Day 106-Faith Without Works and Saying Goodbye-7-12-06
S said that her preacher sounded scary on the phone. “He didn’t sound humble like you guys.” We told S that we would remember her in our prayers.
We told S about Elder Davis’ transfer. S said, “Oh you guys! You can’t keep doing this to me! I don’t handle change very well. I don’t know what I’ll do when Elder Pierce leaves because I’ve been with him the longest. (I don’t know either. I can’t picture leaving S now.) I told S about my new companion that is coming tomorrow, Elder Pierce. She thought that was funny. Something tells me the novelty of it will wear off after a couple of weeks.
As we were leaving, S asked, “Elders, one more question. I’ve been thinking about faith and works. I’ve been trying to understand what you’ve told me about it. I’m trying to make sense of it in my mind.”
I’ve been meaning to talk about faith and works in my journal since Day 50. I’d planned on have a long discussion on the subject including such scriptures as James 2: 14-26, Revelation 20:12-13 and Revelation 22:12.
I am thinking back to those church talks my mother e-mailed me. One line really stuck out to me from a talk by Dallin H. Oakes, “Are you Saved By Grace or Works.” I told S that, “while works are necessary for salvation, they aren’t sufficient.” S said, “Wow, that’s really profound.” I told her, “Well, it’s not my saying. It came from an Apostle of the Lord, Elder Dallin H. Oakes.” S did say that it helped her to understand that we need to do more than just accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior to gain salvation. Other great scriptures on faith and works are, Matthew 7:21, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Nephi 25:23, Mosiah 13:28, Alma 42:23 and Moroni 10:32-33.
Before we left S remembered that her daughter had made us some cookies. Her daughter is so nice. We’re going to write a thank you not to the W. family thanking S, S and D for the kindness that they have shown us and the veiled hostility we’ve received from S’s husband (just kidding!). Maybe we’ll leave off the part about the husband (wink). He can be nice. It’ just that he has people telling him half-truths and down right lies about what we believe. It’s hard to hear the still small voice through all of that, I guess.
I had so much fun teaching S today. There’s nothing else I’d have rather done. Of course, p-day is practically over. It’s already 4:30.
We still need to go check our emails. ( NOTE: P-day is the one day a week that the missionaries have to just hang out. They sometimes go play basketball or some other activity with other elders in their district. This is the day that they do laundry, go to the store and write letters and answer e-mail.) Elder Davis said he’d burn me some CD’s today. I really only want the songs and remixes that are his. Elder Davis originals.
Words from my departing companion, Elder Davis:
“Well, brother, it’s been a blast. It’s been just one short, short transfer with the whole “mulberry/arm” situation. You are a very intelligent person whom I respect greatly. Continue to stick to your morals and standards and you will succeed in everything that you set yourself to. Take great care of Herndon and all of your future areas. Please keep in touch with me. I hope that we continue to stay in contact throughout our lives. I’ve learned a lot from you. I’ve particularly enjoyed our times when we were just brainstorming about comedic situations. Good luck with Elder Pierce2, too, also…That you for putting up with my inability to pick things up. You helped me out a lot. Adios. Look for my music. I’ll be out there. Keep it up, superstar!”
I can’t remember how much I have talked about Elder Davis, The Man behind the Music. He was born of goodly parents. He is the youngest of three. Everybody tells him that his dad looks a lot like Dustin Hoffman. Elder Davis was raised in CA. He loves to break dance (when his arms aren’t broken). He also loves music and wants to be a songwriter when he finishes his mission.
He said that when he was growing up, he was a rebel without a clue. He wasn’t sure if he would serve a mission or not. He wasn’t even sure if God was there. He prayed and asked Heavenly Father if He was there to show him a sign. He felt prompted to open his scriptures. The first scripture that caught his eye was Alma 32:17. “Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe. 18 Now I ask, is this faith? Never did a passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of Elder Davis than that did at that time to him. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of his heart. He had asked God to show him a sign and was led to read Alma 32:17-18.
