Hey You all!
Friday we got a call for some kind of leadership meeting Saturday morning, but Elder B had a feeling he should pray about whether or not we should go and when he did he felt he shouldn't go, and by not going he could get a baptismal date from that. President R. and others there weren't happy about that but couldn't argue after he told them he prayed about not going. Saturday we did normal proselyting and got a new media referral we thought we should check on immediately, so we did. The guy we found has been in his baptist church for a very long time but has never been baptized because he wanted to be sure to get the right church to do it because there were so many. He agreed to the baptismal date and is pretty much one of those textbook MTC stories you always hear about but never actually see. I'm amazed by Elder B., we wouldn't have found this guy if we had gone to the meeting.
Sunday we finally got Sister P. to church to confirm her. We all feel so good about finally getting her there, she almost didn't make it again this week. After church we had a district dinner since transfers were coming and we all wanted to do something. It was all good.
Tuesday we finally managed to arrange a trip to the temple, right on the last week of the transfer before we leave. Talk about cutting it close. We actually missed the deadline to go and had to get special permission from president roach to go. It felt so good to be back at the temple after seven months.
The temple trip took up most of the day but then afterward we were reminded that it was transfer call Tuesday. We called and got a bunch of calls about rumors confirmed and others blown away. I really hate it when you find out where someone else is going but you have to wait a longer time to find out about yourself. After a bit our district finally got the calls. My "little birdies" were half right, I am leaving Beverly and going into a trio, just not in Naperville. My new area is still in the city zone(i thought for sure i was leaving) my new companions are Elder J. and Elder S. Elder J. is a former AP and both have been out for a lot longer then me, that's all I know for now, I'll give more details when I get them.
Sister C. is sick today but I told her I was leaving my area after nine months and she said that number was symbolic of birth and rebirth. (Editors Note: That is false) I talked to a lot of other people too and told them I was leaving, and lots of them want me to keep in contact with them, I'm amazed because some of those people I hardly know at all.
today is Sister Ca.'s hump day and we had a huge burning party at the Point. The sister's tradition for 9 months is to burn a skirt, some other elders there burned some of their cloths to celebrate their respective check points. (Editors Note: What is this, Mario Kart?) It was a lot of fun. Sister Ca.'s hump day makes me feel old because I flew out with her and she's halfway done but at the same time I feel so young because when she leaves I'll still have six months left. Then sisters who got here after me will be leaving before before my turn comes.
After email we're going to pack up a bit then maybe do something for a last chance district activity. Lucky, Elder B. gets to stay here; I avoided Naperville again and he avoided the zone leader loop again. Oddly enough Elder H. and I are getting transferred into the same district. If this next area is his dying area and I stay there for six months we will have been in the same district together for almost a full year. As far as everyone else in the district, Elder P. and the Zone Leaders will stay the same but Sister B. is on her last transfer and she's getting moved out. That's just cruel, having someone move to a new area for six weeks then having them pack up again and go home. But then again that's how the mission is sometimes. Elders S. and Elder T. had to do the same thing. Eldder H. thinks he might have to because he's got 4 transfers left but has never been in an area for more then three.
I'm really exited for my first transfer in a new area and seeing how that goes.
Love, Elder Fields.
Showing posts with label Apostacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apostacy. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Missionary Wednesday; Witnesses in All Things
Dear family and friends,
We worked it hard on Wednesday through Friday, and Friday afternoon we experienced something that has never before happened in the history of this mission. We were witnesses to an armed robbery. We had to go down to the police station and give our stories. They caught one of the guys involved but the other got away. We got to identify him in a police line up. Then there was a lot of paperwork, questioning and talking to police and lawyers. This took all night. I never thought I would ever pull an all-nighter in a police station. I didn't get to bed until 8:45 A.M., but we didn't let a little sleep deprivation stop the work; we continued to press forward. Saturday and Sunday we did the best we could with our appointments, considering how tired we were. This whole thing doesn't help the work at all, they may have to call us into court to testify, with transfers coming up we may be in three different areas so we can only hope this will all work out quickly. In case your worried, don't be; nobody was hurt except for the car they stole.
In regards to President R., he's not getting any better. At the end of this transfer the last of the missionaries that started under the previous mission president, President H., will go home and President R. is trying to tighten his grip on the mission. He's not happy that the Pres H. missionaries have more respect for President H. than himself and that the baptismal record of 40 baptisms in one month occured during President H.'s last month and hasn't reached that height since then. The Pres H. missionaries say that he inspired them but all President R. cares about is obedience and numbers, so they don't feel inspired. President H. sounds like a nice guy and if President R. wants to see the mission improve he might try to inspire us like President H. did instead of lecturing us and telling us we need to constantly improve and not do little things that don't really matter. Don't get me wrong, I love President Roach, and I don't want to make him sound like a bad guy but honestly that's what some missionaries feel he's becoming. They don't feel like he listens to them at all. In reality he does his best in the best way he knows how and trying to be like someone else probably wont help ether.
Moving to something a bit more light-hearted I hope, in the last two weeks of every transfer, information leaks out about what will happen next transfer and if my little birdies have told me right, then there's a 100% chance that I will leave Beverly and go to the Naperville zone. The only thing good about this is that if my little birdies are right then I will be in another missionary trio. But lets wait until next week for transfer calls for those rumors to be confirmed.
Today at Sister C.'s we learned a bit about the history of the earth, how it fell from Kolob's orbit to here and the trauma of that fall is what may have killed the dinosaurs and started the ice age. Earth was baptized in the flood and places like Atlantis disappeared when the earth split. Also each of us is going to be an Abraham in someway because we will all be tested by giving up something we love. Last, Christ was confirmed a member of his church when he received the Holy Ghost; God spoke and confirmed him and then he received the Holy Ghost.
Today is a zone activity, that's it for now.
love Elder Fields
We worked it hard on Wednesday through Friday, and Friday afternoon we experienced something that has never before happened in the history of this mission. We were witnesses to an armed robbery. We had to go down to the police station and give our stories. They caught one of the guys involved but the other got away. We got to identify him in a police line up. Then there was a lot of paperwork, questioning and talking to police and lawyers. This took all night. I never thought I would ever pull an all-nighter in a police station. I didn't get to bed until 8:45 A.M., but we didn't let a little sleep deprivation stop the work; we continued to press forward. Saturday and Sunday we did the best we could with our appointments, considering how tired we were. This whole thing doesn't help the work at all, they may have to call us into court to testify, with transfers coming up we may be in three different areas so we can only hope this will all work out quickly. In case your worried, don't be; nobody was hurt except for the car they stole.
