This week went by fast. A lot of
amazing things happened and we had a lot of fun. The Sisters in our ward had a
convert baptism on Saturday so we had a wonderful time helping out with that,
including arriving at the church at 7am to turn on the water. Two hours later
at 9am the water was not even close to where it needed to be, so us four elders
set up the fire brigade and hauled gallons of water from the kitchen to the
baptismal font. The baptism was scheduled for 10am and it was amazing to see
how much faster the water line went up once we started hauling buckets and
pitchers and even a giant barrel that held about 8-10 gallons, Elder Allen used
his big football strength to move that one from the kitchen to the font. I was
placed in charge of the smaller bucket that held about 5 gallons. It was
certainly a group effort though to maximize our efficiency and water usage. As
we approached the 10am mark and more members started to show up, many of them
commented on why we were filling up the font this way. All we could do was tell
them to get out of the way so that we could have enough water to do the baptism
in. It was super funny. But all went well with the baptism. The water was warm,
the spirit was felt and on Sunday I was asked to participate in the
confirmation because I interviewed the person for baptism.
Mission Tour on Wednesday was
awesome! Elder and Sister Martino were great speakers and delivered powerful
messages coupled with great testimonies. The overall focus of the meeting was:
Diligence in using the members more for finding , teaching, and baptizing
investigators. They spent a lot of time talking about what diligence is and how
it applies to missionary work. This was a favorite part of mine because
diligence has played such a huge role in my missionary style. At the beginning
of my mission, President Cutler asked my trainer and me to recite the Diligence
quote found on pg.121 of Preach My Gospel. He asked us recite it every day
during our companionship studies, and he asked us to recite it for the rest of
our mission. This is something that I have kept true to, and I have been
blessed in amazing ways as I have sought to be a more diligent missionary. When
Sister Martino was giving the training on being diligent she referenced the
quote on pg.121 several times. During those minutes while she was, President
Cutler and I made eye contact from across the chapel, he knew what I was
thinking and he knew I knew the quote well. Elder Martino gave an excellent
training on how we can better use the members in each phase of the work: find,
teach, and baptize. He taught us how to ask for "smart referrals" and
why it is essential for members to be involved in the teaching phase of the
work. Everybody needs a friend and members offer a greater testimony to the
truthfulness of the Restored Gospel better than missionaries do. It is going to
require a lot of hard work to get the members involved the way that Elder
Martino has described them to. Hopefully with the concentrated effort of all
six missionaries we will be able to deliver powerful messages that will get the
members involved like this.
On Tuesday, Elder Allen and I had a
very interesting experience. We were in the library headed towards the
computers to send a referral off to some missionaries in Texas because one of
our investigators moved down there. As we were approaching the computers a
shorter man approached us from behind and asked if he could speak with us. He
asked us if we knew a Harper-Smith. I said that I don't, assuming that the man
was asking about a member of the church. But Elder Allen recognized that he was
referring to a missionary named Elder Harper-Smith, who had served in Appleton
three months earlier. The man whose name we later learned was G____ and neither
of us had ever seen this guy before. G_____ begins to tell us that Elder
Harper-Smith owes a second guy (D___) $120 because he took advantage of a
mentally disabled person and took his electronic cigarettes. G___ continues to
tell us that either Harper-Smith or The Church needs to get the $120 together
or else G____ was going to call the cops, take us to court, and "get the
media involved". He reminded us that "we don't want to get the media
involved because that would be a bad public image". I began to ask G___
for more specifics of the story, and I come to find out that the guy who owned
the e-cigs surrendered them to the missionaries and has never once asked the
missionaries for them or the money back. This apparently took place over 4
months ago . I tried to tell G___ that his story might not fly with the
authorities or a judge because of a few flaws. But G___ insisted that he was
going to call the cops on us and take us to court. He gave us his contact
information, but he never asked for ours – weird! We told G___ that we were
going to talk to the missionaries and find out more. Then G___ decided to bash
on the church by calling us a cult. So I asked him to stop talking and I
offered my hand as a farewell. G___ backed away slowly and never shook my hand.
We called the Zone Leaders, the Assistants, and the next day at Mission Tour we
talked to President Cutler. We got the full story and President gave us a rough
plan of action for if we see the man ever again. Pretty weird huh!?
Things are going well for us in
Appleton, next Wednesday 8/27/14 is Transfers for us. I'm not expecting to get
moved but crazier things have happened. Elder Allen will most likely be
leaving. Thank you for your prayers!
Scripture for the
week: 3 Nephi 11:6-14
6 And behold,
the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto
them:
8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes
up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven;
and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of
them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst
not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for
they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.
11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I
have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have
glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I
have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.
12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words
the whole multitude fell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been
prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his
ascension into heaven.
14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands
into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and
in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the
whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
Love,
Elder Luymes
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