Monday, June 18, 2012

Semana 67: As A Missionary, Can I Say I'm A Jesus Freak Too?



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

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