I am doing well right now. We had three baptisms in our ward this last Sunday. One of them was our investigator: Vely Cherelus. I was able to baptize him. It was a very good experience. We have gotten several new investigators this week, which is good. The hardest part I have noticed about teaching new people is helping them understand the importance of the restoration. Most people don't even understand what it is when we tell them about it. It is so frustrating. I feel like we do everything we can, but I don't feel many of our investigators understand what we do. Many people tell us that they know Jesus Christ already and that we don't need to help them. Some people tell us that talking about Joseph Smith and prophets takes away from the message about Jesus Christ. They don't seem to get that the message of the restoration is that Jesus Christ gives us his words through his appointed servants and that we can get closer to Him through the words they speak. It is crazy. I have been thinking and praying about what I can say to help these people.
We are getting better at doing daily contact. I think we could do so much better at that though. There are just so many people to talk to at one day. It is hard to keep in contact, especially when many of these people don't answer their phones or ever call us back.
I have come to realize that the only way to do missionary work is with God's help. We could do everything possible and it would do us no good if we didn't exercise faith in him. I have realized that it is impossible to do it all alone. I have also realized that an important part of this mission that I have been called to fulfill is to better myself and be refined so that I can be a better instrument in the Lord's hands. The biggest thing that hinders my progression is fear. I am afraid of being rejected and of what people will say to me. That is why faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the Gospel. Because without it, you cannot progress or overcome any difficulties that are placed before you. I should just remember that God has everything planned out perfectly and that I need to just rush forward with the work and let him do the rest. Because, after all, that is all I can really do: just trust in Him.
The assistant ward mission leader, who is only a little bit older than I am, is a recent convert named Patrick. He works at Panda and brings us food all of the time. For free too! He is so nice! He is taking a Chinese class, and he wants my Book of Mormon that I have in traditional characters, Pinyin, and English. It is a triple section book with all three in it. I might have another that is just characters, so just be careful to send the right one. I told him that he could use it. Just send it to me in a package.
We were locked down in our apartment last week for a day, because of Tropical Storm Nicole. It was supposed to hit the mission, but it switched directions and completely missed the mission.
Yesterday, one of the people (Theresa) who we had that was going to get baptized in 13 days said that she wanted to take more time because she wasn't sure what she should do. Her Mom wants her to get baptized, but she is in another church. Theresa said her mom would be disappointed if she got baptized in another church instead. Also, she doesn't really understand why she needs to be baptized. She is thinking about whether she should do it at all. That was hard to hear. Please pray for her. We just need to help her with her testimony, and we told her to talk to her mom about it.
Wow, the mission is one of the hardest things I have ever done. I have needed so much patience with certain people as we have been moving along. It isn't fun to be rejected, or to have people to you that you are wrong. I need to rely on Jesus Christ so much, so that I can keep my testimony and not give up when everything starts to get hard. Continue to pray for me, and that I can become a better teacher and continue to build on my testimony.
Well, I need to go because my time is about out. We are hoping to get more people with Baptismal dates. Bye! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Seamons
Elder Seamons with Vely Cherelus
who he baptized
No comments:
Post a Comment