Day 35-An investigator-5/02/06
I really haven't given our investigator S. (40ish year old mom of 3)enough mention. She's great. I forgot to mention that I called her after church last Sunday to set up a time to come over this week. She told me how she had thought about what I told her last week. Her main question, because she had a lot of them, was, "Why is authority so important"?
Elder Buttars telling her about being baptized by the proper authority really shook her up. Last Sunday Sister H.(S.'s next door neighbor) got up and told the story about how she used to live in Nebraska. When there was a tornado warning, the sirens would sound. Really loud. She compared us (my companion and me) to that siren. She said that her friend came to her upset and crying. She said that the missionaries had come and talked to her and she had been thinking about what we said. She said that she only wanted to do what God wanted. Sister H. said that she was worried that we had blown it with this investigator because Elder Buttars talked so bluntly about proper authority. Sister H. said later as she thought about it, she realized that what we had said was for the best because maybe S. needed to hear that bold statement in order to really ponder it and want to know more. Just as you would not pay attention to a "quiet tornado siren", missionaries need to be bold sometimes to get through to someone. Strike a nerve, so to speak.
When I called her two days ago, it was to set up a date for another lesson. I ended up talking to her for 81 minutes. S. told me how she had talked with Sister H. about us on Monday. She said how on Thursday she went to Arby's for lunch. Right as she sat down to eat, she saw 4 missionaries walk through the door. "All right, God", she said, "what are you trying to tell me?"
I was able to answer some of her questions over the phone. She had a lot more though. I told her to save them and I would answer them when I saw her. I want to be careful when teaching her the lessons, though. "Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. (2 Nephi 28:30 and Isaiah 28:10) I feel like a fireman who is asked to fill up a china tea cup with a firehose. If she hears too much at once, it'd be hard to fix. We give her one principle at a time, make sure she understands it, then move on to the next one. It's a lot to take in.
(Elder Pierce drew a cartoon of two missionary "firemen" trying not to fill up a china tea cup with too much water all at once. Drip. Drip. Drip. "Okay, Elder Buttars, gimme a little more pressure...not too much! Just a little".)
Today we are going over to her house to teach some more.
Well, the teaching experience went all right, I suppose. We met in the H.'s home and shared the message of the restoration. We didn't get around to talking about Joseph Smith, however. S. had a lot of questions about the Apostasy that we answered. We'll get more into the restoration next lesson. Ending at the Great Apostasy is a better cliff-hanger than the end of the 4th Harry Potter book and that is saying something.
Elder Buttars telling her about being baptized by the proper authority really shook her up. Last Sunday Sister H.(S.'s next door neighbor) got up and told the story about how she used to live in Nebraska. When there was a tornado warning, the sirens would sound. Really loud. She compared us (my companion and me) to that siren. She said that her friend came to her upset and crying. She said that the missionaries had come and talked to her and she had been thinking about what we said. She said that she only wanted to do what God wanted. Sister H. said that she was worried that we had blown it with this investigator because Elder Buttars talked so bluntly about proper authority. Sister H. said later as she thought about it, she realized that what we had said was for the best because maybe S. needed to hear that bold statement in order to really ponder it and want to know more. Just as you would not pay attention to a "quiet tornado siren", missionaries need to be bold sometimes to get through to someone. Strike a nerve, so to speak.
When I called her two days ago, it was to set up a date for another lesson. I ended up talking to her for 81 minutes. S. told me how she had talked with Sister H. about us on Monday. She said how on Thursday she went to Arby's for lunch. Right as she sat down to eat, she saw 4 missionaries walk through the door. "All right, God", she said, "what are you trying to tell me?"
I was able to answer some of her questions over the phone. She had a lot more though. I told her to save them and I would answer them when I saw her. I want to be careful when teaching her the lessons, though. "Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. (2 Nephi 28:30 and Isaiah 28:10) I feel like a fireman who is asked to fill up a china tea cup with a firehose. If she hears too much at once, it'd be hard to fix. We give her one principle at a time, make sure she understands it, then move on to the next one. It's a lot to take in.
(Elder Pierce drew a cartoon of two missionary "firemen" trying not to fill up a china tea cup with too much water all at once. Drip. Drip. Drip. "Okay, Elder Buttars, gimme a little more pressure...not too much! Just a little".)
Today we are going over to her house to teach some more.
Well, the teaching experience went all right, I suppose. We met in the H.'s home and shared the message of the restoration. We didn't get around to talking about Joseph Smith, however. S. had a lot of questions about the Apostasy that we answered. We'll get more into the restoration next lesson. Ending at the Great Apostasy is a better cliff-hanger than the end of the 4th Harry Potter book and that is saying something.
posted by Garden Anywhere Box | 3:20 PM
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