Back to Work

With all the craziness of transfers we weren't able to go out and proselyte until Thursday... but once we did it felt like we never stopped!  I really love being out of the apartment just talking with people.  You will always have a couple butterflies when you go up and talk to someone randomly for the first time but you learn something out of each and every contact.  I was thinking about it... and if I were a person standing on the street, how would I feel if these 2 white guys came up and just started talking to me about my life?  Well, if they were aggressive or awkward I'd be a little stand-off-ish... but if they made me laugh and smile I would be interested in their purpose of coming to talk with me.  Well, our purpose as missionaries when we contact someone is to let them know we care about them... but not only us, but God cares about them.  If we as members of this church don't open our mouths and share this happiness that we carry with us.. then who is going to learn about it.  Go out of your way and tell someone you aren't very familiar with that you care about them and hope they are having a great day.  Fear is the opposite of Faith and Love.  If you love someone then ultimately you want to share the Gospel with them.

We had a pretty cool lesson with Kacey, Kayla, and Carlos (Buddah is his nickname).  They are all siblings and their dad is a Less Active member that wasn't in our records.  Elder Matheny happened to run into them last transfer along with a lot of other part member families that we are working with.  We like to call them "Low hanging fruit." Part members are the way to go if you want converts, retention, and re-activation.  Anyways, we had dinner with them in a members home and then taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Teaching lessons in a members home is the way to go because the Spirit is already there!  It is something that I haven't done very often but that is going to change pretty quickly.

As I've gotten to know more of the members from this ward there are a few I have a lot of respect for.  First, Brother Blaschke is the Elders Quorum President and is easily one of the best I've seen.  Why? He magnifies his calling.  It is really easy in the church not to take your calling seriously and do the bare minimum.  When you do the bare minimum you get small small blessings (there's some krio for ya!).  I want a lot of divine help and all the blessings I can get so I have to do something for them!  If a ward runs the way it is really suppose to, then the miracles should be flying left and right.  I expect to see just that in the next little bit because of our efforts and the wards efforts.

Second, is Brother Mudford.  He has had a rougher past and fell away from the church for over 20 years.  However, as he has found his way back and begun to live ALL of the commandments.  He really glows! He is a testimony to those we teach who are struggling with an addiction that it really is possible to overcome bad habits!  

It is not enough to go just go through the motions.  We need to put our whole heart into all that we do!  Romans 6:17-18.  

Happy birthday to Cleo and to Jessie! I love you both and I'm so thankful for your spunky personalities!!

Love Elder Crandall the Vandal