This week was a really interesting week... But fun none the less!
So on Tuesday last week we were in the midst of emailing home and all that fun stuff, when we got a call from President Manion. He said that Elder Golden, from the first quorum of the seventy, wanted to meet with us to discuss some stuff about missionary work. It was awesome. Elder Golden gave us a 2 hour training. It was so cool. It made me realize that this is truly the Lord's work. We don't have to convert anyone, we are just the mouthpiece. The rest of p day was good, but that was awesome. We had supper with the Purcell's which is always fun. After we saw their neighbor doing some work outside, so we went and talked to him. He said to drop by tomorrow, and we could help him haul wood! It was awesome.
Wednesday was pretty fun. We had district meeting, which is always fun. Afterwards elder Holden and I drove out to see the Selfs. We had an excellent lesson with them, and then drove back. It was sure fun. I still haven't seen any bison, but I'm sure I will before I leave. Then we went back to the Purcell's neighbors place and we helped him haul and stack wood. It was pretty cool.
Thursday we skyped into mission conference. It started at 7 AM! And we didn't get finished with everything until 1:30 PM. So it was really long, but we got some great council from Elder Golden and President Manion. After the meeting we went and started visiting all the members we could on the branch list. President Manion told us to do that to get more people out to church. So we started. We met several people who were active 20+ years ago, but were offended by someone and haven't been back since. It's really sad. Then we met with Lenny Brotherston, a Less active guy. He's super cool, but his wife isn't too keen on the church. She'll come around though.
Friday was plain awesome. We played balloon badminton. I love that game. One of the residents called us his angels. It was really sweet. Then we went and helped out Lenny with some work around his house. We were able to talk a little bit about coming to church. It was really good. After supper we stopped by some part member families. It was good, but nobody let us in, but they did tell us to come back next week. So that was good. As we were moving down the list, we went to see somebody (turns out he moved) and we knocked on the door. A lady answered and the first words out of her mouth were "hey! Do you guys want a cupcake?". It was pretty awesome. So we went in and me the Jones family. They're awesome and we are definitely going to stop by again and start teaching them. It was great.
Saturday we had brunch with the Sutherland's and brother Taylor at the Red Apple. It was pretty awesome. I loved it. Then we went to help the Selfs move some stuff in their trailer and their garage. It was good, and we were able to commit them to come to church the next day. After helping them, we went and changed, and went to Amelia's baptism. She's a girl in the branch who just turned 8. It was pretty awesome. After the baptism we went to teach Rob and Tammy, a couple who've shown interest in the past, and we picked up 2 new investigators! It's going to be fun teaching them the gospel. After the lesson we had supper, and then we started on the list again. We met a guy named Clarence Hudson that said to stop by whenever we want to get him back to church. I can't wait to start to bring him back. We just have to help him feel the spirit.
Sunday was awesome. We went to church, did all that fun stuff, and then we were going to visit more members. There was one guy on the list that was really interesting. So we stopped by his house, knocked on the door, and heard some dogs going nuts inside. So we're standing there, and then the side door on the house opens and we hear the dogs come out. There was a fence there, but these dogs had a look of blood
in their eyes. It was kinda frightening. So yeah. Some guy set his dogs on us. That's a first for me. After that, we found another less active part member family that is going to let us teach them! I love being a missionary for that exact reason. Because people are great.
Monday was pretty fun. We drove out to Rae, a native community about an hour outside Yellowknife, to visit somebody but they weren't home. So we just did some work there for a little and then drove home. Then we had supper with the Coopers, and then we did some more stop-bys. It was a pretty good day.
This week I relearned a lesson that I have learned multiple times now. I'll probably have to keep relearning for the rest of my life. Never giving up is a huge part of missionary work. We cannot Give up on these people. We know what will help them, but they don't know it. So we can't give up after one rejection. Even after a thousand rejections, we have to get up and get going. I've noticed this past week that everybody we stopped to see didn't want to talk to us or to have anything to do with us, except for the last house we would stop by that night. We found people to teach almost every day this week, because we didn't give up and we didn't let them get us down. Keep your head up and a smile on your face as you push through trials. It
will make it 1000x easier to overcome them. I know it and you know it.
Have a wonderful week everybody!
Hugs and Handshakes
Elder Rusty Lofthouse
Don't let anybody tell you "you cannot achieve your dreams"
-Falling In Reverse
No comments:
Post a Comment