Hello!
Boy this week was fun! Ups and downs: the whole nine yards.
On Tuesday we were on exchanges with the Assistants and We had an interaction with a young man who claimed to be Atheist (In my experience there is no such thing. Only a mere denial of what the heart truly knows to be true). He really was a character. He wasn't very interested at all and he wouldn't accept our invitation to find out for himself if it's true. Oh well. It was just so sad to meet him and talk with him because He truly wanted to not believe. He had grown up Christian but somewhere down the line I guess something happened and he lost his faith entirely. It pains me to see that. Someone so unsure of their way through life and so unwilling to make the effort to grab the hand that can help him through.
I share that with you, I suppose, to urge you to not to lose faith. what ever is going on can be overcome, and whatever will come your way can be endured, and endured well I might add, as you follow the steady hand of our Father in Heaven.
Anyways! we met with Skicap! and talked about the Word of Wisdom! His inactive member roommate came out half way though the lesson and asked, "What are we talking about today?" -The Word of Wisdom. "Yes! I LOVE this part! This is the best! The five words of wisdom man!" So it was good to have his support. And at the end of the meeting he poured out his drink and said he was going to start living it again! Sweet!
Later during that day we met a girl who spoke french. Gahh! my french! WHERE has it gone?!
so sad...
Thursday night we were contacting people and we met a woman on her way out of her home and we struck up a conversation. It turned out that she was moving the next day, and we offered our help. She said no, but after we explained that we are representatives of Jesus Christ and all we do for two years is talk to people about Christ and do service, she accepted. So on Friday, we (and a couple other missionaries) helped her and moved her stuff to her new home. She was so grateful. "You are such blessings! I don't know how you fit all of that in the Uhaul. It's simply miraculous." It was such a great experience.
Later Friday evening we were walking around and we met these four young boys. They were just hanging around, so we sat down with them and talked about the Book of Mormon. At the end of our meeting they each said a prayer asking Heavenly Father if the book is true. Such a wonderful experience to hear from these 13-14year old boys their desire, much like the boy Joseph Smith's, to know what way to go.
Saturday we were blessed to be able to speak with four different Spanish families. It sure was fun. I don't know how they understood a word I said, but I suppose the lord blessed them with the interpretation of tongues. We didn't even have Spanish Scriptures with us. Oy...
Sunday (Superbowl) was pretty good. It was amazing to see the city slow down when the game was on. The streets were empty. The houses were dark, accept for one on the street where you could hear cheers and laughing every time a goal was scored. Not too many people were interested in speaking with us while the game was on. Oh well.
Something that I keep finding interesting is the people that we meet who say, "Oh that's OK. We don't need to talk to you. We have friends who are Mormons, so we're good." That is such a silly thing to say. I think of it this way: If a person is sick and a doctor comes and says, "Here: If you use your medicine and follow this diet you will be well on the way to recovery." And the sick person replies, "Oh that's OK. We don't need to talk to you: we have friends who aren't sick, so we're good."... Do you see where I have a little bit of a disconnect? We met so many people this week who said that.
Anyways. The work continues to move forward. No unhallowed hand can hinder it! Thank you all for your prayers and support and love. You keep me sane.
I love you all!
More than you'll probably know.
Be well! Stay happy. Be strong!
Catch you later
-Elder Barker
No comments:
Post a Comment