In regards to President R., he's not getting any better. At the end of this transfer the last of the missionaries that started under the previous mission president, President H., will go home and President R. is trying to tighten his grip on the mission. He's not happy that the Pres H. missionaries have more respect for President H. than himself and that the baptismal record of 40 baptisms in one month occured during President H.'s last month and hasn't reached that height since then. The Pres H. missionaries say that he inspired them but all President R. cares about is obedience and numbers, so they don't feel inspired. President H. sounds like a nice guy and if President R. wants to see the mission improve he might try to inspire us like President H. did instead of lecturing us and telling us we need to constantly improve and not do little things that don't really matter. Don't get me wrong, I love President Roach, and I don't want to make him sound like a bad guy but honestly that's what some missionaries feel he's becoming. They don't feel like he listens to them at all. In reality he does his best in the best way he knows how and trying to be like someone else probably wont help ether.
Moving to something a bit more light-hearted I hope, in the last two weeks of every transfer, information leaks out about what will happen next transfer and if my little birdies have told me right, then there's a 100% chance that I will leave Beverly and go to the Naperville zone. The only thing good about this is that if my little birdies are right then I will be in another missionary trio. But lets wait until next week for transfer calls for those rumors to be confirmed.
Today at Sister C.'s we learned a bit about the history of the earth, how it fell from Kolob's orbit to here and the trauma of that fall is what may have killed the dinosaurs and started the ice age. Earth was baptized in the flood and places like Atlantis disappeared when the earth split. Also each of us is going to be an Abraham in someway because we will all be tested by giving up something we love. Last, Christ was confirmed a member of his church when he received the Holy Ghost; God spoke and confirmed him and then he received the Holy Ghost.
Today is a zone activity, that's it for now.
love Elder Fields
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Missionary Thursday
Hey All,
I forgot to mention one thing last week; since Sister P. was a big success in converting Sister A., we decided to bring her to another investigator we have. This was a great idea, shes a true fellow shipper. She will be key with this new investigator as well. The investigator that we are teaching is worried about change and losing all her friends/family, but we know that Sister P. will be a great friend and help[ as they both actually come form the same church. Another key for her is getting her to pray to know the truth. She refuses to do so because she has a personal testimony of prayer and doesn't want to get the answer that it's true, because she doesn't want to change and has been in her church for over fifty years. It will take a bit more work but we'll get her in the water eventually, hopefully.
Wednesday we did the ear candles thing, I had more wax then the rest of my district and my hearing has only slightly improved. Thursday was zone conference. It had been a while since the last one and nobody was looking forward to hearing the same old stuff President R. always talks about, but we still tried to do our best to get something out of it. The Pres seems to think that the key to doing the work is being perfect little obedient angels. Wrong! The key to the work is hard work. Do that and be blessed. That and we are 21 year old boys; perfect obedience isn't in our vocabulary.
Friday was my birthday and it was a good day (Editors Note: I forgot to mention that didn't I? Oops). It started with the baptism interview for Sister P.; she passed. Then I got a most awesome surprise; Elder S., my deceased mission father resurrected to pay me a visit. For those who don't know what I just said was that your mission father is the companion you have who trains you when you first come out, you are born into the first area you serve and die in the last area you serve in. When you resurrect you come back to the place where you served your mission. So basically my trainer Elder S. returned to Chicago to pay some friends a visit. He heard it was my birthday and that I was still in Beverly, so I was lucky enough to talk to him for a few hours before he left to visit another part of the mission. After that we had another good appointment and picked up five new investigators. Later that day we also had some district fun. I loved the joke about how when you turn 21 around I'm 12 and that's how old I look. All in all it was a very good birthday and one worth remembering.
Saturday was Sister A.'s baptism which went very well. Unfortunately, due to complications she was unable to be confirmed Sunday but will definitely be here this week. After the baptism I got my birthday package and loved all the good stuff inside.
Sunday night one of our investigators had tickets to a theatrical worship service at his church so we decided to go. The service wasn't that great and the play was absolutely depressing. In it it basically said that no matter what you do you will go to hell if you don't accept Christ as your personal savior and its a permanent damnation too. In the play a little boy who went to church with his mom got sent to hell just for looking up to his cool dad who hadn't accepted Christ. A mom too busy for church got sent to hell and they tried to make it look good by sending her daughter to heaven. It wont be all happy when you go to heaven and your loved ones don't. They also endorsed deathbed repentance with an old woman and a construction worker who was buried under a brick wall. The only good part about this play was the reunited family and the occasionally funny lines that were thrown in. My favorite line was how the streets of heaven are lined with silver, gold, and angels with perms. This play was absolutely horrible and inaccurate. We walked out of there feeling extremely depressed. I love this church, it never makes me feel depressed.
Monday was district meeting and President's interviews. The Pres gave me the usual self-improvement tips and told me basically I would be a more powerful tool in the lords hands if I became a mini Pres-R. According to my comps I'm already a powerful instrument in the hands of the Lord. President R. was a banker before the mission and is definitely not a people person. All he really talks about is good numbers and how by being perfectly letter of the law obedient to everything he says that we will be blessed and the mission will prosper. It doesn't help that he compares us to other missions that get more baptisms. We aren't those missions, the people here are completely different. He also talks about how there are going to be fewer missionaries coming out and how we will need to work that much harder in bigger areas. I think he was put in charge of this mission so he could learn to understand people and that life isn't always about good numbers. Hopefully he will realize this soon enough.
Unfortunately with Monday being a holiday none of our appointments went through, and Tuesday only one of our appointments went through, but it was a good one lesson.
Today at Sister C.'s we talked about subcultures in the priesthood, like the tower of Babel and the Gadianton robbers. They once new the truth but are now possible sons of perdition. There is one piece of false doctrine floating around here about how Christ went to hell after he was crucified and wrestled the keys away from Satan. That was a huge twist from the doctrine of Christ organizing mission work for those in spirit prison. Also it possible to die as a spirit but you're not completely gone because your elements are still there. The scripture about Christ crushing Satan's head is both literal and figurative.
That's it for this week. The gospel is still true! The end!
love Elder Fields
I forgot to mention one thing last week; since Sister P. was a big success in converting Sister A., we decided to bring her to another investigator we have. This was a great idea, shes a true fellow shipper. She will be key with this new investigator as well. The investigator that we are teaching is worried about change and losing all her friends/family, but we know that Sister P. will be a great friend and help[ as they both actually come form the same church. Another key for her is getting her to pray to know the truth. She refuses to do so because she has a personal testimony of prayer and doesn't want to get the answer that it's true, because she doesn't want to change and has been in her church for over fifty years. It will take a bit more work but we'll get her in the water eventually, hopefully.
