MTE or Missionary Training Exchanges

This week has actually been quite a bit better than the last. We've actually had people stop and listen to us on the street, even though we didn't get return appointments with many of them. We had MTE's this week, or Missionary Training Exchanges, and we had someone come into our area with us to help out in the work. Elder Y was his name, and we were a trio for a day. We started street contacting, and he would just introduce himself and ask the person's name right off the bat. And it worked really well. People started listening to us more than they did with just Elder T and me. And as we worked, we got down away from our apartment, and Elder Y had to use the bathroom. So we went to a Carl's Jr. nearby, and while he was in the bathroom, I noticed this man with a Sharp's hospital folder. I intended to ask him about it with the intention of trying to talk about the gospel in relation to whatever ilness he had, but before I could get a word out, he asked what church we were from. After introducing the name of the Church, he asked if we were a Christian faith. We said we were, and he asked what made us different from everyone else. After explaining about the Book of Mormon, and the fact that we have a Prophet nowadays, he asked us to tell him more, because he doesn't like his church at the moment. We taught the basics of the Restoration, and walked with him to the hospital, which was just down the street. As we taught him, he asked more questions, (the good kind) and promised us that he would read the Book of Mormon as he waited at the hospital. And when we got there, he gave us his information, his friend's information from the same church, and his family's information. And his family lives in Cuba. SAWEET. And then we found out that he's not in our area. It was a bummer. But we were able to talk to a lot of people and teach some powerful lessons. We've tried to contact a few of the people who we talked to, but we haven't had much success with them.

My plans for Thanksgiving? We don't have any right now. For all I know, I might be getting transferred the day before Thanksgiving. So who knows? Hopefully if I stay, we'll have an eating appointment with a member family. And if I get transferred, then hopefully there's still an eating appointment.

 

The missionary work is going well, for the most part. As far as teaching lessons in member's homes, or teaching investigators in their OWN homes, we haven't had much success. But we've been able to plant many seeds, and hopefully someone else down the road will be able to reap those fruits. 

 

J and C still have their baptismal date, but we're in between a rock and a hard place. Every investigator needs to attend church at LEAST three times before baptism, in order to feel the Spirit, partake of the sacrament, and get to know the people in the ward. And if they cannot make it to church because of health reasons, (which is the case of J and C), then they need strong fellowship from the ward, and our members haven't been the best at doing that.

Have a great week!

-Love, Elder Crook