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| Sister Poulson, an investigator, Sister Schmutz |
_____'s
brother came into town and a guy quit from work, so he had to fill his
shift on Sunday and has been too busy with his brother to meet with
us... but we came to 7-11 to visit him and he still wants to be taught.
_____ knows
the Book of Mormon is true and is now in Jacob but says he feels
unworthy to be baptized... We hooked library guy up with the
missionaries in his neighborhood. We got three new investigators this
past week! Let me tell you about them:
Sally [not her real name],
crazy, crazy Sally. Met her Wednesday. She saw us from the window and
said "come on around back!" She lives in this odd looking little
lopsided bungalow that is PACKED sky high with stuff inside and out
back. She is a mix of black, native american and white and is proud of
it. She is practically broke but has written several books, specializes
in patent law and owns the rights to the name "prose warrior." (We saw
all the documents that support this, so know it's true.) She calls us
"babies," kept inviting her to come with her and all her friends to the
best bars in town and showed us her newest idea-- adult, washable
diapers with frills and lace on them so that "a person can be
incontinent and feel sexy."
She
got hit by a semi-truck and broke her back (showed us the scar. That
was a little awkward!) So we helped her clean up her house and then
taught her a lesson on the Restoration. She came to church with us on
Sunday and has absolutely no need for fellowshipping--she fellowshipped
the ward! She commented in all the classes (including the one where we
talked about the millenium. "That makes sense," she said afterwards) and
went around glad-handing everyone after each class. She said "Amen,
amen!" or "Here, here!" several times in all of the meetings. Awesome.
She's going to get baptized.
___: This modern awesome Mom who believes all these odd things about
meditation and the great spirit and things, so who knows if we'll ever
connect there. But we have an appointment next week! ____: Best
seventeen-year-old boy out there. His grandma is a member and took him
to church with her once. He started coming on his own after that. He is
very sincere in his spirituality and wants to learn more. We taught him
yesterday and he has agreed to be baptized!
I've
learned a lot this week about how to be a better teacher and companion.
I have been humbled. Its been a little rough for Sister Poulson and I
to teach together and because I didn't feel frustrated like Sister
Poulson did, I thought that meant I wasn't really at fault. Not so! I
think it's human nature to think everyone else is in the wrong but us.
I've been working on letting Sister Poulson lead in discussions and
really following the Spirit. Its easy to think that you have the best
things to say, but its the Spirit that does and following the Spirit
requires slowing down and really listening to it.
I've
learned how to be a better companion from Sister Poulson: to not
criticize or take offense at things that really aren't a big deal,
because that's what she does. These are good lessons for all of us I
think! It just makes life harder when we don't do them.
We had this old
woman open the door with only a kind of loose towel on when we were
tracting Wednesday. She said "Sorry girls, I'm kind of busy, I've got to
get in the shower." She saw our surprised faces and said casually, as if
to explain "I wouldn't have opened the door except I knew you were
girls." Oh, ok.
Last thing: the pure love of
Christ, charity, is absolutely a real thing. I've been praying for it
and this past week have noticed it very distinctly. We met a woman who is in her mid-fifties, retired, really
friendly, invited us in and then prepared to pounce. We talked a little
bit about the spiritual experiences we've had and the reality of God
when, out of nowhere, she interrupted us and said "You're wrong. There
is no Heavenly Father, there is only Christ. Then, she whipped out her
Bible and had us turn to reference after reference of these obscure,
complex scriptures in the Bible that talk about God. She wouldn't say
anything but "Uh-huh!" between each one and, when we said we had to go
to a dinner appointment or would be late she said "No! Just sit here and
give me five more minutes." All this time when she was going a little
crazy and trying to tear down our beliefs, I just had this deep feeling
of love for her! I wasn't bugged and just wanted to help her. It was
really cool. We gladly set up a return appointment and I'm excited to
meet with her again.
Hermana Schmutz
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