Monday, December 15, 2014

The Gospel of Jesus Christ can help

Hello friends!

This week wasn't as amazing as others but we were able to still meet a lot of people and share a little bit of the Christmas spirit with them. I am trying so hard to love them more and try to become like my Savior. I really am hoping I can become the missionary the Lord needs me to be.

On Monday last week we had the Christmas party. Since it wasn't well prepared it didn't go super well. BUT the people there felt the spirit of Christmas and enjoyed the time there. I asked one of the members (who works at the college) to find a Chinese investigator. I don't know why I asked her but I said I wanted to teach one. So she did! But I was still prepping things and didn't have time to talk to her sadly. The good thing is the other set of elders attached themselves to anybody they didn't know. They were really good at that. From that they got an appointment with the Chinese lady named E, and some other people as well. It is quite impressive they were able to get all of that done. On the other hand, K came to the party. She came with J and they had a great time.

Overall things went well! I'm sad that Elder Olsen and I didn't have the chance to talk to the Chinese woman but I know she is in good hands.

Over the next week, we had the same appointment schedule everyday. The afternoon we visit M, S, and try to fit in Mo.

We taught M the work of wisdom. He said he would follow it. For some reason a lot of people couple smoking and drinking with "their hobbies" so when those things go, they don't have anything else to do. M said "if I stop I don't have anything to do." Its hard to get people to stop when they have a lot of free time and when their children own a tobacco and alcohol store.

S is doing good. He is trying to pray. He has some heart felt prayers. They are really simple but they express so much power. He doesn't feel them yet but I know he will get there soon. This whole week we have just tried to visit and build his trust in prayer. I admit we probably spent too much time just talking. We probably could have saved time and gotten more lessons. We are going to work hard to not have that happen this week.

Wednesday we met this one man that had the same exact problem as M. He said "if I stop I have nothing to do. I'm going to die in 10 years anyways. I'm not going to stop." Its really sad to see people hurt themselves. They don't understand the eternal things. I guess that's where the gospel comes in. So many things about the gospel will change the nature of people.

We were on the street and we saw M walking. I saw a bag that he was carrying and it was kind of bulky. I turned to Olsen and said "I think that's beer." So we hunted him down. He said yesterday that quitting alcohol and smokes was easy. But he said that he drank that morning. He just sits at home drinking all day long. We told him to try better. Then we asked him if he went shopping. He said yes. we asked him what he bought. He ignored the question. Asked again. He said it was a secret. Once more we asked and he said it was alcohol. We told him to throw it away. He said he would but we didn't believe him. Its starting to become really shaky whether he can receive baptism or not.

We met some nice people and were able to share the message. We weren't able to talk to many people this week due to focusing on these people written before.

We were able to meet C just for 5 minutes and to see how she was doing. She has a cold and is sick but her sister who has cancer is getting better!!!! Yay for prayers! She is so wonderful and we love her to death.

Thursday we had zone training meeting. It was super good.

Eikaiwa was great. In all 17 came. We made 2 classes and next week we will have a 3rd. When we prepare more and try harder to stay more active, the Lord blessed the class. Now we hope we can start teaching some people from this.

Friday we tried meeting M. He was gone. It was weird. So we went to S. Did I tell you the hospital he is staying at is on the top of a huge hill? Its so hard biking up there. Well its okay but its not fun honestly. Its so worth it because he is doing good. We talked about God and how He will help him overcome his problem. He prayed and asked "God, will you please help me overcome this problem? Is there a way out?"

We came back around to M and he said "why are you here so late?" We explained that we tried to find him but he wasn't anywhere to be found. He said "well I was drunk so I was sleeping!" Man its really rough. We are trying hard to get him going.

Quickly visited Mo. He is doing great! He is kinda praying, but that is a start. We asked if we could visit him on Saturday and he said yes.

Then we headed to K and D. Woah.  I'm not going to say what is going on in that family because first off it is probably best not to. Second off there is too much to say. D straight up told us all his sins. We didn't have time to tell him not to say it. He just went for it. Poor guy is torn up. The family is a mess. The only thing holding them together is their son. (Interestingly enough, the oldest son who is just K's son from a different marriage, we met on the street and gave him a Book of Mormon 2 weeks ago. Crazy small world right?) Just basically a constant fight.

We are working to understand who is telling the truth. On Saturday we sat down with K and heard her story. Both have problems and we think we know how to help. But ultimately it is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ that can help this family. Actually all families. It will teach them the right principles of how to love, teach, and protect your family. How to prepare them to be an eternal family.

Saturday, M is starting to not go well. He is always drunk. But he said he would come to church on Sunday if we picked him up. S said he can leave the hospital. But he said he was going to leave to smoke. Ahhhhhh no! We tried super hard to have him not smoke. He is so addicted.

We met Mo. Watched the restoration. He said it was true. The reason why he said its was true is because it was on a video. Hmmmm I haven't had that response before. He would be a great priesthood holder. He prayed at the end to know if it was true. He felt peace and we told him what that was.

Again we visited D and K. We talked to K this time. We are trying our best to help.

Sunday, we went to pick up S, he said he couldn't come because of some rule. Then went to pick up M, he was drunk. He couldn't come. Super sad but that's people's agency.

The Chinese girl came! They taught her a lesson and she is super awesome! That is going well. The other elders are working great together and getting work done.

We worked the rest of the night. Met Mo and taught him a little bit. Then met C to ask her if we can stop by for the next few days before Christmas. I love these people so much. They are crazy awesome! I hope we can help them feel the Christmas spirit and eventually come closer to Christ.

Talk to you next week!

No comments:

Post a Comment