Highlights this week.... We had a random investigator come to church yesterday. Her name is Franka and she's from Bosnia. She speaks perfect German, and LOVES America. Especially the military. She's large, loud, and out-spoken. Sis. Knutson and I met her when she just showed up in church one day and then asked if she could meet with us. She said that she would love to come to Familie Heim Abend (Family Home Evening) at the church and then come to Institute Wednesday and we could have a lesson Thursday! It was super cool! Except that she never showed up to any of those things, including the lesson. We spent a couple weeks trying to get in contact with her but our lessons just keep falling out and she stopped answering our calls so we decided to drop her. Yesterday, Sis. Montgomery and I are doing some studies before going to church and we get a call from an unknown number. It was Franka! She apologized for all the time without answering our calls and not keeping appointments. She said she was sick but she's finally feeling better. She told us that she was coming to church today and she wanted to make sure we would be there. We said of course we'd be there and we'd be happy to see her. Then we went over to the church. At 9:25 (five minutes before church starts) she walked through the front door with a big grin on her face. We said hello and took her into the chapel and had a lovely Sacrament Meeting. Then we kind of expected her to leave because most people who just show up to Sacrament Meeting usually leave afterwards, but she stayed! She stayed for all three hours and for Gemeinde Essen afterwards. Looking back, she might have just stayed for the food at the end, but it was cool to have her there. The Investigator Gospel Principles class that we participate in was very lively because Br. Dominguez talked about Satan was our brother in the Spirit World and she just went, "No, no, no. Satan is anyone who does evil and there is no way he could have been our brother." It ended up being a very lively discussion about several different Gospel topics but Br. Dominguez handled it awesomely. It's going to take a lot of coordinated efforts to help teach her. Oh boy. But she's a child of God, and she deserves to hear the Gospel. So gosh darn it, we're going to teach her the Gospel! At least, we're going to try. We'll see how much she is willing to accept and then go from there.
Again, the week was kind of uneventful. Although we did meet with a super sweet older lady in our ward and she made us an awesome German dinner (still no Sauerkraut though) and offered to give us copies of the recipes that she used so we could make it ourselves. I am so excited. I want to ask every single member we meet with who cooks for us if I can have their recipes for German food because I want to make it when I come home. I mean, I could probably just buy a cook book. But it's more fun to collect recipes from the people you meet. Plus, it's a great way to talk and get to know people.
It's been a pretty good week. Still not as busy as I would like, but I'm starting to get over my fear of contacting which I think might be the point of us having so much contacting time. Plus, it's not even what I want at all. It's what God wants to happen. I got a really great letter from my companion. It was written by an Elder serving in England quite a few years ago. There's a part of this letter where he writes about when he asked God in prayer why he and his companion weren't baptizing when they were being exactly obedient but the elders who went on a three day sight seeing trip to Scotland were baptizing. His answer to that prayer is as follows:
Elder Humphrey, I am here. I know who you are. I sent you to those neighborhoods, the very ones where you experienced nothing but rejection. I prompted your changes in direction to even more difficult neighborhoods. I know where each of the elect in your area resides. I know their names. I could send you to those addresses only, and save you the time and sacrifice looking for them. BUT ELDER HUMPHREY, WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT SERVE YOU? The mission experience is to do what you are told, when you are told, to go where you are asked, and know that the blessing comes from enduring what I ask of you. This is not about you; it is about opening your mouth at all times in all places. Doing my will without thought to the end result or consequence… this is what serving a mission is."
This has become my motto for this transfer, and probably the rest of my mission and life. Exact obedience is SO much more than just following the missionary schedule exactly and being to meetings on time and doing your best to try and find people when you don't have appointments. It's more than just using every moment of your study time and using that time by studying subjects that will be the most helpful. It's more than just being willing to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and trying to find the people who are ready for the Gospel.
Exact obedience is following the promptings given to you from God EVERY SINGLE TIME. It's using your study time and then the second it is over you are out the door and ready to talk to people. It's going out and knowing that you might face a full day of rejection that is just one more day in the week or month of rejection you have already faced, but knowing that it's a part of the Plan and that God is mindful of every one of His sheep. Including YOU. Not just the people you need to teach, but YOU. One of the most important things I've learned on my mission about exact obedience is that it doesn't do you any good until you have a good attitude about it, and this quote just reinforces that. "Do what you are told, when you told ... Doing [His] will without thought to the end result or consequence." I am doing His will, and working on the side of angels. How cool is that??? Yeah, it's hard. Almost all the time. But He has not asked me to do anything I cannot do, and just needs me to be obedient. So, I will be obedient. And even if my mission doesn't look that impressive once you add all the numbers up, at the end of the day I can know that I did my part and touched the people whose lives needed to be touched because I was happily obedient to my Father's will. That is so cool.
I love you all, and I really hope that you have an awesome day and a fantastic week! If you have a birthday coming up in the next year, please let me know! If I've already missed it, I'll still be here this time next year.
Love Always,
Sis. John
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