Wednesday we did the ear candles thing, I had more wax then the rest of my district and my hearing has only slightly improved. Thursday was zone conference. It had been a while since the last one and nobody was looking forward to hearing the same old stuff President R. always talks about, but we still tried to do our best to get something out of it. The Pres seems to think that the key to doing the work is being perfect little obedient angels. Wrong! The key to the work is hard work. Do that and be blessed. That and we are 21 year old boys; perfect obedience isn't in our vocabulary.
Friday was my birthday and it was a good day (Editors Note: I forgot to mention that didn't I? Oops). It started with the baptism interview for Sister P.; she passed. Then I got a most awesome surprise; Elder S., my deceased mission father resurrected to pay me a visit. For those who don't know what I just said was that your mission father is the companion you have who trains you when you first come out, you are born into the first area you serve and die in the last area you serve in. When you resurrect you come back to the place where you served your mission. So basically my trainer Elder S. returned to Chicago to pay some friends a visit. He heard it was my birthday and that I was still in Beverly, so I was lucky enough to talk to him for a few hours before he left to visit another part of the mission. After that we had another good appointment and picked up five new investigators. Later that day we also had some district fun. I loved the joke about how when you turn 21 around I'm 12 and that's how old I look. All in all it was a very good birthday and one worth remembering.
Saturday was Sister A.'s baptism which went very well. Unfortunately, due to complications she was unable to be confirmed Sunday but will definitely be here this week. After the baptism I got my birthday package and loved all the good stuff inside.
Sunday night one of our investigators had tickets to a theatrical worship service at his church so we decided to go. The service wasn't that great and the play was absolutely depressing. In it it basically said that no matter what you do you will go to hell if you don't accept Christ as your personal savior and its a permanent damnation too. In the play a little boy who went to church with his mom got sent to hell just for looking up to his cool dad who hadn't accepted Christ. A mom too busy for church got sent to hell and they tried to make it look good by sending her daughter to heaven. It wont be all happy when you go to heaven and your loved ones don't. They also endorsed deathbed repentance with an old woman and a construction worker who was buried under a brick wall. The only good part about this play was the reunited family and the occasionally funny lines that were thrown in. My favorite line was how the streets of heaven are lined with silver, gold, and angels with perms. This play was absolutely horrible and inaccurate. We walked out of there feeling extremely depressed. I love this church, it never makes me feel depressed.
Monday was district meeting and President's interviews. The Pres gave me the usual self-improvement tips and told me basically I would be a more powerful tool in the lords hands if I became a mini Pres-R. According to my comps I'm already a powerful instrument in the hands of the Lord. President R. was a banker before the mission and is definitely not a people person. All he really talks about is good numbers and how by being perfectly letter of the law obedient to everything he says that we will be blessed and the mission will prosper. It doesn't help that he compares us to other missions that get more baptisms. We aren't those missions, the people here are completely different. He also talks about how there are going to be fewer missionaries coming out and how we will need to work that much harder in bigger areas. I think he was put in charge of this mission so he could learn to understand people and that life isn't always about good numbers. Hopefully he will realize this soon enough.
Unfortunately with Monday being a holiday none of our appointments went through, and Tuesday only one of our appointments went through, but it was a good one lesson.
Today at Sister C.'s we talked about subcultures in the priesthood, like the tower of Babel and the Gadianton robbers. They once new the truth but are now possible sons of perdition. There is one piece of false doctrine floating around here about how Christ went to hell after he was crucified and wrestled the keys away from Satan. That was a huge twist from the doctrine of Christ organizing mission work for those in spirit prison. Also it possible to die as a spirit but you're not completely gone because your elements are still there. The scripture about Christ crushing Satan's head is both literal and figurative.
That's it for this week. The gospel is still true! The end!
love Elder Fields
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Missionary Wednesday
Hey you all!,
We were awesome in the work this week. Thursday was Sister L.'s baptism interview. She passed and we planed out the details for the baptism. Friday we had lots of appointments go through. Saturday we were very exited and spent the day prepping for the first baptism this area has had in 18 months!!! Thanks to the fellow shipping efforts of Sister P., Sister L. had a friend in the church to lean on and support, she would not have gotten baptized if Sister P. wasn't there. That is one baptism under my belt, well at least half a baptism. Unfortunately Sister L. was unable to come to church and receive the Holy Ghost on Sunday. She attended her own church one last time to say goodbye and server her ties; she's definitely coming this week though. sister L.'s baptism made me feel better because I've taught so many people now who I will never get to see go to the waters of baptism. She was contacted by an Elder T. who has been home for a year almost now, so i know that someday someone will pick up back on those I taught and finish what I started.
Monday was another awesome day, most of our appointments went though. Tuesday was the same. We've got another baptism interview and another baptism this Saturday. This person I actually taught. She was found by another set of elders then she moved into this area and we finished up the teaching and set her baptism date for sure on Tuesday. I'm very happy for them and I hope that one day I will be able to teach and baptize an investigator from beginning to end. After setting the baptism date we were booked with appointments Tuesday and came back home very tired from our successful day.
Today at Sister C.'s we learned that people with a great work to do in this life will know they have it from very early on. There was more then one grand council in heaven, there was actually a different council for every galaxy, but its pretty much the exact same plan, just in a different area of the universe. Also Governor Boggs' temple work has been done! Even in the case of people like him when the work is done they will still suffer as Christ suffered for a very long time before finally gaining their salvation. After sending e-mail today we're going to try ear candles (Editors note: What on earth are Ear Candles?) so i look forward to finding out how that works and if it will really improve my hearing. It's probably a lot more comfortable than the enemas (Editor's Note: Eww!) the district wanted to do a while back. That was just wrong and I'm glad I didn't participate in that, but I look forward to this experiment.
Also looking forward to my birthday. This Friday 21 years and legally able to brack the Word of Wisdom. Not that I'm going to. Heh heh. So long this week. I look forward to giving another exciting report of the work next week.
love Elder Fields.
We were awesome in the work this week. Thursday was Sister L.'s baptism interview. She passed and we planed out the details for the baptism. Friday we had lots of appointments go through. Saturday we were very exited and spent the day prepping for the first baptism this area has had in 18 months!!! Thanks to the fellow shipping efforts of Sister P., Sister L. had a friend in the church to lean on and support, she would not have gotten baptized if Sister P. wasn't there. That is one baptism under my belt, well at least half a baptism. Unfortunately Sister L. was unable to come to church and receive the Holy Ghost on Sunday. She attended her own church one last time to say goodbye and server her ties; she's definitely coming this week though. sister L.'s baptism made me feel better because I've taught so many people now who I will never get to see go to the waters of baptism. She was contacted by an Elder T. who has been home for a year almost now, so i know that someday someone will pick up back on those I taught and finish what I started.
