January 6th
Good to be back! I hope everyone had a fantastic new year!
Mine was pretty great; I got to go to bed two hours early, which was
awesome! I definitely needed it, I’ll
tell you that much! It was the first
time in a while that I haven't stayed up for the New Year, though. I definitely felt a little lame for going to
bed at 8:30, but that's alright. I hope
you all had a good ole’ time and stayed outta trouble and got to enjoy some
Martinellis and all got yourself a nice new years kiss!
This week we met with
a lot of RCLA's (recent converts and less active members) because nearly all of
our investigators got sick and/or were out of town! It was kind of a bummer actually, but that's
okay. It was nice visiting with the less
active members! We shared a lot of
little spiritual messages and had inspirational visits. The thing that is really awesome about visiting
less active members and recent is that they're always surprised when we stop
by….. AND, by "surprised," I
don't exactly mean the good connotation! Often, they're unpleasantly surprised because
the missionaries are just dropping by outta nowhere. But they, being nice, will let us come in and
get out of the cold and we'll just have a nice conversation with them and chat
with them. What I’ve definitely learned
from elder wright is that all you have do is ask the right questions...you
don't actually have to say anything about yourself. You don't need to talk about yourself. And,
when it comes down to it, you aren't the one that matters. They are. So, if you just sit there and ask them
questions, eventually you'll hit the right question and you'll get 'em going
for an hour. They'll just talk and talk,
and that really opens them up to seeing the missionaries because we're great
listeners! Then, at the end, we ask if
we can play a little game with them. We'll
do a little spiritual thought/inspirational visit game that is gospel related. I do the card magic trick or something, and
they'll wonder how I did it. Elder
wright will tie it into the gospel, and we have a great time. It’s really is
cool.
I've started to
realize the importance of home teaching and visiting teaching after I’ve been
visiting all of these RCLA's this week.
Can you imagine what it means to someone, active or less active, to know
that they have a couple people who love them, respect them, care about them,
and will look after them in times of need?
It's awesome! S, I guess that's
my little bit for this week. That’s what
I learned. It’s very important for fellowship, and I’m glad that my home ward
set such a good example to me back home.
A couple cool things
happened this week:
#1 I had the
opportunity to go on an exchange with the OTHER elder wright (not my companion)
because elder Swonson was sick. It was
really cool. My companion has taught me
a lot about asking questions and how to get people to talk, so I was really
working on not talking about myself (I’ve realized I probably talk about myself
way too much, so I’m trying to stop that) and really being interested in the
OTHER people and what they have to say. What better opportunity to do that than on
exchanges, where I don't know any of the investigators?! I’m not going to lie, I was not excited to go
on exchanges. I wanted to stay in. It was cold outside. But, my companion made me do it. I was a little intimidated because me and the
OTHER elder wright, didn't get along super well. I will tell you what - oing on an exchange
with him really made me realize that all the faults that I was finding in him
were my OWN fault. He's a great guy and
a great missionary. We had a great
exchange and killed it in a couple lessons, absolutely killed it. We worked very well together, and it was a
very cool experience.
So some sad news
everyone - my excitement about the investigators we found in McDonalds last
week was short lived. I got very fired
up and excited when I found out how excited they were about the gospel.
Although I knew it was too good to be true, I really wanted to believe that they
WERE that excited about what I had to say. They texted us this week and told us they were
going to continue going to the other church.
I was pretty
heartbroken. I felt like I had just had a girl break up with me or something;
my heart sank. But, you know what…that's alright. They're agents, and they have
their agency to make their own decisions.
I can't change that. I did my
best, and I would have rather "loved and lost than never loved at
all." right?
I’ve noticed a lot of
missionaries lose that fire and excitement when they find new investigators. They play it off like it isn't that big of a
deal. Maybe it's just because I’m new
and naive, but I want to stay the same way. I’d rather have my heart broken than to not
get attached at all. How can someone be
converted if they don't see YOUR love for the gospel and your love for
THEM? I mean, I understand the other
point of view, and I understand why a lot of missionaries get that way, feeling
indifferent about being dropped by investigators, but I suppose my goal for
this year is to not become that way. I want to keep that fire and keep that
excitement and, if need be, have my heart broken another hundred times. I’d rather be like that than be a robot.
It’s been pretty cold
the last few days. It’s 26 degrees and
windy right now! I'm just glad I’m not on the bike anymore for THIS week. We had to bike through some ridiculously windy
weather on Friday and Saturday, it was exhausting! I would come home and just pass out in my
church clothes - I was SO tired. Fat boy doesn't like to bike up the hills in
the wind hahah. My legs are getting
pretty toned though, I'll tell ya that much!
We got transfer calls
yesterday. Both my companion and I are staying in the area, but just about
everyone else in my district is getting transferred. Elder R. Wright is getting transferred, elder
Swonson is staying, the Seguin elders are getting doubled out and elder peck is
leaving Yorktown. Crazy huh? I’m going to have a whole new district! At least my
companion and Swonson are staying though – I like those guys J.
I have a video and
pictures from Christmas! I’ve actually improved on the ukulele quite a bit
since I made the video, but its just a quick short clip of me playing the uke.
Have a great week! Love
you all!
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