So, as a further update, if you are planning on sending me anything, don't send it the Monday before these dates. June 24, Aug 5, Sept. 16, Oct 28, Dec 9. I'll get you more dates when these are running low haha.
I've decided to put dates instead of weeks as the title of my letters, because the weeks are just getting bigger and bigger, and it makes me realize how long i've been out, and when the time comes that those numbers hit the high ones, I don't really want to be looking at them haha!
I am officially in the North Dakota Bismark mission! woohoo!! It's been official for quite some time, but I forgot to tell you guys....
Well, after P-day (Monday) was over last week, we went to the Curtis's (members) to dig up their garden and redo the landscaping in it, and that was pretty fun. I enjoyed it anyways. Tuesday we finally got to meet with Sis. R., a member of the Church who hasn't been since she was about 15 (she said she's been maybe a couple times from then till now.). We've called her a few months ago, and no one answered, so we tried many more times, than finally she answered, we set up an appointment, couldn't make it due to something that happened to here, than we had a few more weeks where we played phone tag, set up another appointment, than we coulnd't do it cause we would be in Fargo all day on the day that worked for her, so we waited a couple weeks, she called us, set up an appointment, and we got stuck in Fargo again, and now, many moons later, finally got it all worked out! She had asked us, one of the times in the past, to giver her son a Priesthood blessing because he had surgery coming up soon. So, having set up an appointment and being able to actually make it, we drove out to her farm (which means she is way out in the boondocks where your next door neighbor lives a mile away, if not more) and finally got to meet her. She is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met. Her son, J is 17, going to be a senior in high school, and seems very concerned with his spiritual welfare. So, we talked for a bit, got to know the 2 of them better, asked if J wanted the blessing, he said yes, but he doesn't really know what it is, so we asked if we could give a rather lengthy explanation. So, we taught them the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, how God has always called Prophets like Moses, Abraham, Noah, to establish his Church and purify the doctrine, how the people eventually reject the prophets and their teachings, fall into a time of spiritual darkness called Apostasy, then eventually God calls another Prophet, and it follows that pattern all the way up to Christ, where God sent his Only Begotten Son to Atone for the sins of the world. Christ established His church, purified the Doctrine, and gave them the Higher law, having fulfilled the law of Moses, which it's purpose was to point to Christ. Christ gave his Apostles Priesthood power, or the Authority to act in the name of God to do things such as baptism, but eventually the apostles were persecuted and killed, plunging the world into spiritual darkness once again. then, after centuries, God called a prophet once again. His name was Joseph Smith. He was called to re-establish Christ's church just as He would have it be, did mighty miracles, and had the Priesthood restored through John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John. That Priesthood is found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We hold that Priesthood, which allows us to act in the name of God to give a blessing of comfort as you prepare for your sergury. We are acting as an instrument in the Lord's hand to give you words of comfort from your Father in Heaven. So, we gave him the blessing, he said he would like to read the Book of Mormon because he has always wondered why God wouldn't have just one church, and that if this book is the key to knowing that or not, he is going to find out for himself. It was one of the most Spiritual experiences I have ever had. I loved it.
Wow! That was all for one day! Sorry it's so lengthy.... Anyways, Wednesday we went up North to a place called Cooperstown and decided to visit some members of the Church in the area, so we called the Bulzomi's (a nice old couple) and swung by to see how they are doing! they are absolutely wonderful people. The really nice property too. they live on a farm, but don't own the farm, just the 10 or so acres that the house is on. they have their own personal forest, and it's super nice out there.
Thursday we went down south to Oakes, which is technically out of our area, but we are the closest missionaries to it, so we were given special permission to do missionary work there. Brother B is a member that lives down there, and he is absolutely gung-ho about missionary work. If every member were as excited about missionary work as he is, we would have no need for missionaries to knock doors. they would know exactly who to talk to and how to help them. He is quite the man!! Than, afterwards, we came back to have dinner with a lady named PB, I've probably talked about her before, she is the sweetest lady you could ever meet. Her daughter and son in law, as well as grand daughter and great grand daughter were there and we had a wonderful time chatting with them and eating Lefsa (it's a Norwegian dish, reminds me of German Pancakes, just with butter and sugar rather than syrup.)
Friday we went to Fargo (we have done a ton of traveling this week....) for a Zone meeting, which was great, as usual, came home, and mowed the Adams lawn since they are out of town.
On saturday, while doing service at the Museum in town (we type up stories and newspaper articles so that Wes can put them on Genealogy websites) I decided to watch the funeral services for our beloved Apostle Elder Perry. And, guess who I saw right behind all the speakers?! My beautiful mother! i about wet myself from excitement! Good thing I had just used the bathroom, or I might have! It was just what i needed to get my day going even better! Plus, the funeral services were amazing. The Spirit was so strong. He really was an amazing man. And, of course, the music was stupendous. Not to toot my moms horn or anything. But lets be honest, that was one of the highlights. There is nothing like attended a funeral service where you know that the man in the casket is moving on to bigger and better things. He is going to be teaching those who didn't have the opportunity to hear the Gospel in this life, and he is going to be an outstanding missionary there! We will miss him very much, but only for a short period of time, because we will all be able to see him again.
At the end of the day, we had a lesson with AL, the guy with crazy ideas, including the end of the world in the near future. We actually had a pretty good lesson! We got to do a lot more talking than usual, and we talked to him about truth, and the source of truth. He believes that when you are sure of something, it means you are wrong, so once he becomes sure of something, he changes direction, which explains why he has so many weird Ideas. But, despite his quarks, I can't help but love the guy. It's pretty strange, but I love him to death. I want hiim to have the piece that I have from knowing this is Christ's church, and I hope that we can make some progress.
Sunday we taught Gospel Principles class. that's about all that happened to report on Sunday haha.
Well, that's it for me.
Love you all!
Elder Carter V
No comments:
Post a Comment