Monday, August 19, 2013

Becoming a More Christlike Missionary

Fammm,

This week we had a wonderful meeting with one of our investigators. We taught her the law of chastity and it was such a great experience. It wasn't the material or us that made the lesson so great but it was because of the testimonies of the members at the lesson and the spirit that was so strong. She had asked previously about a priesthood blessing and so afterwards Brother Adams was able to give her a blessing. It was honestly just one spiritual experience and was just a precious meeting. Honestly, the members are what make the lessons here. They bring something to the meetings that we cannot and they can turn a lesson into an amazing meeting. She also came to a Relief Society BBQ last week! She loved it and had a lot of fun with all the great sisters from the ward. She has still been having a hard time coming to church because she isn't very social. We have tried almost everything we can possibly think of to get her to come to church and it has not been working so far. We will keep trying because we know how much she can learn, grow, and find peace in her life if she comes.

We were also able to meet with another one of our investigators. We thought we couldn't teach because she was out of our area, then we had the okay to teach her at our ward building, and then we were told we couldn't. Anyways, after that long confusion, our stake president allowed us to teach her if she came and met with us in our area and we were so excited for that great news! She is seriously such a wonderful person and so we are happy to be able to still meet with her. This week we were able to meet with her and her boyfriend (who is a member) and talk about prophets, the 10 commandments, keeping the Sabbath day holy, and the Word of Wisdom. Her boyfriend was able to help out and explain during the lesson and it was just another great experience. We are so happy to she how willing she is to give up things in her life to come closer to Christ.

I have started to make a quote wall thanks to you Mom!
This week we decided to try to make as many appointments as we could, but then focus on things that we could control (like talking to as many people as we could, meeting with less-actives and former investigators). We tried to visit many less-active members this week because there were many less-active people that we had not met yet. We wanted to get in contact with them and hopefully be able to meet with them again another time. One great experience we had with that was when we went to visit this man. He told us that he was baptized when he was 8 but then had not come to church much after that. That means he probably had not been to church for about 40 years. He said that he has a neighbor that is a member of our ward and has been consistently giving him (the investigator) the latest church news or publications. We asked him if he would like us to come over and teach him again to remind him why he decided to be baptized when he was young. He said that he would like to come to church again and that he would like us to come and go over the lessons again. We really found this man out of nowhere and we are so excited that he might be willing for us visit and teach him again! We also visited a few former investigators this week and some were very nice and told us we can come back. We are excited to see if anything happens with that and we are very optimistic!

I also feel like I learned so much over the past week. This week I have felt much more comfortable talking to complete strangers. I have been working a lot on being more friendly and genuine with people we meet and somehow it seemed to click this week.  I have somehow learned how to be more friendly and persistent. I also have been all about inviting everyone to do something so I have become the commitment queen.  I feel like I have come a long way in such a short amount of time. I know I still have a long way to go but I feel like I am making little baby steps towards becoming a more Christlike missionary.

A sister in our ward made this Nauvoo temple out of Legos.
She is amazing and does this as a hobby!
We get to go to the LA temple tomorrow and we are really excited. We have invited one of our investigators to come and meet us at the visitor's center when we are done. We are hoping that she will come and feel the spirit there! It is going to be a wonderful experience and we just want to share that with her!
About the fleas.. we got everything taken care of! Sister Caper and I have little feet that look gross still but we got the apartment bug sprayed and no more fleas for us! We are so thankful for whoever the apartment complex hired to spray our apartment because he worked miracles over here! We almost don't know what to do with all the time we used to spend itching our legs and feet! Hahaha

We have been making smores lately because we have a gas stovetop. Mmmm :)
 This week has also made me step back and realize the big picture of why we are doing this. After meeting with one of our investigators I was just in awe of our special meeting and was reminded that we are sharing this gospel with people because it truly changes their lives. It was amazing to see the joy that just a couple from the ward and a set of missionaries could bring her. Of course it wasn't about us, but we as a team are helping people see their potential and have complete happiness in their lives. I love the moments like that. They remind me why I am here and the joy that simple truths can bring to people's lives!

So much love,
Sister Mason

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