On Wednesday night after our p-day we went over to the house of a less-active named Charlie. The Sisters here have been working with him since they came to the area almost two years ago, and he has made very small progress in that time. Recently his mom was visiting from Alabama for a month, and I think that helped things a ton. They invited us over for dinner and we had a great time! They are some serious talkers! But so funny!!!! Lela (Charlie's mom) has this awesome southern accent and the two of them did 98% of the talking, but we did just as much of the laughing as they did. I'm trying to think of a way to accurately describe how hilarious these two are, especially when they get together, or to explain one of the stories they told, but I just don't know how. They alternated between telling hilarious stories, telling us about weird southern food (did anyone know they ate raccoon and "chitlins" aka pig intestine in Alabama? I didn't!), and Lela telling us about awesome spiritual experiences she has had. She is a very active member of the Church, which was great for us! She told us that she spent years and years searching for the right church to join. She started out baptist, but could tell that something was missing, so she went through lots of other Churches trying to find the right one. One day she was at a yard sale and found some old scripture study manuals, and the lady gave them to her for free. As she started reading them along with the Bible, she realized that it was talking about some names that weren't in the Bible, such as Nephi and Helaman, but she studied it the best she could, and told us that as she did, she just KNEW that what it was teaching was true. Later on in her life (a few years or months later. She didn't say), she saw a commercial on tv for a book that was Another Testament of Jesus Christ, called The Book of Mormon. She ordered a copy and the missionaries showed up soon afterward with a copy. As they talked, she started telling them about the things she had come to believe from the study manuals she had read. Before too long, she showed them said manuals, and discovered that they came from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She quit smoking and drinking coffee, married her live-in boyfriend, and got baptized. So cool, right?! We love Lela!
She is going home tomorrow, so we stopped by to bring them cupcakes and a thank-you note last night, and had another great visit. We have built up a lot of trust with Charlie in the few weeks that Lela has been here, and he even agreed to read a chapter from the Book of Mormon!!! He told us that he wants to have us over for dinner again, and he started to think of girls he is friends with that can come too, because we can't come unless there is a woman home. He said he could invite his friend Teresa, who came over a few weeks ago just as we started reading form the Book of Mormon with him, and who read with us. Lela told us last night that after we left that night, Teresa asked Lela and Charlie a TON of questions about the Book of Mormon and the Church. Involving Charlie in missionary work with Teresa will be a great way to re-activate him. We're so happy for him that he's been making progress lately. :)
She is going home tomorrow, so we stopped by to bring them cupcakes and a thank-you note last night, and had another great visit. We have built up a lot of trust with Charlie in the few weeks that Lela has been here, and he even agreed to read a chapter from the Book of Mormon!!! He told us that he wants to have us over for dinner again, and he started to think of girls he is friends with that can come too, because we can't come unless there is a woman home. He said he could invite his friend Teresa, who came over a few weeks ago just as we started reading form the Book of Mormon with him, and who read with us. Lela told us last night that after we left that night, Teresa asked Lela and Charlie a TON of questions about the Book of Mormon and the Church. Involving Charlie in missionary work with Teresa will be a great way to re-activate him. We're so happy for him that he's been making progress lately. :)
On Thursday we had a visit with another less-active man named David. David is....weird. He interprets dreams he's had and scriptures he reads in all kinds of strange ways, so we never quite know what he will get out of the lessons we do with him. We usually read from the Book of Mormon or read a conference talk with him and then discuss it. Or we try. He spends a lot of time rambling about who knows what, so we have to fight to get a word in! On Thursday we read 3 Nephi 11 with him, and he talked a lot about repentance. We aren't really quite sure what happened, but he told us he had been thinking and praying a lot lately, and that the chapter we read with him was very timely. Towards the end of the visit, I said to him, "Okay, David. You've been feeling the Spirit tonight. What do you think you need to do about it?" And he said, "Come to church. I have a suit coat and trousers and everything." I made him pinkie promise me that he would come on Sunday, and he promised he would. Just that commitment was HUGE for him, even if he didn't follow through. But! Lo and behold, come Sunday morning, there was David, sitting in the very back row of hard metal chairs. He hasn't been to Church in YEARS. But somehow the Spirit worked on his heart and there he was. The members were very friendly and a lot of the brothers in the ward, including his home teacher, who was finally able to set up an appointment with him, came up to him to welcome him back. I feel like we did very little but be persistent in visiting him and bringing the Spirit into his home. Heavenly Father, who understands him even when we don't, knew exactly what he needed and worked through us and through other experiences he has had and got David to Church. And he said he's coming again next week!
While we were tracting on Friday, we went to check on a family of former investigators. We discovered that they had moved, and a woman named Crystal lived there instead. We started talking to her about who we were and what we did, and we asked her about her faith in Christ. She told us about her baby boy, Blake, who was supposed to be born in June, but was born in March. She told us that doctors had told her that she would never be able to have children at all, but she still was able to have Blake, and he was still alive. They had just recently returned home from being at the hospital with him almost constantly. She told us that she knew he was an absolute miracle, and Sister Davis and I had to try not to cry while she told her story. Sister Davis shared Ether12:27 with her about how weak things can become strong through Christ, and talked about how Crystal's body had been "weak" and unable to have children, but it became "strong" and she had Blake. We also talked to her about how Christ helps us with our every-day weaknesses and makes them strong. Watching Crystal's face while we talked to her about that scripture was an amazing experience. She just lit up and looked so surprised at us relating it to her, and was clearly very touched. She said that she was thinking of Blake as we read it, and was amazed when we related it to her. She said about us coming, "God is good today," and it was clear that she recognized that there was something different about us. She invited us back before we even asked if we could come back. We're so excited to teach her and her husband!
Anyway, it has been an awesome week. I love you all. The Church is true!!!
P.S. I ran over a nail this week.
Pictures!
1) Sister Kinner, who is from the Philippines (and her photo-bombing daughter.) She is so cute and awesome! Her husband died of cancer last year, and she is now raising 3 cute (and hyper-active) children on her own.
2) I ran over a nail.
3) Sister Davis, Lela, me
4) Sister Davis, me, Lela, Charlie
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