I am really tired. This recent week in district meeting together we discussed our vision for our areas. The Zone is doing well, and the work is progressing. But especially in our district there is plenty of good going on. But we are being urged by our leaders to give more, sacrifice more in thanks of all that we have received and then work harder. Elder Anderson is a fantastic missionary. I've recently discovered that he gains and loses energy in a similar fashion to Elder Scroggs, my first companion. I'm glad to work with him.
In connection with this increase of vision, we are doing our best to accelerate the work within what we can do. We've seen plenty of miracles. While I won't be able to list all of them, I hope I can share some of the ones that touched me. One of them indeed relates to talking to everyone.
One of the funny times was leaving a visit with D. There was a man without a shirt that I definitely was not naturally inclined to talk to. But because of the lessons we learned, I gave a shot. We said hello and I introduced myself:
"Hello! Elder Hall here, and this is Elder Anderson"
We shook hands,
"Youth James."
We both stopped confused, and then we congratulated him for coming up with a unique joke. We haven't been successful in finding him again, but God can definitely send us prepared people if he thinks that we aren't going to pass by them. That would be a sad situation.
Together we are making it a point to talk to everyone that we see, and with it we've seen some great blessings come. I love it when the Spirit whispers to us that we've made the right choice. We can't always be successful when we approach someone, but we are simply qualifying for blessings in faith that they will come. Wednesday night was a little bit of a downer.
We went with a Brother who was recently sealed in the temple to his wife, who is a somewhat recent convert of the ward. They are both fantastic, and I related to him well because he grew up in the beloved ward boundaries of Uvalde. Earlier in the day, I think a few appointments fell through. Right before he met us in the Spicewood area, we talked to a lady who was weeding in the late afternoon with her kids. Taking from the example of Elder Black, I got on my knees without explicit permission from her, and started pulling weeds (thanks Mom for the great training.) It was cool. Elder Anderson commented later that it was the most civilized conversation we had with someone un-interested in a long time. We don't really have barbaric conversations, but he did have a point. S, the mother in that situation, thanked us for our help, and we seemed to have a pretty big impact on two young boys. One of them caught us when we were walking away and gave us some cookies.
This Brother had been with missionaries plenty of times when they went on splits in Uvalde. The rest of the night was hard. We struck out. Clay's father found us when we knocked and got mad at us, telling us to never return, and everyone else we tried by was either not home, or not answering the door. Elder Anderson and I were at least familiar with the scriptures enough to notice God wasn't punishing us, but rather it was preparation for even greater visits with the people that we are visiting with.
From Wednesday on, starting with weekly planning, we put our faith to the test. I've never had such a gratifying weekly planning session on my mission before. We're a good team, Elder Anderson and I, and we set our goals with the idea of doubling our average happenings in the past. We haven't met that yet, but the Lord is blessing us. It's interesting to see how liberating the rules are when we put our obedience and direct it at Him, instead of the rules. Then we begin to understand the application of them better, and they become springboards to higher blessings, rather than weights attached to our ankles. I'm really excited, but also so very tired.
We're walking. And walking. And walking. Our approach to work has changed from trying to be home before 9pm, to instead to getting home between 9pm and 9:30pm. I'm doing what I can to not give up before our time. It's easy to say at 8:30pm what we should go home, especially when most everyone doesn't welcome visits that late. At the same time, there is always work to do. If it isn't visits, there are calls and texts to be made. For those of you past, future and current missionaries out there, be sure to follow the direction of your leaders in specific plans, but work as hard as you can until the day is done. Then work a little more as you plan in the evening and write in you journal. I'm still working on the journal part.
Enough ranting.
B and A are doing great. B has been going through a bunch of experiences that are preparing her to receive the gospel, and I feel like we have been successful in giving Angel respect he deserves as the head of his couple. They have some concerns with the Law of Chastity that we'll address, but they seem to understand it basically. We taught them the Plan of Salvation twice: once when I was on splits with a former bishop. I like him a lot, he seems to be living the gospel. And then the second time when Elder Anderson was with me. The interesting thing is that A does not speak English. Because of that, we are using both languages as best as we can. We've even come to the conclusion that we might be inviting Spanish investigators to church with us. The Spanish building is so far away from them. It makes it difficult to make it.
That brings me to H. He is so fantastic. When we saw him last, he let us know that he would rather come to church with us, even though he doesn't really speak English. With that, I see this area becoming a little like Windcrest. There is a need, so we'll be pushing to get Spanish translation for those who attend. Whether they speak English or Spanish. We talked to our leaders, to the other Sister missionaries, and it looks like we aren't breaking any church policy. Apparently some wards will have split Sunday school and priesthood classes at times when language is a problem, but have combined primary and sacrament meetings. Sounds very similar to me.
