Oh how glorious is the sunshine!!
I guess with it in Germany comes the rain. Seriously. I think it rained the half of the week that the sun wasn't shining.
Now take this as a symbol of how our week went.
You know the ups and downs of missionary life? Well, the ups and downs of life in general? I think Sister Sanders and I noticed it a little more this week than in past ones.
There seems to be a theme to our finding, and we've talked about this several times... We have an hour to street contact, go by on contacts, etc... and we find absolutely no one, until it's about five minutes to leave and then we end up having a half hour conversation with someone who becomes a new investigator.
For example, we had about an hour and a half before we were supposed to be at a lesson with Verena, and every person we stopped thought we were Jdubs or didn't want to hear from "religious fanatics"... But we kept walking anyway. It was SO hot, and of course, in the only stretch of road that there is no trees, we stopped a man and started talking with him. James is from Scotland, and in his own words, "a lost soul". He has let Christ become something that he pulls out of the back of his mind every so often. We ended up pulling him to the forefront somehow (you gotta be stubborn when you are dealing with a stubborn Scottish man...) and thirty minutes later, we were meeting with him on Thursday.
Verena is making progress. It is really cool to see her connect the dots, or "fit the puzzle pieces together" and is now making connections about why we need the priesthood - the characteristics of the true church of God. It is really cool to watch :)
We made a plan for member work - using the work of salvation and the catch phrase, "out of sight, out of mind." I've noticed throughout my mission that most members of the church don't have pictures visible of Christ, of the temple, the prophet... Stuff like that. And I have also noticed that in my own life, if there is chocolate that is visable, I will undoubtedly eat it. This has a point. The things that you are surrounded with end up becoming a part of you - if you surround yourself with chocolate, the weight you gain will probably be due to the fact that you have eaten a ton of chocolate. If you surround yourself with pictures of Christ, the holy scriptures, stuff the church has put out, etc... How you think changes until it becomes a part of you. So, we are now encouraging members to put up pictures of Christ in their homes and to keep a Family Proclamation to the World as well as a Book of Mormon in plain sight. So they see it every day to remind them who they are, and also so others who come into their house can easily recognize someone who believes in Jesus Christ. Missionary opportunities!
I came across a verse in the Book of Mormon that I really liked. 1 Ne. 17:51,
"51 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?"
We are faced every single day with people who tell us we can't. They tell us that god doesn't exist or that he has stopped listening to us.
I like Nephi's faith filled response. The end of this verse can be interchanged with so many different things:
-That I should bear my testimony
-That I should invite someone to learn about the church
-That I should raise a righteous family who will be strong to withstand temptations
-Insert your doubts and fears here
The Lord really can do anything. We choose to believe. I am so thankful for this belief. It brings happiness every single day. Even when sometimes your appointments fall out, or no one comes to church, or when all you can think about is Cafe Rio and rootbeer when you are walking for miles along the river to an appointment - these things don't matter in the grand perspective of things. They are overshadowed by the knowledge that the Lord can do anything. And that I get to help in accomplishing his great work.
Love you!
Sister Babbitt
P.S. The title of this email? This song has basically become Sister Sander's and I's theme song for the month. "I don't mind. I will come back a thousand times..."
I guess with it in Germany comes the rain. Seriously. I think it rained the half of the week that the sun wasn't shining.
Now take this as a symbol of how our week went.
You know the ups and downs of missionary life? Well, the ups and downs of life in general? I think Sister Sanders and I noticed it a little more this week than in past ones.
There seems to be a theme to our finding, and we've talked about this several times... We have an hour to street contact, go by on contacts, etc... and we find absolutely no one, until it's about five minutes to leave and then we end up having a half hour conversation with someone who becomes a new investigator.
For example, we had about an hour and a half before we were supposed to be at a lesson with Verena, and every person we stopped thought we were Jdubs or didn't want to hear from "religious fanatics"... But we kept walking anyway. It was SO hot, and of course, in the only stretch of road that there is no trees, we stopped a man and started talking with him. James is from Scotland, and in his own words, "a lost soul". He has let Christ become something that he pulls out of the back of his mind every so often. We ended up pulling him to the forefront somehow (you gotta be stubborn when you are dealing with a stubborn Scottish man...) and thirty minutes later, we were meeting with him on Thursday.
Verena is making progress. It is really cool to see her connect the dots, or "fit the puzzle pieces together" and is now making connections about why we need the priesthood - the characteristics of the true church of God. It is really cool to watch :)
We made a plan for member work - using the work of salvation and the catch phrase, "out of sight, out of mind." I've noticed throughout my mission that most members of the church don't have pictures visible of Christ, of the temple, the prophet... Stuff like that. And I have also noticed that in my own life, if there is chocolate that is visable, I will undoubtedly eat it. This has a point. The things that you are surrounded with end up becoming a part of you - if you surround yourself with chocolate, the weight you gain will probably be due to the fact that you have eaten a ton of chocolate. If you surround yourself with pictures of Christ, the holy scriptures, stuff the church has put out, etc... How you think changes until it becomes a part of you. So, we are now encouraging members to put up pictures of Christ in their homes and to keep a Family Proclamation to the World as well as a Book of Mormon in plain sight. So they see it every day to remind them who they are, and also so others who come into their house can easily recognize someone who believes in Jesus Christ. Missionary opportunities!
I came across a verse in the Book of Mormon that I really liked. 1 Ne. 17:51,
"51 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?"
We are faced every single day with people who tell us we can't. They tell us that god doesn't exist or that he has stopped listening to us.
I like Nephi's faith filled response. The end of this verse can be interchanged with so many different things:
-That I should bear my testimony
-That I should invite someone to learn about the church
-That I should raise a righteous family who will be strong to withstand temptations
-Insert your doubts and fears here
The Lord really can do anything. We choose to believe. I am so thankful for this belief. It brings happiness every single day. Even when sometimes your appointments fall out, or no one comes to church, or when all you can think about is Cafe Rio and rootbeer when you are walking for miles along the river to an appointment - these things don't matter in the grand perspective of things. They are overshadowed by the knowledge that the Lord can do anything. And that I get to help in accomplishing his great work.
Love you!
Sister Babbitt
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