NEWS
(INVESTIGATOR'S NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO MAINTAIN ANONYMITY)
JULY 22, 2013 - Agency: God's GREATEST gift to man.
Missionaries worst nightmare
Heeellllloooo everybody!! Tis a pleasure to get to write you all once again! Truthfully, this week has been much like the last.. (I'm beginning to think they will all start becoming very similar in nature) but, Here's a few of the latest things!
Well... as I believe you all know.. we didn't have ANY amis at the start of this week.. and to make a long story short. We don't have any amis at the start of this next week. ha.. maybe you want to hear the longer story? ok.. fine.
Well.. we had quite a few little rendez-vous with random people we found on the streets. One of which was a man named Abishek. he comes from India. He honestly just wanted to see the results of our survey, and had no real interest in hearing about the restoration. ... He heard about it anyway. haha.
Another was an awesome man named Pascal... we were simply walking to our apartment at the end of the night, and saw him crossing the street and he was going to end up right in front of us. It was kind of late, so we didn't really want to spend much time talking to him, so I kind of just said, "HI! we're missionaries from the Church of Jesus ..LDS. and we have a message about Families and how Jesus can help us have happier families. Do you want to hear about it another time?" He said yup. gave us his number, and kept walking. We had a rendez-vous with him, and it went SUPER well.. He seemed super interested. he could tell we truly loved him, and his adorable little family. Then he started talking about how all he needed was help getting a new apartment... we told him we as missionaries don't have a TON of things we can do to help him with that, but that we have a great ward that possibly could be on the look out for him.. We left him with the challenge to pray with his family each night... and never heard from him again.
The next woman was our little miracle of the week. We were going to go do a "pass-back" (knock on a less active's house and hope for the best) in Onex, but ended up on the wrong street with the wrong address.. but as we were walking down this wrong street, there was an Asian looking woman sitting on the park bench across the street with a little baby stroller next to her. I simply smiled at her, said the usual Bonjour! and she smiled back with her usual bonjour but something about the way she smiled at me made the spirit tell me that she needed some help.. So we crossed the street, introduced ourselves to her, and asked if maybe we could share our message with her. She was SO nice! goodness. but she talked about how she lived in a "foyer" (a group home for women that are victims of abuse) and that men aren't allowed in there. Then she also talked about how she had no family here, and no friends, and she just needed a family that would support her and love her. She kept saying she needed a spiritual family. So we bragged a little about our incredible Salève ward and the awesome relief society that all love each other, and we are all one amazing family. And she got SO excited to come to church!! She kept asking questions about when church was, and if it was ok if she came. So long story short, we planned on her coming to church with us! (our first ami at church this transfer!! wahoo).. Then Elder Dieduksman and I decided we might as well try to have a rendez-vous with her the saturday before to kind of explain who we are, and to bring a super awesome member with us that would invite her over for a family home evening or something. it was so great! The lesson went well! really, it was amazing. we talked about baptism, and talked about how when we put God first in our life, he blesses us in every aspect of our life. (using the last 4 verses in 3 nephi 13, and my favorite mosiah 2:41) it was great. except the 1 hour she spent talking about how all she needed was an apartment and a job. or at least a member that would let her live with them until she got an apartment. etc... Really her story in incredibly tragic. She has 4 kids. 3 of which live with her ex-husband, who brutally abused her. She had her baby while in the group home. plus she's in debt from some business she owned that fell through, and her college education she got in Vietnam doesn't count over here.. basically she's in a mess... Our awesome member taught so powerfully about the fact that our gospel helps people become powerful and independent people that rely on the Lord. it was so good. So.. we were anxiously anticipating her at church the next day, and ..... no show.. she wouldn't answer her phone. nothing. We were so bummed.
Missionary work is hard! geez! we get yelled at all day! we get super excited to try to help people, and then they disappear on us, we work our tails off for a month, and still, we're right back to where we started 4 weeks ago.. But why do we do this? really?
Oh.. yeah. Because this gospel is amazing. And we get the opportunity every day to testify about something that means so much to us and our families! we get to help people feel their saviors love for them, even if it's just for a minute. We get to tell mothers with new babies that God loves them, and that he is so happy with them and their efforts to provide the best for their families. We get to see these amazing members stand for what's true in a world where EVERYONE and EVERYTHING tells you that you're crazy. But more importantly. I get to go to bed every night and literally feel the Lord put His arms around me, and reassure me that I did my best. He has a plan for these people in Europe, I just know it.
They used their agency to get them into a really weird spot right now. People believe the strangest things. They rely on the strangest things. They worship the strangest things. But the coolest thing is, that every single one of them have the potential to have eternal families. ALL of them. Every single person on this Earth right now, CHOSE Jesus Christ in the pre-earth life. They ALL cheered when Christ stood forward and said those words, "here am I send Me." We just have the incredibly difficult job of trying to get them to remember that moment. And what a fun adventure this is.
I Love you all so much! Keep praying for me and these people in Europe. I pray for you always!