Sunday was a spiritual feast. I got some news from home that was sad, but also a blessing for my family. The rest of church I felt energy enough to spare, and I enjoyed talking to tons of people at church as well. I'm learning better and better to have a spiritual feast at church. The evening was a little tough, but the late afternoon had great parts too.
Venita got sick at the beginning of the weekend, and was unable to make it to church. It was interesting when we were talking about her in Ward Council, especially what we could do to help her "hit the ground running" with family history and attending the temple, when we got the text from her explaining her condition. Naturally Elder Anderson and I were concerned, and we sent a couple texts throughout the day and eventually we came over. She had never received a priesthood blessing before. We brought one of her primary fellowships over, and testified of priesthood blessings. She sat patiently as I gave her a blessing. I felt extremely honored to give her the first blessing of healing she had received from a priesthood holder, while simultaneously feeling inadequate. I tried to get Elder Anderson to do it. He let me do it. The more I learn about priesthood blessing is the more I know its purpose. I need to be a clear conduit for the Spirit to say what is needed, and then the will of the Lord can be spoken. I strive to be humble and say only what I feel needs to be said, not what I want to say.
We also had a very spiritually edifying drive to and from a spiritual dinner with a family in the ward. They recently moved, but you probably wouldn't be able to tell. The father is a high councilman, and he loves serving. I could tell that he was a changed person. He allowed his missionary service to change him. It is ok if we consider our service as a way to pay back a debt to God. I'm sure he welcomes our service. But he wants us to be changed, not to simply serve. Then as we use all kinds of revelation as our guide, we can see miracles.
Being tired is a satisfying feeling when we are in the service of others.
Questions and Answers
Did you get any of the flooding type of weather that Houston got?
Well, the rain was bad and the thunder at times was freaky, but the weather got for the most part quite sunny. It was funny, some mornings we would rush to the gym in our complex to exercise, struggling in vain to stay dry, and then when we went out to work the weather would be a predictable Texas blue sky. Of course, it didn't feel to predictable.
Are transfers this week?
Not yet. I have not a clue if I'm going to stay or go. I feel like I have more work to do here, but I also feel like I could go. Elder Tews finished his mission in the De Zavala ward. Who knows?
How are Venita and her husband doing this week?
Venita is such a great example to her husband. He corrects her at times when she reads the Book of Mormon outloud to their granddaughter, but she doesn't even mind. The Bishop challenged her to take family names to the temple for baptism in less than 30 days. We have the ward support and the leadership mandate that we help. She is a wonderful mother and grandmother. She's a great example to me.
How is your patient, kind heart doing this week?
As I felt the Spirit warn me, with all the blessings there are equal temptations to get anxious, and there was a time or two that I exploded. But the explosions are much more contained, and have a shorter recovery time. I'm actually working on trying to sleep well. More stress is good if it can be managed. I'm getting better at telling my body to settle down, "and go to bed you disobedient vessel!" I am grateful for my body. We are meant to have them. At times I chastise it for not listening to me, though.
How have you and Elder Anderson worked together to follow the Spirit this week?
We had an amazing experience. On Saturday evening we were in a part of Lakeway after dinner in a few visits when I felt, very subtly of course, the need to go and visit a single sister that was on the other side of Lakeway. At first I thought "yah, maybe, we'll see." Eventually the though got more persistent. When I told my companion we should go, he supported me and we rushed there. *knock, knock, knock* We hear some loud dogs as I supposed, but no answer. But I got a further impression that we still had someone we needed to find in the area. "Ok, let's go walking." We tried to talk to some people who quickly evaded us. But the feeling kept going. So eventually, after getting the thought and help from Elder Anderson to make a definitive decision, we went to a part member family that is never home. The mother is always working. Guess what, when we entered the street, there was a big party going on. We found her house, not too far from the gathering, and we caught her. We learned more about her situation. This whole path was a confirmation to me that the Lord will lead us in simple steps. Sometimes it isn't as easy as "go to 342 Oak st and you'll find a man sitting on a curb." He's ready to be baptized." That would be cool. The Lord will lead us in simple ways. At times we can't see a few steps before us.
Last thing. I'm putting in a plug personally to y'all to avoid drinks with artificial sweeteners. Non-suger electrolyte drinks and sodas are so bad for you. Elder Anderson gets sick any time he drinks any of those. I'm learning that natural sugar is in many cases better than the fake stuff we get in plenty of sodas. I also learned some cool things about essential oils.
I leave you my witness that God loves each and every one of us. He knows exactly how to bless us the very most. Trust Him. If you have no more than a desire to trust Him, let that work in you. Alma the younger understands well the relationship between faith and us. I love my time here in Texas.
P.S. We served with Make-a-Wish on Friday. More on that later. Also, I still haven't gotten the pictures that I need from past companions and member and such. But here are some fun ones.
Elder
Hall
Texas
San Antonio Mission
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