Monday was another awesome day, most of our appointments went though. Tuesday was the same. We've got another baptism interview and another baptism this Saturday. This person I actually taught. She was found by another set of elders then she moved into this area and we finished up the teaching and set her baptism date for sure on Tuesday. I'm very happy for them and I hope that one day I will be able to teach and baptize an investigator from beginning to end. After setting the baptism date we were booked with appointments Tuesday and came back home very tired from our successful day.
Today at Sister C.'s we learned that people with a great work to do in this life will know they have it from very early on. There was more then one grand council in heaven, there was actually a different council for every galaxy, but its pretty much the exact same plan, just in a different area of the universe. Also Governor Boggs' temple work has been done! Even in the case of people like him when the work is done they will still suffer as Christ suffered for a very long time before finally gaining their salvation. After sending e-mail today we're going to try ear candles (Editors note: What on earth are Ear Candles?) so i look forward to finding out how that works and if it will really improve my hearing. It's probably a lot more comfortable than the enemas (Editor's Note: Eww!) the district wanted to do a while back. That was just wrong and I'm glad I didn't participate in that, but I look forward to this experiment.
Also looking forward to my birthday. This Friday 21 years and legally able to brack the Word of Wisdom. Not that I'm going to. Heh heh. So long this week. I look forward to giving another exciting report of the work next week.
love Elder Fields.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Super Apostacy Missionary Thursday
Well, here is what my brother had to say about the latest week. Also, anything repeated from Sister C is in no way endorsed as fact by this blog or by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints.
Dear family and friends,
Thursday was transfer day and I am staying with my companions. They spoke to President Roach and said that he likes me in trios. I think the Pres really likes Elder B. and he will be the new super missionary of the mission, though Elder B doesn't want to take that route. Thursday night we met Elder K's greenie; Elder P. He is the grandson of a cousin of the Elder Perry of the 12. He gets treated lots better then I did as a greenie. All he got was one harmless greenie prank and he took it very well. He'll be a cool guy once we loosen him up a bit. Thursday night we went back to the 'God's House of Prayer' church because one of our investigators invited us to teach the congregation. Unfortunately we didn't get to teach anything at all because the head pastor was there and he had a very large spirit of contention. Everything he said was wrong and we were not happy with him. If we tried to say something to him he would twist it in circles and spit out nothing but falseness and lies. We all wanted to just chew him out for being so dang stupid and contentious when we weren't trying to be. I was very angry and the spirit constrained me to remain silent. We got sick of hearing all the lies and bull he spit out, that we left long before the service was over. We went back to the hollowed ground of our own church and the moment we stepped inside the spirit and atmosphere completely changed and we started feeling better. We sang some hymns, bore testimony, and prayed. We came home feeling loads better then when we were at that church and we will not be going back to that church again.
Sunday at church Sister C. told me that I have a special mission that extends beyond my current one. That was very intimidating and I just hope I can live up to what is now expected of me. She has a special gift where she can read them and she knows them well. The district got into a discussion with her on spiritual gifts and we are still fired up about all the gift talk. I was told by her and members of my district what some of my gifts are that I didn't even know I had. When we were alone both my companions used their gifts to discern what my super gift is. I didn't say a word to them about it, but once they knew I confirmed it. They did what everyone else does when they know of my gift, they pumped me for info then they told me to explore it further, use it more, and gain a greater light and knowledge about it. I talked with Sister C. about this and she said that like I've figured parts of it out on my own, I must continue to explore it on my own. There are loads that I still need to explore with it, not as simple as I first thought.(Editor's Note: A big Huge No Comment Here.)
Monday was zone conference. We had a guest general authority speaker, Elder Newenschwander(sp?), but then later it didnt seem like he was realy talking to the missionaries at all and he lost most of our attention.
Today at Sister C's we discussed 1. When the earth split it didn't happen all at once, it happened over time and God used this to move people where he needed them to be. 2. The olive tree was the first tree to appear after the flood because it is symbolic of Christ. The leaf is a symbol of piece like Christ and you have to crush an olive get the juice, Christ was pressed and crushed by the sins of the world and bled because of it. 3. When you play cards make sure they aren't face cards because face cards are of the devil. All the different patterns and faces on the cards represent the secret combinations of Satan. So gambling with face cards is twice as bad because we know of what gambling itself can do but also because Satan endorses it with his codes. Tarot cards are also bad for the same reason. If you want your fortune read go to someone with the priesthood, it may be different but it will be done by a better power. Like always, other things were said and learned as well.
That's all I can think of for now. Our missionary work is doing well and we're keeping pace a little slower now and concentrating in our effort more. (Editor's Note: At least #2 is whole heartedly correct)
love Elder Fields.
Dear family and friends,
Thursday was transfer day and I am staying with my companions. They spoke to President Roach and said that he likes me in trios. I think the Pres really likes Elder B. and he will be the new super missionary of the mission, though Elder B doesn't want to take that route. Thursday night we met Elder K's greenie; Elder P. He is the grandson of a cousin of the Elder Perry of the 12. He gets treated lots better then I did as a greenie. All he got was one harmless greenie prank and he took it very well. He'll be a cool guy once we loosen him up a bit. Thursday night we went back to the 'God's House of Prayer' church because one of our investigators invited us to teach the congregation. Unfortunately we didn't get to teach anything at all because the head pastor was there and he had a very large spirit of contention. Everything he said was wrong and we were not happy with him. If we tried to say something to him he would twist it in circles and spit out nothing but falseness and lies. We all wanted to just chew him out for being so dang stupid and contentious when we weren't trying to be. I was very angry and the spirit constrained me to remain silent. We got sick of hearing all the lies and bull he spit out, that we left long before the service was over. We went back to the hollowed ground of our own church and the moment we stepped inside the spirit and atmosphere completely changed and we started feeling better. We sang some hymns, bore testimony, and prayed. We came home feeling loads better then when we were at that church and we will not be going back to that church again.
Sunday at church Sister C. told me that I have a special mission that extends beyond my current one. That was very intimidating and I just hope I can live up to what is now expected of me. She has a special gift where she can read them and she knows them well. The district got into a discussion with her on spiritual gifts and we are still fired up about all the gift talk. I was told by her and members of my district what some of my gifts are that I didn't even know I had. When we were alone both my companions used their gifts to discern what my super gift is. I didn't say a word to them about it, but once they knew I confirmed it. They did what everyone else does when they know of my gift, they pumped me for info then they told me to explore it further, use it more, and gain a greater light and knowledge about it. I talked with Sister C. about this and she said that like I've figured parts of it out on my own, I must continue to explore it on my own. There are loads that I still need to explore with it, not as simple as I first thought.(Editor's Note: A big Huge No Comment Here.)