I'm so so glad you are all having fun this summer! Sounds like a root-hoot-hollerin' good time! Too bad I'm not jealous. I basically live next door to three cathedrals, PLUS I get to do nothing but testify all day. So. HA! I win! ha. jk. Love you all!
Well... as I believe you all know.. we didn't have ANY amis at the start of this week.. and to make a long story short. We don't have any amis at the start of this next week. ha.. maybe you want to hear the longer story? ok.. fine.
Well.. we had quite a few little rendez-vous with random people we found on the streets. One of which was a man named Abishek. he comes from India. He honestly just wanted to see the results of our survey, and had no real interest in hearing about the restoration. ... He heard about it anyway. haha.
Another was an awesome man named Pascal... we were simply walking to our apartment at the end of the night, and saw him crossing the street and he was going to end up right in front of us. It was kind of late, so we didn't really want to spend much time talking to him, so I kind of just said, "HI! we're missionaries from the Church of Jesus ..LDS. and we have a message about Families and how Jesus can help us have happier families. Do you want to hear about it another time?" He said yup. gave us his number, and kept walking. We had a rendez-vous with him, and it went SUPER well.. He seemed super interested. he could tell we truly loved him, and his adorable little family. Then he started talking about how all he needed was help getting a new apartment... we told him we as missionaries don't have a TON of things we can do to help him with that, but that we have a great ward that possibly could be on the look out for him.. We left him with the challenge to pray with his family each night... and never heard from him again.
The next woman was our little miracle of the week. We were going to go do a "pass-back" (knock on a less active's house and hope for the best) in Onex, but ended up on the wrong street with the wrong address.. but as we were walking down this wrong street, there was an Asian looking woman sitting on the park bench across the street with a little baby stroller next to her. I simply smiled at her, said the usual Bonjour! and she smiled back with her usual bonjour but something about the way she smiled at me made the spirit tell me that she needed some help.. So we crossed the street, introduced ourselves to her, and asked if maybe we could share our message with her. She was SO nice! goodness. but she talked about how she lived in a "foyer" (a group home for women that are victims of abuse) and that men aren't allowed in there. Then she also talked about how she had no family here, and no friends, and she just needed a family that would support her and love her. She kept saying she needed a spiritual family. So we bragged a little about our incredible Salève ward and the awesome relief society that all love each other, and we are all one amazing family. And she got SO excited to come to church!! She kept asking questions about when church was, and if it was ok if she came. So long story short, we planned on her coming to church with us! (our first ami at church this transfer!! wahoo).. Then Elder Dieduksman and I decided we might as well try to have a rendez-vous with her the saturday before to kind of explain who we are, and to bring a super awesome member with us that would invite her over for a family home evening or something. it was so great! The lesson went well! really, it was amazing. we talked about baptism, and talked about how when we put God first in our life, he blesses us in every aspect of our life. (using the last 4 verses in 3 nephi 13, and my favorite mosiah 2:41) it was great. except the 1 hour she spent talking about how all she needed was an apartment and a job. or at least a member that would let her live with them until she got an apartment. etc... Really her story in incredibly tragic. She has 4 kids. 3 of which live with her ex-husband, who brutally abused her. She had her baby while in the group home. plus she's in debt from some business she owned that fell through, and her college education she got in Vietnam doesn't count over here.. basically she's in a mess... Our awesome member taught so powerfully about the fact that our gospel helps people become powerful and independent people that rely on the Lord. it was so good. So.. we were anxiously anticipating her at church the next day, and ..... no show.. she wouldn't answer her phone. nothing. We were so bummed.
Missionary work is hard! geez! we get yelled at all day! we get super excited to try to help people, and then they disappear on us, we work our tails off for a month, and still, we're right back to where we started 4 weeks ago.. But why do we do this? really?
Oh.. yeah. Because this gospel is amazing. And we get the opportunity every day to testify about something that means so much to us and our families! we get to help people feel their saviors love for them, even if it's just for a minute. We get to tell mothers with new babies that God loves them, and that he is so happy with them and their efforts to provide the best for their families. We get to see these amazing members stand for what's true in a world where EVERYONE and EVERYTHING tells you that you're crazy. But more importantly. I get to go to bed every night and literally feel the Lord put His arms around me, and reassure me that I did my best. He has a plan for these people in Europe, I just know it.
They used their agency to get them into a really weird spot right now. People believe the strangest things. They rely on the strangest things. They worship the strangest things. But the coolest thing is, that every single one of them have the potential to have eternal families. ALL of them. Every single person on this Earth right now, CHOSE Jesus Christ in the pre-earth life. They ALL cheered when Christ stood forward and said those words, "here am I send Me." We just have the incredibly difficult job of trying to get them to remember that moment. And what a fun adventure this is.
I Love you all so much! Keep praying for me and these people in Europe. I pray for you always!
I'm so so glad you are all having fun this summer! Sounds like a root-hoot-hollerin' good time! Too bad I'm not jealous. I basically live next door to three cathedrals, PLUS I get to do nothing but testify all day. So. HA! I win! ha. jk. Love you all!