Hey everyone! This week has been super awesome!! Like the whole week had something cool or
interesting that happened!! I'll just go
through every day and tell what happened on that day…
So on Monday after we got done with p-day and
emails and what not, we had a member lesson where we taught the family for
family home evening. We talked about
showing love to your family and others and we showed the video of the boys who
leave a silver dollar in the poor farmers shoes
(https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2009-01-01-gordon-hinckley-lessons-i-learned-as-a-boy?lang=eng)
and waited and watched. Well the father
of the family started crying. And you
know, before my mission if that would have happened I would have thought that
it was super weird, but out here it was so awesome because we talked about the
video afterward and it just totally set the stage for the spirit to teach this
family. It was so awesome.
Then later on that day we went and contacted a
media referral that we got and it said that they wanted a Book of Mormon. So we sought out this family and my companion
was a little worried because normally media referrals don't go to well and they
normally aren't receptive and they only want the book (which is okay but we
really wanted to teach). Well we went up
and the first thing we see is this place is outlined with a wood fence about 10
feet high. We walk up to the fence and this husky starts going crazy at us. And
being out here you start to be a little cautious of dogs. Anyway we were by the fence and we didn't know
what to do because we didn't want to go into this enclosed area with a dog that
looked like it might kill us. But I
looked up and saw the lady who lived there and so I waved to her and said
"hello!" Pretty loud so she could hear. So she walked up to the fence and let us in
and told us that the dog wouldn't bite us. We were still a little cautious. Anyway we went in and talked to this younger
family for a good while and we just got to know them and they didn't kick us
out. She talked about how she had lost a
few friends recently to suicide and other means and how it was really weighing
on her. But we talked to her for a bit
and we shared a scripture and set up a return appointment for Wednesday and
then gave them the Book of Mormon! It
was way awesome!
Then on Tuesday we went to browning and we met
up with another referral we got from some former senior missionaries. So we went and visited one of the members and
found out that the missionaries hadn't visited him yet and that his father had
just recently passed away. But he didn't
exist in our area book (which was super weird). Anyway we went and visited him and I'm pretty
sure that he was drunk when we met him but we talked and got to know him and we
found out that he is an army vet and that he misses his dad a lot. He started talking about his army years and he
really liked talking about them so we just listened. It was super cool! We started asking him questions about it and
he started talking about how he knew 4 different dialects of Arabic. And so he told us that when you spoke Arabic
you have to sort of sing it when you speak it, so he asked us if we wanted to
hear some. Of course we said yes I mean
it would be dumb to say no. From his
description I was expecting a kinda melodious kind of Arabic and I was
expecting something soothing. So I let
my guard way, way WAY down... Bad idea. He
starts yelling in Arabic and I literally jumped out of my seat! It scared me so bad! And apparently it scared elder Allen as well. It was a pretty funny experience but man was I
scared.
Then Wednesday we were in Great Falls for almost
the whole day because we had district meeting there and then we had a special
zone meeting where this guy talked about the signs of the second coming. It was soooo cool because this guy totally
knew what he was talking about. It was
so awesome. But then after we were stuck
in Great Falls because the elders we got a ride with needed to get an oil
change badly so they went in and the only time was at four. So we just chilled in Great Falls for a while
waiting for this oil change. We finally
were able to get back and we hurried over to the “M’s” (edited for privacy) and
got there right on time. The M’s were the media referral from Monday that we
set up a return appointment. We went in
and talked to them for a while and started teaching the restoration (which is
the first lesson you share with people and the rule is that you always ask them
to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized). And me being the new guy I had to do it. So the whole time I was kinda stressing out
and we were sharing the lesson the best we could but I was super stressed about
that. And she kept saying that she wants
her kids to be baptized but she never said anything about herself. Anyway it was getting closer to the moment of
truth and this is my first time ever asking. So I said a little prayer and I was like
"please give me peace long enough to invite them to be baptized"
because I could feel myself talking myself out of doing it and telling myself
that she was going to say no. But I knew
that I needed to ask. Anyway after I
finished praying I felt super calm and got the confirmation that now was the
time. So I just went for it and I
testified about the Holy Ghost and asked her and she said yes! So we set up the date of October 29th which
happened to be her birthday! So she's
working toward that date and her husband agreed to be baptized but he was a bit
more hesitant so we set up for the week after and he said that he would try. I honestly did not see this coming! I thought that I was going to ask them and
they were going to totally say no and give a reason why not and then they would
just be set back but this family was prepared and I'm so excited for them! Now the only trick is keeping them on date;)
Then the next day we had a bit of a service
project for a member. She asked us to brush her dog.