Monday was zone conference. We had a guest general authority speaker, Elder Newenschwander(sp?), but then later it didnt seem like he was realy talking to the missionaries at all and he lost most of our attention.
Today at Sister C's we discussed 1. When the earth split it didn't happen all at once, it happened over time and God used this to move people where he needed them to be. 2. The olive tree was the first tree to appear after the flood because it is symbolic of Christ. The leaf is a symbol of piece like Christ and you have to crush an olive get the juice, Christ was pressed and crushed by the sins of the world and bled because of it. 3. When you play cards make sure they aren't face cards because face cards are of the devil. All the different patterns and faces on the cards represent the secret combinations of Satan. So gambling with face cards is twice as bad because we know of what gambling itself can do but also because Satan endorses it with his codes. Tarot cards are also bad for the same reason. If you want your fortune read go to someone with the priesthood, it may be different but it will be done by a better power. Like always, other things were said and learned as well.
That's all I can think of for now. Our missionary work is doing well and we're keeping pace a little slower now and concentrating in our effort more. (Editor's Note: At least #2 is whole heartedly correct)
love Elder Fields.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Too Awesome For Words
You know, I ran across this today and thought it was worth sharing, just because it is hilarious. I think I want this coloring book, because it's filled with awesome.
And for further laughs, I direct you to this article here.
Now if only we in the LDS Church believed in that, that would be truly awesome.
And for further laughs, I direct you to this article here.
Now if only we in the LDS Church believed in that, that would be truly awesome.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Missionary Wednesday
Here is the next update in Elders Fields' adventure as a missionary.
Dear family and Friends
This week was loaded down with activity just like last week. Last week in an email Elder B. told the Mission President that if he kept our companionship the same, and let him stay one more transfer with Elder H.; that in that time he could get him 10 baptisms. The Pres immediately replied that his request was granted and all I can say is we had better work very hard so Elder B. can deliver on that promise.
Last week I also did something that missionaries in this mission sometimes do that I have never done before. Wednesday and Thursday night we attended non-LDS church services. Wednesday we went to the Pentecostal church; a church that I had never even heard of before until I came out here. They are very big in the Chicago area but I don’t know about everywhere else. This church was all black; we were the only white people there. It was also very loud with random shouts of joy during the pastors’ sermon. The people there were very friendly but even so, I don’t think I will be going back. I caught a small portion of his speech where he admitted that he didn’t have the power or authority of Christ but he quickly covered that by saying you didn’t need it as long as you followed Christ and did his will.
Thursday night we attended another church, ‘God’s House of Prayer’. This was a small hole-in-the-wall church that looked run down and had very few people there. I don’t think this one extends beyond the local area. These people were also very nice to us and even let us say a few words. In both of these churches I thought it would be easier to pick out the bits of truth among all the falsehoods, but it was actually the other way around. They were both very convincing and now I see how people can be so confused. Another thing about these churches is that just like how some of the doctrines are confused and twisted it’s the same way with the spirit. Our spirit does not reside there but they do have a twisted form of the spirit that to the untrained mind and heart could appear to be the real thing. But the feeling I got there was that it was way wrong even though they were trying to be on the right path. The second congregation was very small but they invited us back and we plan on teaching them all about the restoration. It should be fun to see how that goes.
Sunday we actually got an investigator to church! She liked it and is currently working on quitting smoking. Once she does that a baptism won’t be far behind. After church we went to the south-side Irish St. Patrick’s day parade. This holiday is very big out here, almost like Christmas. Never before have I ever been surrounded be so much degradation, drunkards and filth. The parade wasn’t even that good. We had planned on maybe teaching a lesson or two in the crowd but nobody was sensible or sober enough to really listen and pay attention. Instead we just handed out a few hundred pass along cards and taught mini-lessons about what was on the cards. We figure once the people sober up a bit, the calls will come in and we can teach the elect who would be willing to change their ways. The parade wasn’t that bad actually and the pass-along card thing made it worth going to. Sunday night we checked out our numbers for the district and discovered that we all did flat out amazing. Unfortunately these last two weeks of absolute hard work took a toll and we had a slow start on Monday. Once we got out we started feeling better.
Tuesday night we had a district activity because transfers are coming and we needed a reward for all our hard work. The transfer call came and our trio is staying the same, just as President R. promised. The zone leaders are staying; Elder T. form another area has completed his mission and is going home. Elder K. will be training and new missionary! That’s awesome, this means that I’m not the greenie anymore in the zone and now it’s my turn to have some fun. Hopefully the new greenie will be cool and not a hassle. Sister B is staying and Sister P is leaving, she will be missed, but her replacement, Sister Cl is another sister missionary I flew in with, so she’s cool.
Today we went to Sister C’s again. We talked about how during the time of Christ people only lived for 22-28 years(Editors Note: With some help from Yellow M&M, we found out that the mortality rate is a little skewed due to infants dying young, and that Josephus documented that many lived to their forties and some to the age of 100), so their old and ancient men, and priests, were actually very young by our standards. The second thing was that in the law of polygamy, when it’s allowed, a man can’t just divorce a wife, he has to get permission from all the other wives and they all must dismiss her from the household. Luckily we don’t have to worry about this anymore. 3. When they built the tower of Babble, the Lord wasn’t upset and destroyed the tower just because of that. He was mad because it was actually a form of the temple and they were trying to establish a false priesthood, that’s why he destroyed it.
I am staying in Beverly for at least 6 more weeks with a cool district. I look forward to this next transfer; I will hopefully get some baptisms here soon.
Love Elder Fields.
Dear family and Friends
This week was loaded down with activity just like last week. Last week in an email Elder B. told the Mission President that if he kept our companionship the same, and let him stay one more transfer with Elder H.; that in that time he could get him 10 baptisms. The Pres immediately replied that his request was granted and all I can say is we had better work very hard so Elder B. can deliver on that promise.
Last week I also did something that missionaries in this mission sometimes do that I have never done before. Wednesday and Thursday night we attended non-LDS church services. Wednesday we went to the Pentecostal church; a church that I had never even heard of before until I came out here. They are very big in the Chicago area but I don’t know about everywhere else. This church was all black; we were the only white people there. It was also very loud with random shouts of joy during the pastors’ sermon. The people there were very friendly but even so, I don’t think I will be going back. I caught a small portion of his speech where he admitted that he didn’t have the power or authority of Christ but he quickly covered that by saying you didn’t need it as long as you followed Christ and did his will.
