Hello!
So this week has been great! It went by so fast I can hardly believe it. It was fairly productive. I had a lot of great days where I got a lot of studying done and then I had other days where my mind wandered several thousand miles toward the west (or east, take your pick.) Thirteen days left! I can hardly believe it. I will be out of here before I can say Mahonrimoriankhommer. (I love being a missionary because I can make jokes like that and think that I am witty.)
Anyways, I have been neglecting to share my RC experiences over the last few weeks, so I will cover that first! I have been having amazing success in the RC, my weekly goal has been around 5-6 referrals a week. I have been fairly good at finding that many people and inviting them to learn about Christ. We are so limited in RC time that it makes things difficult; I am excited for the field when we can teach all day long!
This week, my goal was to get 5 referrals on Monday. After my 90 minute RC session, I only obtained 1 referral. Sounds like I failed, huh? NOPE! I found this amazing lady named Christina. She is a 31 year old single mom. She has a 4.5 year old boy. She is from Kentucky.
I wish I could send home a copy of the phone call that I made to her! I listened to it yesterday and wow! It is true that with the help and aid of the Holy Ghost missionaries can teach with power and authority. I don't know who was telling me what to say, but the script was amazing!
I talked to her for about 10 minutes about her life. Just how things are going. I really like to get to know people so that they can tell I am interested in their life and interested in them personally. She had SO many questions about the Plan of Salvation.
We talked for about an hour.
She shared with me a lot of amazing experiences she has had. She told me about how her 4 year-old son has been teaching her about God. He told her that he remembers watching her from Heaven, and he remembers that he chose to be sent to be her son and to learn and grow with her. He told her SPECIFIC occurrences in her life where he was watching over her. He also described God to her. How he looks like a man but much brighter and beautiful.
So. I know what you are thinking. The lady is crazy, right? No. She really is one of the most normal, straight-shooting people I have ever talked to in the RC. You can tell she is well-read and really has her act together.
Before coming on my mission, I believed in miracles. I really did. Well, at least I thought I did. I heard stories of people seeing angels and crazy mission finding stories and just thought... "Hmmm." But I can tell you for an assuridity that God does prepare people in many different ways. I believe that Christina was sent her little boy so that she could learn those essential truths.
I taught her the Plan of Salvation and at every turn she told me that I'm exactly right. She said it all sounded so familiar and had a familiar ring to it. I told her this is because we all knew the plan before coming here to Earth, we just are relearning it. She was feeling the Spirit. I taught her more about our mission here on Earth and where we go in life. She had lots of specific questions about things like cremation. I was happy that I could answer all of her questions. Even before I got to the end of my lesson she asked me, "Where is your closest church?", very exciting! I didn't even have to extend a commitment to her.
I told her about the missionaries and that there are representatives called by God that are in her area. She was very excited to meet and to talk to them. I left her with the commitment to pray and to know that all the things I talked about with her are true. I am fairly confident that God will confirm them to her.
The best part was when her co-worker came in the room and said, "Hey, Christina, who ya talkin to?" Christina said, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" her friend said, "The Mormons?! Are you crazyyyy?" then Christina said, "Hey, shut-up I like what they are saying to me, he's taught me more in 30 minutes than I've learned in a longtime."
I'm calling her back on Thursday or Friday to make sure that the missionaries made contact with her. I hope to teach her more about Jesus Christ and resolve any other concerns she has. I think she will be ready!
I'm just so glad that God trusts me with people like Christina. People that are so prepared and so ready to hear the gospel. I know it is because I am trying hard that He hands me people like her that want to learn and grow so badly.
So I finally finished all the temple-cards that I brought into the MTC! I had 6 girl cards, 16 boy cards, and 3 spousal cards.
The last two weeks I have been doing the sealings and I finished up the sealings earlier this morning. For those of you who aren't members of the church or who are not too familiar with sealings, I'll give you a quick run down.
Sealings are the crowning ordinance in the Gospel. It is the utmost blessing that can be offered here on Earth and in the life to come. Sealings are when a couple gets married in the temple for time and all eternal and gets sealed together with their family, spouse, and kids.
Over the past few weeks, it has become very apparent to me that I am not a mission to baptize. I am on a mission to get people to the highest degree of the celestial kingdom. I have been keeping that in mind the last few weeks as I teach. My eyes should always be to the Lord's and with the Lord's, looking to the future. Preparing this person for what is to come.
Baptism is the gate; we learn that in the bible. It puts you on the straight and narrow and helps you gain additional blessings when you are ready to make covenants in the temple. Once they are in the temple, they can be prepared to receive that glory.
That is my purpose! To bring people to know of their immortality and to help them achieve eternal life. Sounds very similar to Moses 1:39, doesn't it?
For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
How great a mission! My mission is in fact God's mission; I am so happy to engage in such a worthy cause.
For more information about the sealing ordinance take a look at D&C 131. It is a really short section, only 8 verses. They are very amazing and mysterious. You might like it. Enjoy!
With the remaining time I have I would just like to leave a quick scriptural thought. (Yeah I'm a missionary, give me a break) It is in Alma 38:2-5. Now as you read those verses, I want you to imagine that God is speaking to you. Also, replace the name "Shiblon" with your own name. Also, when it says "the people of the Zoramites" replace that with any worthy trial in your life.
1. Alma 38: 2-5
2 And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end.
3 I say unto you, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, and thy patience and thy long-suffering among the people of the Zoramites.
4 For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that thou wast stoned for the word’s sake; and thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee.
5 And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.
Wow! Isn't that great? I came up with that myself, I thought it was very clever. Such great things God has promised us if we are obedient and diligent. I really love the word diligence. It is something that I have really been trying to achieve the last few weeks. If any of you have any good ideas on how to be more diligent, let me know!
Well in closing, I would just like to remind you all that I leave for Thailand(aka pratheedthay) in 13 days. So if you have been feeling the urge to send me a box full of goodies, now is your last chance. I will be able to receive mail up until Monday, August 10th. After that, it will have to be sent to me in Bangkok.
Geeze, the time just flies when I am writing these letters! I wish I had more that 30 minutes to write! I have so many things to say. I wish you all the best!
Love,
Elder Brown
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