Week #23 2-14-11
Dear Family and Friends,
Happy Valentine's Day!!!!
Well I've been in Far Rockaway for almost 2 weeks now and it has been quite the adventure! The work is so different when working English and Spanish, and then having a car... It's still taking getting used to. The weather here has been absolutely amazing, at least this week. I guess I spoke too soon when I agreed with what everyone told me that February would be the coldest, or maybe I"m speaking too soon now since we're only half way through. It's rather ironic since last week was okay, just some days of freezing rain/snow and gross weather like that, but nothing too detrimental. This week had lots of sunny days, tons of the snow is melting and I can see grass again, it's amazing! I rarely get to see grass in New York anyway since they don't exactly have "open spaces" those are called lots, and they're always full of broken rusty cars and an unsanitary accumulation of trash. Well I'm enjoying seeing the grass as the layers of snow/ice that has covered it for 2 months is finally receding! My companion is from AZ and is always very excited when the sun shines, he literally is 10x happier when it's sunny like today, so that puts me in a better mood and the whole day goes better! It's too bad that I just got a bunch of hand/feet warmers right when I thought I'd need them, but if this weather keeps up, I guess I'll save them for next year (I can't believe I'm going to have to survive another winter here! I'm not looking forward to it)!
In planning last week we set some pretty high goals, we wanted to reach a week of excellence (the standard set up by Pres. Nelson), and we had soo many lessons! It was amazing the times we didn't think we were gonna get our goal for the day, but then somehow somthing would happen and it would all just work out! Anyway, needless to say we did a lot of walking, a lot of talking, and a lot of teaching!
Most of our investigators this week actually were not being very cooperative (as in no matter how much we tried to twist/contort/change/last minute scramble to meet when them when they said they had a moment, they still weren't there), but it was a good opportunity to find a lot of other people. If we go to someone's house and they're not home (which is a lot now that reality has set back in, I still don't know how my first week everything went perfectly) we just go knock doors in that apartment building. If we really have no leads and no one to try, we'll say a quick prayer asking for the guidance we need to find the person that needs us. Everytime we did that we'd get an impression and more often than not we'd feel like one certain floor was where we needed to go. Without fail, when we did this we'd find someone who obviouisly needed us, whether they had a son that was a member, or they had taken the lessons back in their country, etc.. Always they were, as Elder Pearson says " a 3 ready to be a 4, or a 4 ready to be a 5.", the Lord had already had played a role in their lives where they knew of the church and wanted to find out more. I'm looking forward to following up with those people and hope that they still have that desire!
Wed. we got to attend a ward meeting with all the auxilary leaders which is always fun with the language barrier, but they're trying to do better on making a Branch mission plan, they just don't really understand the concept I think, so we're trying to help them understand what we as missionaries do, and where they as the members need to be doing, what their role is, as individuals and as a branch. It's so strange being out here where the church members are all so young in the church, almost all converts, and it's just a struggle to do the basic things that I always took for granted:priesthood holders, home teachers, cooperation/love between members, etc. It's like a whole new world. Sometimes I'm surprised I'm still in the USA. Now I know what Aunt Durelle and Esther's familes were talking about with the struggles of the church out East. It's so weird since the church was founded in the same state I am in right now! For Youth Conference the youth are going to the Hill Cumorah Pageant and doing the whole church history thing. They don't even realize how lucky they are!
Friday we had a CDM where we reviewed Elder Pearson's talk and discussed what that means for our mission, what goals we want to make, and what we have to do in order to accomplish them. It was really inspiring and I'm excited to try and put into practice this desire to step it up and perform at the next level. It was a really good discussion and I really like my new zone. My "Pops" Elder Kerby is a District Leader in my zone so it's fun being around him again.
Saturday the branch had a Valentines Party which was fun, mostly only the Spanish speakers came, it's kind of sad seeing the tension between the differences of the 2 cultures. A language barrier can be quite the hinderance to the cooperation and collaboration of the members, but this is the Lord's work so I just do the best I can and try to just love everyone. It's really interesting how the more you serve someone the more you come to love them. Even if they do things that you don't always necessarily like, if you are serving them and trying to help them, then you can't help but love them! It also holds true for companions. I don't think you can ever live with someone and get along perfectly, we're all just too human, but if you really have an attitude of service and looking for ways to help them, then they'll reciprocate and you'll both be happy. In the end it equals out and it really wasn't a struggle to serve them, but you got a lot more out of it. Another thing I'm enjoying with Elder Simkins is that we talk a lot. In the White Handbook it encourages us to talk frequently, so that's what we do! All day long we just get to know each other better. It's a lot of fun and makes the walking or waiting on a bus go by faster (well if your not fearlessing someone, then the bus ride is over in 2 seconds before you can even get the person's information!) Anyway, we were happy some of our less actives we work with came to the party and brought non-member friends=)
Sunday was basically the best day ever. Probably because... We had a baptism!! It was Ashley, the daughter of the family that a lot of them got baptized 1-2 months ago, she finally got her answer and it was really cool helping her figure that out and understand that she needed to be baptized. Anyway, all the work and effort that my comp has been doing for 2 months finally came to fruition. The Dad of the family is antagonistic and was really mad when his ex-wife and other kids got baptized, but the mom has full custody so they could get baptized, but it's still really hard for the kids, and the son is only 8 and doesn't want to talk to us because of his dad, but the women of the household (of course, always women are more spiritually intune) are now all members of the church. We're super excited! I was able to be a witness for her and also the other companionship in our distric they had a baptism as well, the father of a family that has been innactive for years and only these last couple months have been reactivated and now the whole family is united, and the younger kids can be raised in the gospel. Ashley was able to be confirmed a member and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost so on Sat. she can go with all the youth in the district to the temple. It's going to be a special time for them since the mom and all of her daughters will get to go to the temple. I also am blessed to get to go with them, even though normally as missionaries we only get to go at our 1 year mark and right before we go home. I can't wait! At the baptism we also (all the Elders) did a musical number in Spanish and it was really nice. I love how strongly music can invite the spirit and strengthen it. Hearing everyone's testimonies in church last week and then at the baptism was very encouraging. I've only been here for 13 days, but I already love it, with all of it's projects/ghettos and scary neighborhoods, these people need the gospel more than anyone else. Like my friend Elder Kimo Lawther told me in a letter while he was working in a scarier part of town, "Instead of taking the people out of the bad area, we take the bad out of the people and let them change their surroundings to be better." Well yeah I guess that's it!
Like I say every week. A mission is the best thing a young man can do and I love it! I'll be eternally grateful for these experiences, the things I learn, the people I meet. I hope I never forget these feelings, the changes I've seen, and can always stay true to this gospel. Seeing the members and visiting ALL the innactive/less-active it's amazing to see the night and day difference. Even if a person knows the church is true, if they aren't attending their meetings and doing the things they know they should, they are not happy. They sometimes pretend, but you can feel the spirit if it's present in a home, and unless children are raised with gospel principles, they will not fulfill the potential that they had, they are deprived from a home filled with love and the spirit. That's one of the saddest things I've seen. I'm so grateful for my wonderful family where I was always raised to know of these things, able to feel the spirit. Once you've felt it, the lack of it is agonizingly apparent! I'm grateful that each and every day I get the opportunity to bear my testimony of my savior Jesus Christ and the truthfulness of His gospel, and His church restored to the Earth once again! There's nothing better than that!
Elder Lewis
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