You are a great companion, Elder Davis! In looking back on our time together, I remember fondly the Herndon festival (day 67), the temple conference, (day 77), day of the mulberry II (day86) taking S to the visitors center (day 91) getting our car, Maddie(day 93), meeting our new mission president (day 97) S at the pancake breakfast (day 98) and all of the other fun things in-between!
It is not 6:00pm. P-day is almost over. I’m a little concerned that I won’t be able to check my e-mails today. We’re not home right now. For the past 4 hours we’ve been at a member’s house in another ward with the Zone Leaders. Elder Davis, Elder Goodrich, and Elder Spencer are over here using the recording studio to make a missionary rap. They began this project on (day 85). I took that day to write down my certification requirements. Today they are putting on the finishing touches.
Well, the ZL’s just left. They gave Elder Davis express permission to continue the work without them. They already recorded their parts. All that is left now is for Elder Davis to arrange all of the voice tracks and the music tracks together. Simple, huh?
It’s 7:30pm. Elder Davis is still working on the cd for the zl’s. So, having nothing better to do, I’m going to draw some funny cartoons. (Elder Pierce drew a cartoon of two men talking. One man says to the other, “My dog has no nose”. “How does he smell?” “Awful.”)
We didn’t end up leaving until 8:40pm. (On the plus side, they finished the CD and it only took up 6 hours and 40 minutes of our P-day. Sigh.)
It’s now time for bed. I haven’t checked my e-mails. I’ll try and do it tomorrow with Elder Pierce during our lunch break. I didn’t get a copy of the CD. Elder Davis said that he would make copies in his new area and try to get them to me somehow. I’m not worried. It’s been a busy day. We didn’t hear back from S tonight about how her non-denominational church meeting in her home. I hope she is doing okay. Maybe Elder Pierce and I will stop by her house tomorrow and see how it went.
It just occurred to me…when Elder Davis leaves tomorrow, there goes Maddie. You know what that means…back to bikes. Good bye Maddie. It was fun while it lasted.
We told S about Elder Davis’ transfer. S said, “Oh you guys! You can’t keep doing this to me! I don’t handle change very well. I don’t know what I’ll do when Elder Pierce leaves because I’ve been with him the longest. (I don’t know either. I can’t picture leaving S now.) I told S about my new companion that is coming tomorrow, Elder Pierce. She thought that was funny. Something tells me the novelty of it will wear off after a couple of weeks.
As we were leaving, S asked, “Elders, one more question. I’ve been thinking about faith and works. I’ve been trying to understand what you’ve told me about it. I’m trying to make sense of it in my mind.”
I’ve been meaning to talk about faith and works in my journal since Day 50. I’d planned on have a long discussion on the subject including such scriptures as James 2: 14-26, Revelation 20:12-13 and Revelation 22:12.
I am thinking back to those church talks my mother e-mailed me. One line really stuck out to me from a talk by Dallin H. Oakes, “Are you Saved By Grace or Works.” I told S that, “while works are necessary for salvation, they aren’t sufficient.” S said, “Wow, that’s really profound.” I told her, “Well, it’s not my saying. It came from an Apostle of the Lord, Elder Dallin H. Oakes.” S did say that it helped her to understand that we need to do more than just accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior to gain salvation. Other great scriptures on faith and works are, Matthew 7:21, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Nephi 25:23, Mosiah 13:28, Alma 42:23 and Moroni 10:32-33.
Before we left S remembered that her daughter had made us some cookies. Her daughter is so nice. We’re going to write a thank you not to the W. family thanking S, S and D for the kindness that they have shown us and the veiled hostility we’ve received from S’s husband (just kidding!). Maybe we’ll leave off the part about the husband (wink). He can be nice. It’ just that he has people telling him half-truths and down right lies about what we believe. It’s hard to hear the still small voice through all of that, I guess.
