Missionary Friday

Yet another letter from Elder Field's travels and adventures in the Chicago South Mission. Disclaimer: Any doctrinal idea posted in this letter is not necessarily the belief of this blog's owner and the owner claims no responsibility for the contents of the letter if proven to be doctrinally incorrect.

Hey Ya'll,
To start, last P-day was for the most part one of the better P-days of my mission. We had an all day district activity that started with us going over to Sister C.'s home to discuss some deep doctrine. She really knows her stuff, she knows people very well also, she understands stuff that nobody else does and I think she may have the gift of discernment. I learned a lot from our little discussion with her. Here's a small sample of some of the stuff I learned from her. She and Elder K. apprently both died once; though he never went through the tunnel, she did and he wanted to know what that was like. She said that the feeling of death was like a cold sheet being pulled over you on a hot winter's night and when you look through the sheet at your body, you're repulsed. When you see the tunnel, you are more than happy to go through in most cases. When you get to the other side, you are greeted first by those who have gone before you. One woman on the other side asked her about her father and what he was like now, Sister C. said, and when she got back she talked to her father and she saw a picture of his mom who had died in child birth and never knew her son. She said that was the woman from the other side. After that, she said you don't go up to St. Peter at a big golden gate as is always depicted in the movies, but the real thing is quite dull and nothing special at all. It's just some random guy at a desk in front of a door who doesn't know you at all. he asks you who you are and how you died, if your name is not in the book he will usually tell you as he did to her that it's not your time and sends you back to your body. This was her experience, I'm not sure if that's what everyone goes through or if it was just her own experience but now you know a little bit more about what it could actually be like.
Next on thee list of unofficial doctrine, Sister C. thinks that Adam and Eve could have resisted temptation and that if they had, that was God's plan all along and God would have eventually have let them eat the fruit anyway, but instead they are viewed as bad guys to the world. We all know we would still need the atonement either way though. I also learned what it means to have my calling and election made sure. I never really understood that until now. there was loads of other good stuff spoken about, but I don't want to fill this email with just that. She told us at the end to pray about it all before excepting any of it as truth, I leave that to you to do the same if you wish.
After visiting Sister C. we went to do email. I felt so terrible about everything that was said in the past weeks that it almost ruined the rest of my day, but this week I got some uplifting emails that made me feel better about everything that was said before in my e-mails.
After sending email we took the metro (we know from experience that it is impossible to find parking anywhere downtown) to the world famous Chicago auto show. It was such an awesome experience to be able to see all of next years models before they reached the market, and also last years classics that are no longer available. There were loads of amazing cars and features to behold. My favorite part was the Transformers exhibit. They had the stars of the second movie there. I loved Sideswipe, the stingray model; that car wont even be out next year. They had three other stars there and gave a sneak preview that we were told would only be gotten here. In Transformer's: Revenge of the Fallen, its up to Bumblebee, Sideswipe, and the three other young Transformers to save the day when Megatron returns with a Vengeance. The movie comes out in June by the way and although I am excited for it but woes of me, I am also sad because I will have to wait an additional 15 months to see it. Oh well, just have to keep my mind on the work and I will be watching that movie in no time. After the car show was the best part of the day. While we were waiting for the metro to take us back home we did some street contacts with those who were also waiting. I must have taught at least three lessons with commitments included, that's about as much as a normal day and on a P-day that's unheard of. Enough about P-day though, you probably want to hear about the rest of my week.
Last Thursday and Friday were more of the same and more of it. Our trio is so much more dedicated than my last companionship and we are being rewarded, we were overbooked this week with both member and nonmember appointments, we are getting fed lots more and are even having to reschedule some appointments due to overbooking. Saturday I taught a woman and she told me I spoke with spirit and zeal and loved to hear from me! Talk about an ego booster that's a very big compliment! Monday we were able to recontact an old lost investigator, a media referral Elder C. and I found. We lost her for a time but now she's back and wants to be baptized. We are getting more and more baptism dates and I know that this one, unlike some others I have less confidence in but still hope for, will be baptized.
After a week like this i really cant be down on myself, I realize that I am doing just as much work as my companions are and the fruits of our labors are split evenly between us. I am doing just as good a job as they are and I really don't need to worry about feelings of inadequacy. My hard work is finally paying off. I just hope that the baptism dates go through this transfer or through the first part of next because I'm about 99% sure I will be leaving.
That's about it for this installment of Fields mission emails. Tune in next week for another exiting episode.

Sincerely,
Elder Fields