So transfers aren't that exciting for me. I'm staying with the same companion in the same area, well kind of the same area. So they are giving two of our wards to new V.C sisters. They are starting to stockpile sisters in the area for the temple open house. That's still a few months away but they are expecting 500,000 people to go through the temple before its re-dedicated. So they are making sure that they are prepared to say the least.
The other big news this transfer is that my father has died. Just so there is no confusion that doesn't mean that Patrick J. Hoffman has passed away. He's still alive. Evan James Gillespie, the missionary who trained me, is returning home from his mission in about 70 mins. So on the mission we have lineages. Your trainer is considered your "father." Then you have cousins and grandparents, stuff like that, and when you leave the mission field you "die."
Monday- P-day activity was kinda lame. It started off pretty fun. We were doing dodge ball, then the Spanish zone showed up and there were just too many people to do anything. The only thing that really happened today was visiting the Crider's; that was awesome! The mom has been having phone troubles so we stopped by to try and set up a time. Luckily enough their son was taking trumpet lessons so they had a guy over. We walked in and talked for about an hour and then it was getting close to 9:00. We started wrapping things up and tried to leave with a message but we just kept getting off track. When we finally shared the message it went really well. There were a few things we didn't realize though. About 20 mins. into our visit the guy left so technically we weren't suppose to be inside and we didn't leave the house until about 10:15. Nonetheless, the spirit was still there, and nothing bad happened so all is well.
Tuesday- We had breakfast at the Reed's! They are a missionary couple in the V.C and I love those two. I consider them grandparents. (Grandma if you read this I'm not replacing you. They are just like an extra set). They have loads of stories about visits they've had with general authorities and crazy amounts of family history work that they showed us. Their basement is like a library. On top of all that they are just crazy enough to be hilarious but they aren't senile. We taught a couple of LARCs today. Both were families. Both are working towards being sealed in the temple and are just awesome. Dinner was pretty crazy. We ate with a young couple and their 95 year old grandma. She was basically deaf so we had to yell everything we said. Just to show how deaf she was she asked where I was from. I said, "WISCONSIN." She looks at me and goes "Texas?" Not even close. Most of the meal she ranted about sports teams and shared a story about prayer that I'm not sure was 100% true. Not to call her a liar, she's just almost a century old.
I have a firm belief that all of the best inspiration comes to you while your are in the bathroom. One of our zone leaders recently gave a training based on inspiration he had in the shower the morning of zone training. Tonight I was writing in my journal and I took a break. While I was in the bathroom doing nothing specific, I had a personal revelation on the workings of the atonement and parts that never really had made sense to me before became clear to my understanding. We have a guy that's less active because he doesn't understand how Heavenly Father could put Christ through that suffering. I haven't put thought into it for a few weeks now, but randomly it came to me why Christ had to suffer. So in 2 Nephi it talks about how if there is no law there is no joy or suffering etc and if those things don't exist then God would cease to exist. So when Christ took upon him our sins, if he didn't suffer for each sin individually, then there would be no law and God would cease to be God! Its kind of deep doctrine but it was a crazy revelation to have on the toilet. It made the atonement a lot more meaningful to me when I came to know this.
Wednesday- I studied Alma 60-62 this morning and the thing that stood out most to me was when Moroni was rebuking Pahoran and said something along the lines of, "if you think that you can sit upon your throne while the people and armies suffer and hope God will still save you through his exceedingly great mercy, you are hoping in vain." This kind of slapped me in the face as a missionary. I can't just sit around and do a little and call it good. I have to make the effort to reach out to those who I am able and I have to be active in this work.
We got a call from a guy we don't know and he said he wanted to meet with the missionaries so we set up a V.C appointment with him. Sadly he didn't show. He called and said that he got tied up in work and being optimistic I'm going to believe that and hope we can meet with him later. We had already made it to the V.C. Just before we left, President Hancock pulled up with the departing missionaries so I had the chance to see my "father" one last time before he "died". President had us watch a missionary while he waited for his ride so everyone leaving went on the departing temple trip so they were away from their companions. Luckily we had another appointment coming in at 3:00 so waiting there wasn't too big of a deal. The lesson we had was with a larc who wants to get ready for the temple and our lesson spun into family history work and that got her like really excited. So she wanted to be inspired this lesson and not intending to share that we ended up inspiring her, well not so much us but the Spirit did. We had a lesson with an OAY and she is awesome. Every time we have a lesson I feel like I complain about this a bit but she's like the most prepared 10 year old I've ever met and she doesn't have parent permission to be baptized. So its a huge bummer but she goes to church almost every week. She has a firm belief in Christ. She's a member just not baptized.
Thursday- Zone Training!!!! Good as always. The main focus was accountability. It was kind of funny. My companion, after the training said, "Man that training made me feel like im doing enough. Do you know anything that can make me feel better about myself?" (He was looking for like a scripture or video or song). I just looked him in the eye and said, "Well, work harder." As a companionship we haven't been terrible but we have been slacking a bit and when he asked me that, the answer is obvious. Its just not what you want to hear. There wasn't a whole lot we did today. We made a few visits but that was about it.
Friday- We set a date!!! We stopped by to see a kid we've been teaching and he invited us in. He was playing a game and we decided if he wins Elder B would teach if he lost I would teach. Anyway, it turned into a pretty lengthy lesson and a baptismal invitation was given and accepted. That pretty much takes the cake for the whole day.
Well, I'm running out of time. My ride is going to be here soon. Love you all and hope you have an awesome week!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment