Journal Joys - March 5, 2016

Sometimes when I begin writing an update I think to myself that nothing new has happened.  Then as I write, I know that our missionary life is full of many small missionary experiences. 

Ian is an investigator that has gone through four sets of missionaries.  A couple of months ago the elders asked us to come and teach with them.  Ian is a very smart young man preparing to exit the military.  He studies the Bible, Talmud, Koran, Book of Mormon etc. Most of the time, he hasn’t had time for the Book of Mormon but can quote to us all the things he has learned through his other studies. I hope you feel the gist of what he is like.  When we go with the missionaries he loves asking questions and telling us the new things he has learned through his studies.  During a recent study he finally had made some strides in reading the B of M.  As the evening was coming to a close, Elder Nordfelt asked him if he would pray about the Book of Mormon.  Ian told us he doesn’t really pray but he meditates.  So, we asked, as you meditate will you spend time pondering the Book of Mormon. The elders also challenged him to attend meetings on Sunday, of which he did.  Our next visit was two weeks later.  Ian proceeded to tell us of the good feelings he had and said he thinks the Book of Mormon is true.  However, in the same breath he continued to tell us that he didn’t think he could join because he wouldn’t be able to do three hours of worship on Sunday.  If we had our services on Saturday he would be more inclined to join.  The evening proceeded forward but we both felt like this was not going to go much forward.  The elders then asked him if he could see himself joining the church one day.  Ian answered them in the negative and the maybe.  The elders then told Ian that they would not be able to come by as often as they had been because there were others that were more ready to accept the gospel.  The thing that I think Ian will miss is being able to have the missionaries to discuss religion with and showing us all the knowledge he was gaining through his studies.  So now we haven’t been back to Ian’s and we have moved forward to other investigators. 

We have a new single airman at the base from Gillette, Wyoming.  We took him to lunch the other day and had a good visit.  He is a very nice young man with a girlfriend back in Gillette.  They hope to get married in October.  We invited him to church on Sunday and he said he would if he didn’t have to work.  We found this young man because of his bishop contacting the YSA bishop and then the bishop contacting us.  We never got him to answer the phone but we did get him to answer our text.  We are really hoping that he will come and attend the meetings with us because he seems to be a really nice young man and would be a great asset to the ward.  This is an example of how the Church’s network can and should work to help all members.

While volunteering at the Airman’s Attic last week, another volunteer approached me and stated that she had been raised Mormon. She recognized our name tag and wanted to share with me her feelings about the ‘Mormon Missionaries’.  She proceeded to inform me that she was never baptized but her aunt always took her to church until her aunt moved to Utah.  No, she didn’t want missionaries but she was very favorable in her memories and feelings toward the Church.  She said she always loved the missionaries coming over to their home.  This is another example of seeds being planted and how each of us don’t really realize how little things in our daily life are being watched and how we each plant seeds along the way.

The Santa Rosa mission does not currently have a senior couple over the apartments in the mission.  We have been asked to do several things for the missionary apartments in our area.  Friday, March 4, was a trip to Davis California to fix the toilet seat for the sister missionaries there.  Then from Davis to Rio Vista California to assess an empty apartment to see what we need to do to clean it out and close it down.  The elders were moved from the Rio Vista branch a while ago so now the apartment will be closed.  We did a walk-through and determined what was worth keeping and what was worth transporting back to the mission home in Santa Rosa.  We’ll visit with the mission office on Monday and see what they want us to do.

Now you can really feel the diversity of what we do.  One day we repair a toilet and the next we are trying to get an investigator to pray about the Book of Mormon.  We love it all.