong word. Organized religion is not as much conforming to rules and authority as it is unifying with the fold of God. Conformity for the sake of unity and not for the sake of control and dominion. Okay, but that wasn’t the answer that popped into my mind. I had to reconcile that question myself along time ago.
So then I turned to the question about authority. I made the disclaimer that I was going into Sis. Johnson doctrine so not to take everything I said as gospel…don’t worry. I told her that we came to Earth for the purpose of getting physical bodies. Part of our purpose on Earth is to learn how tap into our spiritual sense while working within a physical body. Physical manifestations of our spiritual commitments seem appropriate because it involves our soul not just our spirit. Authority is passed spiritually, but it makes sense that the physical body would also be involved to signify what is taking place spiritually. Does that make any sense? It made a lot of sense to me and Monica. Anyways, the point of that story is that I had no idea how to answer her question and then all of the sudden I did. I answered it in a way that she could understand. Was that me? No. I can take no credit other than the fact that I opened my mouth.
I love you all!
Reply Forward
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