Tuesday night last week, we taught the
Plan of Salvation to J. and B. I used the little object lesson that
Rachel sent me while I was in the MTC with all of the parts of the Plan, and it
really helped them to see the layout and understand the purpose of the
Atonement. J. took pictures of it with his phone so that he could remember
it, and they asked a few questions about reincarnation vs. resurrection, and a
few things about the afterlife. They pretty much took up the night.
Wednesday, we had an early morning
coordination with Hno. H., and had breakfast right before the meeting.
After that, we went and did our studies, and got on mormon.org
to get familiarized with the christmas.mormon.org page for the He is the Gift
initiative. The Church is going crazy with this initiative. They've given each
companionship of missionaries 300 "He is the Gift" pass-along cards
to pass out by the end of December. We have to hand out 10 cards per day, and
have to report how many referrals, investigators, and baptisms result from the
initiative. The Church has also purchased all advertising rights to Youtube for
the 7th of December. There will be approximately 220 million people that will
see a 30 second clip of the video. So, as missionaries, we've been given the
assignment to use the initiative in every aspect of our work. We went and
visited Hna. G., read in the BoM with her, and shared the card with her.
She said that it sounded like such a good idea, and said that she would show
her friends. We then went to have a lesson with L. We shared the lesson on
temples and family history work with an emphasis on vicarious work for the
dead. We talked about the power that the priesthood has in both the worlds of
the living and the dead, and how we may provide saving ordinances to those who
were never able to receive them. We invited him to be baptized so that he could
be baptized for his deceased brother-in-law. He accepted, and chose his date
for the 20th of December. He didn't come to church this Sunday, so we may have
to push the date back a bit. We then went and had dinner with some members, and
ended the night there.
For Thanksgiving Thursday, we had three
dinners lined up, but thankfully, (heh. Thankfully. XD), we only had to eat
two. One was practically a lunch at 2:00 with some English members that are
called to serve with the Spanish Branch. We had a typical, (but wonderfully
delicious), turkey dinner with all the good stuff that comes with Thanksgiving.
We then went to have our second dinner with the M. family and their
relatives. We showed up around 6:00, like when they wanted, but ended up
staying there the rest of the night helping to prepare the food, chat with
people, and then wait for everyone to get there. We had a Mexicanized
thanksgiving dinner, with turkey tortas. They even put out the jalepenos with
carrots to put on your torta. After we finished eating, and right before we
left, we shared the "He is the Gift" video with them on their TV. At
the beginning of the video, the kids were running around, and everyone was
still chatting a bit, not quite focusing on the video. By the end, everyone,
including the kids, had turned their whole attention to the video. The Spirit
was super strong. We shared our message about Christmas, and went home.
Then on Friday, our morning started out
pretty calmly, and we had district meeting. I focused the topic of discussion
on the "He is the Gift" initiative, and how we Spanish missionaries
can fully utilize our 300 cards per companionship to find the people that are
prepared. We brainstormed for some good contacting methods, which included
caroling at several locations. We then went contacting, handed out several
cards, and eventually came around to visit B. and N. We talked a bit
with them about the initiative and how they can share it, (even though they
don't have the technology for social media), and shared a message about the
tree of life, and how we can offer the fruits of the gospel to others by
showing them how great it is. We ended the night with visiting A.. It
was her birthday, so we didn't get to talk to her much, but we committed her to
come to church.
Then on Saturday, we had some service
with the Hays. We helped them move some large items into their car to take to
the Goodwill down the street. We then went to try seeing F., but alas, he
was in San Diego, so we didn't get to teach him. We then went about getting
some studies done, and went to visit some people. We tried our investigator
A., but she wasn't home. We tried L., but he wasn't home. Then we went to
visit a potential family, who dropped us before we could add them. We shared
the He is the Gift card with them, and they said that they don't even celebrate
Christmas, don't put up a tree, and don't give presents to their kids.
"Sad life for those kids," I thought to myself. We then went home, as
the night had ended.
Sunday, we went to church, expecting
there to be 5 investigators there, (since we had committed them all to come).
F. was the only one to show up, and since there wasn't anyone in the
Gospel Principles room, (since nobody showed up), Hno. Z. sat F. down
with us, and we talked about baptism. We testified, exhorted, and invited him
to be baptized, but he flaked out on it. We then went through sacrament
meeting, and after church, went to visit F. at home to teach him about
temples and the sealing covenant. We had to walk quite a ways to a park to
teach him. After that, we went to try A. again, but she was in the shower,
(awkwardnesssssssss), so we talked to her son and his friend for a bit about
all kinds of things, and mostly just built trust. We then turned in for the
night.
Yesterday, we pretty much did service
all day. We went to the doctor's in the morning for Elder G. to get a
prescription refilled, and at 1:00, started the services. We helped this lady
in our complex to move a bunch of furniture and boxes into a storage unit for
about 2 1/2 hours, and at 4:00, helped the H. to get some things ready for
the rain today, and at 5:00, went to help Hno. H. put Christmas lights up
on his mother-in-law's house. We then went and had home-made hamburgers at his
house. (OOOOOHHHH THEY WERE SO GOOOOOOOOD.)
That's it for this week. Have a great week!
-Love, Elder Crook
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