Thursday night we attended another church, ‘God’s House of Prayer’. This was a small hole-in-the-wall church that looked run down and had very few people there. I don’t think this one extends beyond the local area. These people were also very nice to us and even let us say a few words. In both of these churches I thought it would be easier to pick out the bits of truth among all the falsehoods, but it was actually the other way around. They were both very convincing and now I see how people can be so confused. Another thing about these churches is that just like how some of the doctrines are confused and twisted it’s the same way with the spirit. Our spirit does not reside there but they do have a twisted form of the spirit that to the untrained mind and heart could appear to be the real thing. But the feeling I got there was that it was way wrong even though they were trying to be on the right path. The second congregation was very small but they invited us back and we plan on teaching them all about the restoration. It should be fun to see how that goes.
Sunday we actually got an investigator to church! She liked it and is currently working on quitting smoking. Once she does that a baptism won’t be far behind. After church we went to the south-side Irish St. Patrick’s day parade. This holiday is very big out here, almost like Christmas. Never before have I ever been surrounded be so much degradation, drunkards and filth. The parade wasn’t even that good. We had planned on maybe teaching a lesson or two in the crowd but nobody was sensible or sober enough to really listen and pay attention. Instead we just handed out a few hundred pass along cards and taught mini-lessons about what was on the cards. We figure once the people sober up a bit, the calls will come in and we can teach the elect who would be willing to change their ways. The parade wasn’t that bad actually and the pass-along card thing made it worth going to. Sunday night we checked out our numbers for the district and discovered that we all did flat out amazing. Unfortunately these last two weeks of absolute hard work took a toll and we had a slow start on Monday. Once we got out we started feeling better.
Tuesday night we had a district activity because transfers are coming and we needed a reward for all our hard work. The transfer call came and our trio is staying the same, just as President R. promised. The zone leaders are staying; Elder T. form another area has completed his mission and is going home. Elder K. will be training and new missionary! That’s awesome, this means that I’m not the greenie anymore in the zone and now it’s my turn to have some fun. Hopefully the new greenie will be cool and not a hassle. Sister B is staying and Sister P is leaving, she will be missed, but her replacement, Sister Cl is another sister missionary I flew in with, so she’s cool.
Today we went to Sister C’s again. We talked about how during the time of Christ people only lived for 22-28 years(Editors Note: With some help from Yellow M&M, we found out that the mortality rate is a little skewed due to infants dying young, and that Josephus documented that many lived to their forties and some to the age of 100), so their old and ancient men, and priests, were actually very young by our standards. The second thing was that in the law of polygamy, when it’s allowed, a man can’t just divorce a wife, he has to get permission from all the other wives and they all must dismiss her from the household. Luckily we don’t have to worry about this anymore. 3. When they built the tower of Babble, the Lord wasn’t upset and destroyed the tower just because of that. He was mad because it was actually a form of the temple and they were trying to establish a false priesthood, that’s why he destroyed it.
I am staying in Beverly for at least 6 more weeks with a cool district. I look forward to this next transfer; I will hopefully get some baptisms here soon.
Love Elder Fields.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Missionary Wednesday Part 2
It seems he accidentally sent the first part of his e-mail off by mistake. Here is the second bit:
Sorry, the first part of the message just sent itself, now to continue.
I had hopes of being a reaper of souls but it certainly looks like I might just be a planter of seeds. This depressed me, I would so much more rather see the fruits of my labor but after talking to my companions about that, I am just a bit more Ok with just planting and not as depressed as that as before.
Daylight savings time didn't exactly help much either, that may have been a reason some did not show up. Benjamin Franklin was a great man who did great things but daylight savings time isn't one of them. That man's worth is just demoted in my eyes, they should put him on the $75 and give someone else the hundred dollar bill, either that or just get rid of daylight savings all together.
Monday at district meeting we inspired the rest of the district with last weeks amazing numbers and lit a fire under them; our district is going to try for a second week of amazing numbers. With the numbers we have now, our district is leading the zone and even inspiring them to do better. Later on Monday we got 5 more investigators and 4 more baptism dates, an impressive feat for just one day.
Tuesday made it official, I have officially been out for six months. As is the tradition in this mission, I burned a tie to commemorate the occasion. Elder V. gave me one of his ties before he went home and gave me permission to burn it when I reached my mark. I followed his request and did just that. It felt good.
Today we went to Sister C's again and learned much from her. Today's learning's include: 1. The Native Americans tell the same stories among themselves that we find in the book of Mormon. The only difference is that the good guys and bad guys are switched around, obviously twisted because of Laman and Lemuel.(Editors Note: I am going to check that out for myself) That is just another witness that the Book of Mormon is true. 2: The ordinance of brushing the dust off your feet. It's powerful and a real priesthood ordinance that when done right will in fact bring a curse upon the person or place it is done to. Things like fire or tornado will only effect that one place or person and no others around them.(Editors Note: If Chicago burns to the ground, we know who got trigger happy and who to blame)
3. We on earth are like the Nephites who had the truth from the beginning; we are slower to become more wicked and righteous, but when that happens we take it to the extreme. That intelligent life beyond earth is like the Lamanites; they will receive the truth or have it and when they get it, or have it, they will repent and become better faster, or the reverse will be true for their apostasy but they wont be nearly as good or bad as we are. My personal favorite part of this last one is that Sister C. agrees with me that not all the intelligent life beyond Earth is human; some is otherwise. Everyone else I know believes the opposite, and its good to have someone on my side. I have a theory about this but I don't think I will include it in this email.
Sam, in response to your e-mail, you may be right about the rules thing. We've seen that in the last few weeks, the rest of us were having fun and the sister missionaries weren't, they were working so hard but there numbers were dropping, we did the same but had fun and our numbers increased. They are understanding it a little now, personally I don't think the hanging out was the problem, it was the fact that we were doing it so much that was the bad thing. Like now it's P-day and were having a district activity, I prefer this to what President had in mind, because working too hard without a break isn't healthy.
That's it for this week. Hopefully you got the first part that sent itself. I look forward to hearing from everyone soon.
Love Elder Fields.
Sorry, the first part of the message just sent itself, now to continue.
I had hopes of being a reaper of souls but it certainly looks like I might just be a planter of seeds. This depressed me, I would so much more rather see the fruits of my labor but after talking to my companions about that, I am just a bit more Ok with just planting and not as depressed as that as before.
Daylight savings time didn't exactly help much either, that may have been a reason some did not show up. Benjamin Franklin was a great man who did great things but daylight savings time isn't one of them. That man's worth is just demoted in my eyes, they should put him on the $75 and give someone else the hundred dollar bill, either that or just get rid of daylight savings all together.
