Elder H has been quite the
handful this week. We had to go have an emergency interview with President
C on Thursday because Elder H wanted to go home. Believe me, I
talked to him about the importance of a mission, and I made sure to listen to
how he was feeling. He said it wasn't homesickness, but he said that he just
felt he needed to go home. We met with President, who told him that
he should stay, and gave him sound advice; afterward, Elder H
said that he felt much better, and that he wanted to stay. Problem solved?
Nope. Last night, he regressed and said that he wanted to go home again.
He got the okay from President to call his parents. I didn't hear him
during the call, but he was really emotional and confused
looking after the call, so I assume that his parents told him to stay. I gave
him a talk by Elder Holland to listen to, which is called "When times are
hard", and the whole talk was geared towards overcoming our obstacles, and
not getting discouraged. He finished it, and didn't talk to me the rest of the
night. I've been giving him scriptural, spiritual, intellectual, and logical
advice on why he should stay, and how important it is to the people of San
Diego that he stays. Tonight, he has permission to call his bishop back home.
Personally, I feel like he will only accept the answer that he wants. I've
tried almost everything I can think of. I just don't know what to do. I keep
him working, I keep him active, and I don't let him just sit there and mull
over his problems. I keep him talking, and I keep talking to him. But it
doesn't seem to be working. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Basically, it's
all up to the Lord now.
Because of the problems with Elder
H, we really haven't had time to do much proselyting. On top of that,
G and M dropped us. We went to visit them with a member, and G
answered the door. He told us not to come by anymore, because they weren't
interested, and that if they felt like they were being "called", that
they would agree to listen then. Our lessons have been very few, and our
success in finding new investigators just as unsuccessful. But this week, we
had a very joyful, and sweet miracle.
The C family, who had gone less-active
right when I got here, had us over the other night. We stopped by to see if
they were home, and Hermana C was there with her daughter. Since there was
no man over 18, she brought us some folding chairs, and had us sit outside
their apartment. While we sat there, she made us some very DELICIOUS
sandwiches, and gave us some watermelon and a flavored drink, (still not sure
what the flavor was). After that, we talked with her a bit, us sitting on the
folding chairs, and her sitting on a swivel chair in the doorway. Then, Hermano
C showed up, and greeted us quite cordially. (I'm waxing eloquent here.)
We went in, and then their oldest daughter walked in, thus having the whole
family present. We showed them the "Because of Him" video in Spanish,
and afterward, we testified of His resurrection and love for us. The Spirit was
very strong. We were about to leave, and asked if we could say a prayer. Just
then, Hermano C asked us for a blessing of comfort. In that very instant,
I felt the Spirit explode. It was amazing. We got up, and as I began to say the
blessing, my thoughts began ordering themselves in a most beautiful way. The
words flowed, the blessing formed, and I knew that the Lord's hand was upon me.
I knew that the things that I was promising would come to pass. I finished the
blessing, and Hermano C's eyes were watery. He thanked us profoundly for
the blessing. Then, out of nowhere, his daughter asks for a blessing as well.
Same Spiritual promptings and feelings, same effect for the blessing. Then,
after that blessing closed, Hermana C asked for a blessing as well. Again,
the Spirit made me feel the same things, and the blessing for her flowed just
as easily and powerfully as the first two. When the blessing closed, she was
wiping her eyes because she had been crying for almost the entire blessing. We
then, out of courtesy, gave a blessing to their 12 year old daughter. Spirit
wasn't quite as strong, but it was there. We then closed with a prayer on the
household and the family, and left. If you recall, this was the family in which
the father didn't want to go to church because he felt offended. The fact that
he and his family were filled with humility enough to ask for that
blessing is something that I have been hoping for since I first met them. It
was a pretty good day yesterday.
Other than that, not much has happened.
In answer to Mom's questions, we haven't had FHE with a member in a really long
time. The last one we had was last transfer. And we have around 9 investigators
total, 3 of which are solid, 6 of which are really hard to find. And it was
pretty weird to get a text from the mission presidency that asked what I wanted
them to say to my high school choir. To be honest, I was
pretty...hmmm...perplexed?...surprised?...confused?...eh. Those three words
just about sum it up. So, I sent a message that I knew to be true. Choir was
good, but the mission is better. And I honestly believe that.
Love you all! Till next week!
-Love, Elder Crook
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| Elder Crook hanging onto Potato Chip Rock |
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