This
week has been a very great week in the Oregon City 3rd ward.
Getting
to serve with Elder Bishop is truly a blessing. He is a very obedient
missionary. He tries to follow all the standards in the missionary handbook
which is great. We talked about how these are not mission "rules" but
that they are missionary "standards". Doing or not doing other things
aren't required at all, but the sacrifice can enable us to grow more
spiritually. One thing that he proposed was that we only listen to music on
preparation day. I know that he felt we could both grow spiritually more
because of this sacrifice. Now, I LOVE music. The funny thing is I LOVE the
mission approved music, specifically classical music. I really only
listen to music during my studies and in the car. Obeying mission music rules
was not a problem for me, but with that being said I knew that I could get
distracted from listening to music because I truly appreciate every little
rhythm and notes in the music. When Elder Bishop asked if we should sacrifice
music, I knew it would be hard, but it would be the right thing to do.
With
that being said he does follow things that are a little odd. I guess in the MTC
they talk about how missionaries should always drink purified water. He really
tries not to drink even our sink water because it has fluoride and such. He'll
boil the water and then let it cool down before he drinks it. Everyone is
different so I just accept it as it is.
But
this week Elder Bishop and I tried to stay as busy as we could. Even with all
the "greenie" (new missionary) things we had to do, we were able to still teach and
find a lot. We had a great blessing happen this week and the rest of my letter
will be about this wonderful experience.
Elder
Bishop and I had a less active member cancel a lesson on Tuesday, and so we
decided we should go tracting (knocking on doors) by that house because Elder Bishop hadn't gone
tracting yet. Elder Bishop felt that we should go down this side road and
tract. Nobody was interested, or no one was home. Now, because of the
experience with Elder Quinton I wasn't doubting that he received a prompting
from the spirit, but I knew it was possible that his prompting may just be for
a different reason. We then decided we would tract down the road right next to
us. The
last "house" we knocked on was a duplex. Not being uncommon, we
knocked on one of the doors of the duplex and the other one opened up.
We did
our door approach and the lady looked inside and she said we could come on in.
It was really her husband or boyfriend who was interested. He started asking us
about the *Word of Wisdom and we helped him understand it a little more. We
then started talking about the "most important thing" being the
Atonement of Jesus Christ. First off, I know that he was prepared to meet us
just as much as we were prepared to meet him. He wanted to know if he could be
forgiven of some very serious sins that he had committed. The answer was yes.
We talked about the Atonement and how it worked and what we need to do to fully
access the Atonement, We read Alma 7:11-16 which told us exactly what we need
to do. We then talked about the restoration and how the authority was back on
the earth to baptize. He accepted a soft baptismal invitation and we set up
another time to meet with him on Friday. The Holy Ghost really testified of the
truth in that lesson.
Friday
came along and at 3:00 (the time that we set up to meet with him), but he
wasn't home. We called him later, and he told us that he actually went to the
E.R. because he had a super bad migraine. The awesome thing was that when he
wasn't at his home, I didn't feel worried. I knew that there was some important
reason that he wasn't at his home I just didn't know what.
The
next day we went on exchanges with the A.P's because Elder Lawrence and I were
invited to go to a sealing. Elder Peterson and Elder Bishop were in our area
for the day. Well, they stopped by the man's home and shared a lesson with him
and the they set a baptismal date!! When they called and told me that I was so
happy!
This
week was a miracle. We were able to find, teach, and set a baptismal date with
this man. I know that the Lord played a major role in this miracle. I am
grateful we acted on the promptings we received on Tuesday and when we taught
him. We haven't taught him everything (obviously) but he said he believes
everything that we are saying is true.
A
crazy thing. The reason he asked about the Word of Wisdom is because he lives
Kosher because he feels that the Old Testament is the most correct scripture. (We
didn't learn that until the second time we were with him)
We
only talked briefly with him about the Book of Mormon, but I know he'll love
it. I never made the connection with the Book of Mormon and the Old testament
until yesterday when someone told me that the Book of Mormon is just like an
extension of the Old Testament with Jesus Christ appearing. It is so much more
than that, but I know that he will love the Book of Mormon because it is 100%
correct.
Miracles
can happen. We just need to have the faith that they can.
Love,
Elder
Morgan
Mom note:
*Word of Wisdom: The name of the health code based on scripture, practiced by members of The LDS church.
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