Monday at district meeting we inspired the rest of the district with last weeks amazing numbers and lit a fire under them; our district is going to try for a second week of amazing numbers. With the numbers we have now, our district is leading the zone and even inspiring them to do better. Later on Monday we got 5 more investigators and 4 more baptism dates, an impressive feat for just one day.
Tuesday made it official, I have officially been out for six months. As is the tradition in this mission, I burned a tie to commemorate the occasion. Elder V. gave me one of his ties before he went home and gave me permission to burn it when I reached my mark. I followed his request and did just that. It felt good.
Today we went to Sister C's again and learned much from her. Today's learning's include: 1. The Native Americans tell the same stories among themselves that we find in the book of Mormon. The only difference is that the good guys and bad guys are switched around, obviously twisted because of Laman and Lemuel.(Editors Note: I am going to check that out for myself) That is just another witness that the Book of Mormon is true. 2: The ordinance of brushing the dust off your feet. It's powerful and a real priesthood ordinance that when done right will in fact bring a curse upon the person or place it is done to. Things like fire or tornado will only effect that one place or person and no others around them.(Editors Note: If Chicago burns to the ground, we know who got trigger happy and who to blame)
3. We on earth are like the Nephites who had the truth from the beginning; we are slower to become more wicked and righteous, but when that happens we take it to the extreme. That intelligent life beyond earth is like the Lamanites; they will receive the truth or have it and when they get it, or have it, they will repent and become better faster, or the reverse will be true for their apostasy but they wont be nearly as good or bad as we are. My personal favorite part of this last one is that Sister C. agrees with me that not all the intelligent life beyond Earth is human; some is otherwise. Everyone else I know believes the opposite, and its good to have someone on my side. I have a theory about this but I don't think I will include it in this email.
Sam, in response to your e-mail, you may be right about the rules thing. We've seen that in the last few weeks, the rest of us were having fun and the sister missionaries weren't, they were working so hard but there numbers were dropping, we did the same but had fun and our numbers increased. They are understanding it a little now, personally I don't think the hanging out was the problem, it was the fact that we were doing it so much that was the bad thing. Like now it's P-day and were having a district activity, I prefer this to what President had in mind, because working too hard without a break isn't healthy.
That's it for this week. Hopefully you got the first part that sent itself. I look forward to hearing from everyone soon.
Love Elder Fields.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Missionary Thursday
This week we join our hero after a not so vitalizing trip to zone conference, where he is subjected to what the President demands and what reality actually allows. And some good old fashioned apostasy too. Yee haw.
Dear fam. and friends,
Last Thursday was Zone Conference and according to Elder B. it was just one big waste of time. The theme for this zone conference was how to become baptizing missionaries, but really all President R. did the entire time was rebuke us for breaking the rules. According to Elder B. our zone's motto is Work hard, Play hard'. Elder G. said it was to do everything you can to avoid tracting, but that's another story. According to Elder B., a baptizing missionary is a happy one and you can't be happy if you're working too hard, you've got to take some time to chill. According to President R., what we've been doing is not allowed. President R. wants to see our numbers go up and gave us permission to do whatever is necessary to do that, but what he doesn't realize is that all of the legendary missionaries who got a load of baptisms are also the ones who broke most of the small rules and had the most fun. He doesn't realize that he is contradicting himself on that point. We are all tired of the show we have to put on and I'm glad other people besides me feel frustrated about that. Personally the rebuking, for me, was water on a duck's back but everyone else took it harder. The elders got over it faster but the sisters still aren't over it. My personal policy is that i obey the rules to the best that I can but if my companions want to do some stupid activity that will ultimately not effect anyone in the long run, wont get them sent home or damage the reputation of mission work or the church; then I wont stop them. I will get on them however if it starts looking like that though.
President R. chewed the whole zone out on lots of stuff, but our district actually only had any problems with two things: 1. Hanging out with the sister missionaries. They get the shaft of mission work. They cant really talk to anyone at all unless its related to mission work, they cant do anything else much either. The only regular contact or socializing with other missionaries that they get is a phone call to the district leaders to let them know their safe for the night. Elders don't have it as hard because they can at least talk to each other. The socializing rule is hard for everyone but hardest for them. Needless to say we haven't been doing a very good job of observing that rule. 2. P-day: apparently we can't have much fun on P-day either. We must do things like laundry, shopping and cleaning house. The only fun thing we can do is occasionally in the city zone go down town to some recreational place. but officially P-day is only 7 hours long, not even the equivalent of a whole work day. If we do all that work we wouldn't have time to go downtown and have fun. We would be too exhausted and would dread the next day. Don't get me wrong, I get why these and other rules are there, without the little rules to keep us at least somewhat on track there is no way we could obey the bigger rules. So that was zone conference; one big rebuking from President R.
Sunday unfortunately again we did not have any investigators at church. I haven't had a single investigator at church at all. Our investigators are primed and ready for baptism, but the only problem is that they are not coming to church. Everyone else in the district gets theirs to church but ours will not come, and this burned me up even more than the rebuking did. Also Sunday we finally got back to Sister C.'s, shes been avoiding(Editors note: I am unsure of what word Elder Fields was trying to use) us for her new boyfriend for the last month and decided to forfeit the blessings that come from feeding the missionaries. She was there this weekend and informed us of the sad news that they broke up. Everyone thinks shes better off without him and now she can resume the joy that comes from feeding us.(I hope he's being sarcastic there) Also Dad, when I was there I asked her about if we might be related and she said that her husbands surname was C. and he had family all over the southern states, so yes, I think we might actually be related to her, at the very least through marriage.
Tuesday night we we talked to the catholic mother of a media referral. She said that she doesn't do or accept anything without praying about it first. When she said this, the spirit strongly prompted me to teach the last principle of lesson one, pray to know the truth. I am glad I listened to that prompting because the rest of the lesson was scattered with no central point. My companions both said I was very bold in doing that. I love the feeling you get when you follow the spirit.
Wednesday we went back to Sister C.'s for more doctrinal discussions. Here are some of the things we talked about: 1. I always wondered why Satan told Cain to make an offering to God, now I know it was a weak attempt to cover the fact that he had sinned and was planing to sin again, now Cain is Satan's adviser. 2: When Israel went up the mountain with Moses and got scared to go all the way up, they said he should go alone and they would listen to what HE had to say, not God. That was there first wrong move. During the time of Christ they were still listening to Moses and still not listening to God. When they crucified Christ, they didn't just reject him then, they had been ironically rejecting him since the time of Moses. 3: Did you ever notice in the restoration movie when the twig snaps as Joseph is about to pray? That was the trees acting for God to warn Joseph of the immediate danger of Satan's approach.(Editors Note: WTFreak?) I always wondered about that part of the movie. there was lots of other stuff, but again pray about it before deciding if it's truth.