I had so much fun teaching S today. There’s nothing else I’d have rather done. Of course, p-day is practically over. It’s already 4:30.
We still need to go check our emails. ( NOTE: P-day is the one day a week that the missionaries have to just hang out. They sometimes go play basketball or some other activity with other elders in their district. This is the day that they do laundry, go to the store and write letters and answer e-mail.) Elder Davis said he’d burn me some CD’s today. I really only want the songs and remixes that are his. Elder Davis originals.
Words from my departing companion, Elder Davis:
“Well, brother, it’s been a blast. It’s been just one short, short transfer with the whole “mulberry/arm” situation. You are a very intelligent person whom I respect greatly. Continue to stick to your morals and standards and you will succeed in everything that you set yourself to. Take great care of Herndon and all of your future areas. Please keep in touch with me. I hope that we continue to stay in contact throughout our lives. I’ve learned a lot from you. I’ve particularly enjoyed our times when we were just brainstorming about comedic situations. Good luck with Elder Pierce2, too, also…That you for putting up with my inability to pick things up. You helped me out a lot. Adios. Look for my music. I’ll be out there. Keep it up, superstar!”
I can’t remember how much I have talked about Elder Davis, The Man behind the Music. He was born of goodly parents. He is the youngest of three. Everybody tells him that his dad looks a lot like Dustin Hoffman. Elder Davis was raised in CA. He loves to break dance (when his arms aren’t broken). He also loves music and wants to be a songwriter when he finishes his mission.
He said that when he was growing up, he was a rebel without a clue. He wasn’t sure if he would serve a mission or not. He wasn’t even sure if God was there. He prayed and asked Heavenly Father if He was there to show him a sign. He felt prompted to open his scriptures. The first scripture that caught his eye was Alma 32:17. “Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe. 18 Now I ask, is this faith? Never did a passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of Elder Davis than that did at that time to him. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of his heart. He had asked God to show him a sign and was led to read Alma 32:17-18.
You are a great companion, Elder Davis! In looking back on our time together, I remember fondly the Herndon festival (day 67), the temple conference, (day 77), day of the mulberry II (day86) taking S to the visitors center (day 91) getting our car, Maddie(day 93), meeting our new mission president (day 97) S at the pancake breakfast (day 98) and all of the other fun things in-between!
It is not 6:00pm. P-day is almost over. I’m a little concerned that I won’t be able to check my e-mails today. We’re not home right now. For the past 4 hours we’ve been at a member’s house in another ward with the Zone Leaders. Elder Davis, Elder Goodrich, and Elder Spencer are over here using the recording studio to make a missionary rap. They began this project on (day 85). I took that day to write down my certification requirements. Today they are putting on the finishing touches.
Well, the ZL’s just left. They gave Elder Davis express permission to continue the work without them. They already recorded their parts. All that is left now is for Elder Davis to arrange all of the voice tracks and the music tracks together. Simple, huh?
It’s 7:30pm. Elder Davis is still working on the cd for the zl’s. So, having nothing better to do, I’m going to draw some funny cartoons. (Elder Pierce drew a cartoon of two men talking. One man says to the other, “My dog has no nose”. “How does he smell?” “Awful.”)
We didn’t end up leaving until 8:40pm. (On the plus side, they finished the CD and it only took up 6 hours and 40 minutes of our P-day. Sigh.)
It’s now time for bed. I haven’t checked my e-mails. I’ll try and do it tomorrow with Elder Pierce during our lunch break. I didn’t get a copy of the CD. Elder Davis said that he would make copies in his new area and try to get them to me somehow. I’m not worried. It’s been a busy day. We didn’t hear back from S tonight about how her non-denominational church meeting in her home. I hope she is doing okay. Maybe Elder Pierce and I will stop by her house tomorrow and see how it went.
It just occurred to me…when Elder Davis leaves tomorrow, there goes Maddie. You know what that means…back to bikes. Good bye Maddie. It was fun while it lasted.
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