Week 22 (Week 5 in Michigan)

 

My companion and I visiting Port Austin.

Hello again everyone! Another week has gone by, and it has been a pretty good week all around.

At the beginning of the week our investigator Karen told us that she wasn't sure she wanted to continue reading the Book of Mormon, but we convinced her to keep praying about it, and set up another meeting with her in a couple of days to talk more! 

Later in the week we also found 2 new people to teach, one of which lives just around the corner from our apartment, named Jeremy. He was getting ready to go to the beach with his kids, but we briefly talked with him and, apparently his mother used to meet with missionaries like us. We gave him a Book of Mormon and got his number. The second person is named Alan and he just so happened to know Byron, a really cool member in our branch. Turns out that Alan is the organist for a couple of churches in the area, and was somewhat familiar with our church, but was interested to learn more. We actually found both of these guys in one day, and it was a huge blessing for sure. In fact with finding Alan, we almost turned back to go home, as we had been walking for over an hour, but I felt prompted to keep going for just a little longer and, sure enough, it paid off. 

We also had the opportunity this week to do some much needed service for one of our members, Sister June, along with about 10 other members. We did everything from trimming back weeds and bushes, to painting, to realigning bricks in a brick path. It was really fun, or at least fun for some of us... Elder Earle ended up throwing up after trying to get a super heavy workout machine through a door, which would not fit no matter which way we maneuvered it. But don't worry! He is totally fine. At the end of the service we had an awesome BBQ, in which the members made sure we knew that the hot dogs were made here in Michigan and couldn't be found anywhere else. We kind of snickered later about it since the hot dogs tasted like just about any other store bought hot dog. But the BBQ was still very good and we even celebrated sister Junes birthday as well! 

A member said "let's take a picture of the elders all eating hot dogs"

On Sunday after church, a member was handing out squashes, and I decided to take one because why not!! I had no idea what I was doing, but I attempted to make squash spaghetti by baking the squash, and forking it into a string strands. I had seen a couple videos on Facebook about it. However it kind of just turned into squash mush... but it didn't taste too bad! I am no cook, however I have found it fun to experiment and cook for myself out here on my mission. I've kind of found the same thing as a missionary. I'm a pretty introverted guy whose knowledge in the gospel has always been nothing but subpar. However, I cannot deny my testimony in Christ, and in the great plan of happiness laid out for us. And so I am out here, despite my inadequacy, to bring others to that same joy and witness of Christ. 

This actually makes me think of one of my favorite lines I've read from the new history books of the church called the Saints. A woman named Nancy was avidly against the Latter-Day Saint church and attended a meeting in which Joseph Smith was confirming those just baptized as members of the church, and bestowing upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost. Nancy called out Joseph saying “You [are] no more than any ignorant plow boy of our land". To which Joseph responded, “The gift has returned back again, as in former times, to illiterate fishermen."  Many people marvel that our church sends out such young men and women for such an important cause as preaching the gospel. But to that I would say, who did Jesus call to be his apostles? Fisherman. Truly this work is of the utmost importance, and I am so thankful that I have the chance to further it, and bring light into the lives of even just a few. 

Anyways, not too much else happened this week, bur today is our district P-day and we are going to have the Elders who live down the street from us join us, even though they technically aren't in our district. We will most likely go to the beach, and maybe even get some sushi (if we can find a sushi place) since Elder Christiansen has been going on and on about how we need to get sushi together.

Visiting a small town in our area with the strange name of Pigeon.

Thank you all for your love and care, and I hope you have a wonderful week!

~Elder Lightheart