After Sister C.'s we went to a zone activity. We started with winter football at the Point, went to the high park building for lunch, played doge ball, basketball and just hung out. It was fun, but nothing like this will ever top the first Zone activity with the sword fight. I spent some time with other people in the zone I didn't know as well and got to know them better. I never knew just how fun hanging out could be. I also talked to our sisters, they have been more distant than necessary since zone conference and I think it's just sad that they have decided to cut themselves off from us completely. The rebuking from President R. scared them really bad,. even though it wasn't directed only at us. Sadly they couldn't be talked out of seclusion. None of the other sisters in the zone seemed to have this problem. They all seemed very happy, but the sister's in our district didn't. Even with that, the zone activity was still fun.
Anyway, my area has really been picking up and baptisms are around the corner if we could just get them to come to church.
That's it this week.
Salutations to all,
Elder Fields.
Editors Note: Great snapping twigs of 1820, I need to talk to this boy. Advice, anyone, to tell him Sister C. may be a bit loco, and to ask for references to what is said?
Dear fam. and friends,
Last Thursday was Zone Conference and according to Elder B. it was just one big waste of time. The theme for this zone conference was how to become baptizing missionaries, but really all President R. did the entire time was rebuke us for breaking the rules. According to Elder B. our zone's motto is Work hard, Play hard'. Elder G. said it was to do everything you can to avoid tracting, but that's another story. According to Elder B., a baptizing missionary is a happy one and you can't be happy if you're working too hard, you've got to take some time to chill. According to President R., what we've been doing is not allowed. President R. wants to see our numbers go up and gave us permission to do whatever is necessary to do that, but what he doesn't realize is that all of the legendary missionaries who got a load of baptisms are also the ones who broke most of the small rules and had the most fun. He doesn't realize that he is contradicting himself on that point. We are all tired of the show we have to put on and I'm glad other people besides me feel frustrated about that. Personally the rebuking, for me, was water on a duck's back but everyone else took it harder. The elders got over it faster but the sisters still aren't over it. My personal policy is that i obey the rules to the best that I can but if my companions want to do some stupid activity that will ultimately not effect anyone in the long run, wont get them sent home or damage the reputation of mission work or the church; then I wont stop them. I will get on them however if it starts looking like that though.
President R. chewed the whole zone out on lots of stuff, but our district actually only had any problems with two things: 1. Hanging out with the sister missionaries. They get the shaft of mission work. They cant really talk to anyone at all unless its related to mission work, they cant do anything else much either. The only regular contact or socializing with other missionaries that they get is a phone call to the district leaders to let them know their safe for the night. Elders don't have it as hard because they can at least talk to each other. The socializing rule is hard for everyone but hardest for them. Needless to say we haven't been doing a very good job of observing that rule. 2. P-day: apparently we can't have much fun on P-day either. We must do things like laundry, shopping and cleaning house. The only fun thing we can do is occasionally in the city zone go down town to some recreational place. but officially P-day is only 7 hours long, not even the equivalent of a whole work day. If we do all that work we wouldn't have time to go downtown and have fun. We would be too exhausted and would dread the next day. Don't get me wrong, I get why these and other rules are there, without the little rules to keep us at least somewhat on track there is no way we could obey the bigger rules. So that was zone conference; one big rebuking from President R.
Sunday unfortunately again we did not have any investigators at church. I haven't had a single investigator at church at all. Our investigators are primed and ready for baptism, but the only problem is that they are not coming to church. Everyone else in the district gets theirs to church but ours will not come, and this burned me up even more than the rebuking did. Also Sunday we finally got back to Sister C.'s, shes been avoiding(Editors note: I am unsure of what word Elder Fields was trying to use) us for her new boyfriend for the last month and decided to forfeit the blessings that come from feeding the missionaries. She was there this weekend and informed us of the sad news that they broke up. Everyone thinks shes better off without him and now she can resume the joy that comes from feeding us.(I hope he's being sarcastic there) Also Dad, when I was there I asked her about if we might be related and she said that her husbands surname was C. and he had family all over the southern states, so yes, I think we might actually be related to her, at the very least through marriage.
Tuesday night we we talked to the catholic mother of a media referral. She said that she doesn't do or accept anything without praying about it first. When she said this, the spirit strongly prompted me to teach the last principle of lesson one, pray to know the truth. I am glad I listened to that prompting because the rest of the lesson was scattered with no central point. My companions both said I was very bold in doing that. I love the feeling you get when you follow the spirit.
Wednesday we went back to Sister C.'s for more doctrinal discussions. Here are some of the things we talked about: 1. I always wondered why Satan told Cain to make an offering to God, now I know it was a weak attempt to cover the fact that he had sinned and was planing to sin again, now Cain is Satan's adviser. 2: When Israel went up the mountain with Moses and got scared to go all the way up, they said he should go alone and they would listen to what HE had to say, not God. That was there first wrong move. During the time of Christ they were still listening to Moses and still not listening to God. When they crucified Christ, they didn't just reject him then, they had been ironically rejecting him since the time of Moses. 3: Did you ever notice in the restoration movie when the twig snaps as Joseph is about to pray? That was the trees acting for God to warn Joseph of the immediate danger of Satan's approach.(Editors Note: WTFreak?) I always wondered about that part of the movie. there was lots of other stuff, but again pray about it before deciding if it's truth.
After Sister C.'s we went to a zone activity. We started with winter football at the Point, went to the high park building for lunch, played doge ball, basketball and just hung out. It was fun, but nothing like this will ever top the first Zone activity with the sword fight. I spent some time with other people in the zone I didn't know as well and got to know them better. I never knew just how fun hanging out could be. I also talked to our sisters, they have been more distant than necessary since zone conference and I think it's just sad that they have decided to cut themselves off from us completely. The rebuking from President R. scared them really bad,. even though it wasn't directed only at us. Sadly they couldn't be talked out of seclusion. None of the other sisters in the zone seemed to have this problem. They all seemed very happy, but the sister's in our district didn't. Even with that, the zone activity was still fun.
Anyway, my area has really been picking up and baptisms are around the corner if we could just get them to come to church.
That's it this week.
Salutations to all,
Elder Fields.
Editors Note: Great snapping twigs of 1820, I need to talk to this boy. Advice, anyone, to tell him Sister C. may be a bit loco, and to ask for references to what is said?
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