Hello all,
this week was filled to the top with visiting appointments and biking!! To start out, we Elders work out pretty hard every day from 6:15-7:00 am. The zone leaders have a bunch of weights in a spare room, so we always have something to do. But I've still somehow gotten to 164 Ibs, southern cooking!! This past week, Elder Koenig has done a TON of role playing with me! We are studying a section in a new missionary book called "How to Begin Teaching". It's all about how to introduce the importance of our message, try to fellowship the investigator and show them we care, and invite the spirit into the room. I've learned a bunch in the last week or so and we've used it in almost every lesson we've had in the past few days. I went on my first exchange on Tuesday with Elder Allen, one of the zone leaders. The zone leaders didn't have enough miles left to drive the car that day, so we biked at least 8 miles throughout the day; we were right on the edge of the area. We met a man named gene and he was super nice! We contacted him while he was working on a vintage corvette and he was a really cool guy! He told us he'd kinda lost interest in any church and he thought Jesus was a charleton...so yeah. And he was smoking these really long cigarettes, the people of Kentucky smoke anything that grows on God's green earth!!! The highlight of that day was in a hospital though. A woman in the ward got in a car wreck with her grown son and she was pretty banged up. She wasn't seriously hurt, but she had whiplasha nd a lot of bruises. She asked us to come and giver her a blessing, so we obliged. As Elder Allen pronounced the blessing upon her, the spirit filled the room and ran over my back like a warm blanket, it was amazing!
We've had a lot of dinner appointments this week and it's all so good! My metabolism is starting to slow down and I'm freakin out, but I'm still a teenager so I'm ok :) . On Wednesday, we met a boy named Kevin with his less-active, but trying to become active, mom. He hid in the laundry room, so we went and sat by the dryer and just showed him a bunch of church videos/Mormon messages. A lot of people think that when a missionary goes to teach someone, it has to be all gospel-centered and you can't talk about anything else; but it is so much more effective when you try to get to know the person you are teaching and find out as much as you can about them, just be their friend!
So I found out that I can read any email or letter I get throughout the week, I just can't respond till Monday; so you guys don't have to wait till Sunday night :) . Something else I've come to find true is something Brother Walker from DuPont told me, "you're going to be tired for the next 2 years so get used to it!". I struggled a bit these last few days haha, but I'm starting to stay awake during [most] of my studies. Something else I didn't expect was people asking so many questions! Whether they be honest and sincere questions or questions to challenge the church, we get asked so many questions as missionaries! The best way to answer them? With another question or letting them answer their own questions! It is better to allow the spirit to work within the investigator in the longest silence ever than to bombard them with scriptures and doctrine. The worst thing to have during a lesson? Young children and/or cats!! In the past week, I have come to realize how incredibly distracting toddlers and small children are! They scream and cry and throw crap and make the biggest ruckus ever when we are there! And one lady we teach has cats! And they climb all over us, and jump on us, and take away from the sprit and I just wanna throw em out the window!!
Anyways, I've found blessings and happiness in the smallest things this week. Elder Koenig has been having me do a lot of contacting to get used to it and really, the people in e-town aren't that rude. There are always 1 or 2 you run in to, and some will make it quite evident they don't want to talk to you; but most of them will politely decline and maybe even offer you a drink! On my 2nd or 3rd day here, we started talking to a man and he said, "Let me guess, you're from Utah?" and he was so surprised that my companion and I aren't! He pulled 2 chairs out for us, gave us both an ice-cold coke in a bottle, and we just talked! It is such a blessing being able to say I'm not from Utah!! And I've had a bunch of little bumps in the road this week, but I've found an upside to everything. I ran over a rusty nail on Friday and we had to make the hour long walk home, but I just smiled and told myself I was getting to walk rather than bike; and I get to wave to more cars! I got really hot biking one day, and my companion complained to me about the humidity, but I just told him," Well we've got plenty of sunshine in our souls!" Always look for a positive side to everything, it makes everything so much better!
To end, I want to say this: there are few feelings that are better than the feeling I have when I serve. Yesterday, Elder Koenig stopped and asked a man if we could help him unload his U-Haul and he accepted. He only had 1 other guy helping him and his wife move in, so they were very grateful. But it wad the hottest and most humid day of the week yesterday, so I left sweat marks all over their stuff...worth it though! It felt so good to "take a break" and help them out. He told us that he had called 3 moving companies to get some help, but none of them called back! He pulled the door up on he truck, turned around, and saw us! He said he doesn't even know why he and his wife needed to come to KY, they just felt it was right! That's my challenge this week, be that light and that saving grace to someone in need! The most effective way to share the gospel is though service and I promise you all that as you take the time to help those you see in need, it will be near impossible for them not to recognize your light!!! Serve with light and serve with love!
Elder Crow
Caught 8 bluegills this morning this is one of the smaller ones
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