Now to put this in
perspective this dog is bred in Russia, it is also bred to kill bears. It was the coolest dog ever! But she was so big! Her teeth were literally the size of a fork
prong. It was way cool! And she started loving us a ton! But man did she have a ton of hair! I'm pretty sure I could have made a coat out
of it (No joke). But hey it was so worth it!!
Then on Friday not much happened. A lot of people fell through but we were able
to play bingo at the nursing home (which is always a blast)! I love going there
and helping out! All the people there
are so awesome!
Then on Saturday we went to Browning and had
dinner with a member whose living up here to see how the teaching is and he
might move up his family. But he's a way
cool guy and man can he cook a steak! But
he talked to us about how if someone wants to date his daughter they have to
sword fight him. Like I'm not even
kidding! They have to suit up in armor
and sword fight! How cool is that! He's pretty into that whole reenacting kind of
thing so it was pretty cool. But then we
went and talked to a less active lady and set up an appointment to meet up with
her and teach a lesson so as we are leaving and about to get into our car when
this guy who is her neighbor waves us over.
And us being missionaries, we totally went over. Anyway he told us that he needed money to go
and get his family food because they were starving and so he said that if we
could spare few dollars it would be appreciated. Anyway us being missionaries can't do that
because it's against the rules. And we
explained that to him, we then told him that there is going to be a potluck
over at the church the next day and he's more than welcome to get some food. He kind of backed off from this idea and then
his buddy next door come outside and he called him over and started talking to
him and his buddy asked what he was doing and he said that he was just out
hustling. At first I thought he was
joking because he said this right in front of us. So then as he leaves he says to his friend,
"hey man lets go grab a beer or something." He totally DID wanted to hustle us! I mean, I would think that if he has money
for alcohol he should have money to get food for his kids. So I
think he realized he wasn't going to get anything out of us so he just stopped
the act. It was so crazy!
Then the next day was Sunday and we walk into
church and there is at least double the amount of people there. Elder Allen and I ask each other "are we
in the right building?" We then
came to find out that all the Aaronic Priesthood holders from Fairfield came to
our meetings and so did the Stake President which was super cool! Especially over in Browning where we only have
like 8 or 9 people come each week. But
this week we had to get out an extra two rows of chairs!
Then after sacrament meeting we had gospel principles
and the teachers name is Brother M (edited for privacy)and he is such a cool
guy! He knows that the gospel is true and he loves it with all his heart and so
he brings the spirit to the lesson so well! It's really amazing I'm not going to lie. Then afterward it was time for the
potluck! Literally it's one of the best
parts about serving in a branch (that and the members of course). All the members just give the food to the
elders and we got so much food! Like I
honestly don't think we'll need to go shopping for food this week because we've
got it all!
Anyway this week has been such a testimony
builder! Especially in the fact that the
Holy Ghost will give you what you need to say and what you need to feel in the
moment you need it. It is so amazing to
know that he'll always be there when we need it. I have loved seeing people's hearts open up to
the gospel because us as missionaries give the gospel to people, but the gospel
isn't a forceful thing. It talks about
giving the spirit UNTO people in the scriptures and that word unto is so
important because it basically just means that we are presenting the gospel to
someone but they need to open themselves and especially their hearts to the
gospel or else it doesn't work. This
gives me such happiness when I see people open themselves to the gospel. I love the gospel so much and I know that it
brings happiness to people's lives. I
love you all!
Elder Zeller
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