Semana 67: As A Missionary, Can I Say I'm A Jesus
Freak Too?
Yo dije WOW! Well it was another
good week here in Price. Oh how things have changed since I first got into this
area. The area is finally functioning like a normal area and we have work to
do. It is interesting how we have worked so hard and endured to finally see
progress in the final weeks of the transfer. This week we found two new women
that are really interested in learning more about the The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. One lady, whose name is E#lena, is probably the
happiest woman in Price. No kidding! She is a self proclaimed "Jesus
freak" (more on that later). Happy late Father's Day as well! I love you
daddyo! I hope your Father's Day was enjoyable. Dub, I hope your Father's Day
was G-O-O-D as well. ;) I love ya!
I suppose I will start with transfers
that are always the biggest news every six weeks. On Sunday night at about
seven we were over at the branch President's house when President Leonard
called. Those unexpected phone calls from President are always scary, even
on transfer night. I got the call and he told me I will.... BE GOING BACK TO
ST. GEEZY! :D I'm pretty excited to say the least. I am going to miss Elder
Ayala a ton and there are a handful of families here that I've grown really
close to here that I will miss. It is funny how that happens in every area
though. I will be on the west side of St. George in a part called Sunset. There
is a senior couple of missionaries that have been working over there for about
six months now and teaching a lot of people. They have just had a problem
getting people into the waters of baptism so that is where I come in. I feel
really grateful that I've been given this opportunity to
just go in there and "harvest" so to speak. If there is a missionary
in this mission that loves teaching more than me I don't know who it is.
ESPECIALLY when it comes to teaching Hispanics! Latino soy de la cabeza a
los pies! I will also be training a new missionary. I'm not really partial
either way about training. I'm just going to take it one day at a time and do
what the Lord asks of me. It will be weird training a missionary who does not
already know Spanish but I'm going to be back en la tierra prometida.
It is going to be a really good transfer.
Last Monday was an interesting
evening. We went over to the Ramirez's with the intention to only be there for
a few minutes. It doe3sn't look like David will be getting baptized right now
and so we need to find the elect that are wanting to make and keep sacred
covenants with our Father in Heaven. We started talking to Sister Ramirez and
she said she has been thinking and she wants to go back to the Catholic Church.
When I heard that my heart sunk. This is one of my most favorite families here
and to think they might go back to the Catholic Church it just made me sad.
Sister Ramirez was taught in English when she was baptized and so she never had
gained a firm knowledge of the gospel. We spent almost the entire evening with
her and agreed to retake the missionary lessons all over again. In the 10 years
since Sister Ramirez was baptized we are only the second set of missionaries
that have connected with this family. They are one of those families I know I
was sent here for.
On Tuesday we got a call from the
assistants to the mission President saying that an Elder was getting being emergency
transferred and so the other Zone Leader, Elder Merrill, would be staying with
us. I was a little apprehensive to have one of the Zone Leaders stay with us
for multiple reasons but it has been a blast! Elder Merrill is from northern
California (Grass Valley to be exact) and we just get along great. It is like
we have been friends for a long time.
Tuesday was also a good day
because we also found Elena. I can't tell you how many doors I've knocked here
in Price. I would assume it is in upwards of 500+ doors and sometimes
(like in this instance) it paid off. For all of you that are members and are
reading this, I invite you all to pray, ponder, read the scriptures, and fast
to be lead to someone you could invite to church and invite to listen to the
missionaries. The prophet Gordon B. Hinckley taught, "So many of us look upon missionary work as simply
tracting. Everyone who is familiar with this work knows there is a better way.
That way is through the members of the Church. Whenever there is a member who
introduces an investigator, there is an immediate support system. The member
bears testimony of the truth of the work. He is anxious for the happiness of
his investigator friend. He becomes excited as that friend makes progress in
learning the gospel."
As members of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints it is ALL OF OUR responsibility to share the
gospel. When we knocked Elena's door she just began talking a mile a minute. We
explained we are the missionaries and how we teach about Jesus Christ and how
His original church has been restored to the earth by a Prophet of God.
Needless to say she was excited and LOVES Jesus. She is a self proclaimed
"Jesus freak". This week we also invited Rosario, the lady we found
last Saturday, to be baptized. She came to church yesterday and she should be
getting baptized on the 30th or the 7th of July! Life is gooooood.
The Prophet Joseph Smith said,
"After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to
preach the gospel." Now as a full-time missionary I wish I would have
known how important it is to share the message of the restored gospel with EVERYONE.
There really is no work greater than this. "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world,
and apreach the bgospel to every ccreature. He that abelieveth and is bbaptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be cdamned." (Mark16:15-16) It really is a simple
but marvelous message we bring to the world. These are a hard two years but
they really are the best two years. I'm livin' the dream. Vaya con Dios.
Elder Bennion
