Day 164 continued…Singing In the Rain

We went by A and L’s place this afternoon. I hadn’t seen A since Day 151 and wanted to see how he was doing. We went up and knocked on the door. It was answered by a woman that I had not seen before. “I’m sorry, boys,” she said to us with no small amount of annoyance in her voice, “but now is not a good time.” I’m L’s neighbor and she wanted me to help comfort her because someone she knew died this morning. “Oh no,” I said. “Was his name A?” “Yes,” she said. “I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to try another house. Today is not a good day.” She closed the door. “But he was my friend…” I said before turning to leave.

I’m sad and a little upset. What made me mad was that the woman who answered the door did not know why we came. She assumed that we were tracting door-to-door. I can see why she thought that, but still...I knew A. I’d visited with him. I’d hoped to visit with him today. We were not tracting, but even if we were, today would have been the perfect day to hear a message about the Plan of Salvation. My companion and I talked about A on the way home. “Well, A is in the spirit world now, so maybe he’s listening to the message up there, “my companion told me. (A H? That’s me. And who are you? My name’s George Waters. You don’t know me, but you’ve met my grandson, Logan. Come on. Let’s talk.) Wishful thinking? Perhaps. You never know…but something I do know, This is the true church (see Day 150)

Later today Elder Pierce and I went by to try and see if we could get a hold of C. she wasn’t there, but we were able to meet with C’s dad for the first time. I told him that we were friends with C and could he let her know that we stopped by. His English wasn’t the best, but he could speak a bit and told us he would pass our message along.

That is when we heard this huge thunder clap and lightening shot across the sky! The rain started to pour. About this time we started heading back home. “We’ll take our bikes back home now, then go back out and work on foot with our umbrellas,” my companion said. “There’s no point in riding on these lightening rods any longer than we need to.”

Now Elder Pierce (my companion) loves riding around in the rain. I do not. I thought about the events of the day. Getting to meet with A and his uncle; A’s death…I thought about how A had hoped to be able to watch “Singing in the Rain” with us before (see Day 111) This one’s for you A, I thought to myself. I began to sing:

“I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain; What a glorious feeling, I’m happy again. I’m laughing at clouds, so dark up above; the sun’s in my heart and I’m ready for love (well, when I get off my mission). Let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place; come on with the rain, I’ve a smile on my face. I walk down the lane with a happy refrain, just singing…just singing in the rain.”

On our way home to drop off our bikes, we passed by Brother C’s house. We ended up parking our bikes there and going in for a visit. We talked with him about several different subjects regarding missionary work. “Let’s talk about exchanges,” Brother C said. “Most members don’t like going on exchanges with the missionaries. What can we do about that?”

“Well,” I said. “A couple of weeks ago we had dinner at the P’s house. We took an investigator with us. We were even able to have a lesson afterwards (see Day 150). That seems to work really well. I guess what I’m getting at is, what if we made it where dinners and exchanges with the missionaries were the same thing? Ideally, we would love to have an investigator be taught at a member’s home ever day. It’s hard to get them to go to a stranger’s home, but when you provide dinner for them before the lesson, it kind of takes the edge off. Meals with missionaries should be a way to invite new investigators into your home. Get to know them, fellowship them, bear testimony…etc.” We had a good meeting with our new ward mission leader. We told him that we’d stop by tomorrow with a progress report of our current investigators.

Day 164 A Family Reunion- 09-08-06

Today after our planning meeting we went to try to see A. We knocked on the door, but no one answered. We were just about to leave when J, A’s mom, pulled into a parking space. “Oh, Elders,” she said. “Come with me! Come meet my little brother. Elders, this is my little brother A.” Little wasn’t the word for it. A is about 6 ½ feet tall. He came over with his family. We made introductions and shook hands. J asked us to come inside because her son A was supposed to be home. I don’t know why no one came to the door.

So, Elder Pierce and I were caught up in a family reunion. Once inside, J called down the hall to A to get up. Now I know why he did not come to the door. He sleeps a lot. She told A that his uncle A and family were here. A came out of his room yawning. He saw his uncle and then he saw us. “Hey, have you guys been waiting long?” he asked. “Not too long. We just got here.” I told him. A went over to his uncle and gave him a big hug. A introduced us to his uncle and told us that he had never met him before. So, wow! A meets his uncle for the first time and we were there for it. Pretty special.

Now things start getting good. A#2 has heard of our church and seen missionaries riding around on bikes, but he really did not know what we believe. He asked us, “What do you believe?” I was about to answer when A#1 started to bear his testimony. He said, “The Mormons believe in the Book of Mormon. They also believe in the Bible as the Word of God.” “So, you have another book in your Bible?” A2 asked. “Not quite,” I said. “The Book of Mormon is comprised of 15 books. It’s a record of prophets who spoke with God just like in the Bible. And just like the Bible, it testifies of the divinity of Jesus Christ.” “Where did it come from?” asked A2. “Uh”, A1 said, “The Mormons believe that God called a prophet called Joseph Smith. He was able to give us the Book of Mormon to read and to grow closer to God.” Alex continued, “When I read the Bible and the Book of Mormon, they both say the same things. Some days I feel like reading the Bible and other days I feel like reading the Book of Mormon, but the message is the same. They both speak about Jesus Christ.”
“Have you ever been to our temple in Washington DC?” I asked A2. He had not. I pulled out a picture of the temple that I carry with me in my back pack and showed it to him. “Yeah, their temple’s really nice,” said A1. “I went to see it with them last week. We watched a movie in the Visitor’s Center about Joseph Smith. It shows you about his life and the things he taught to help people be better. They also have this big statue of Jesus that talks (the Christus) and says things from the scriptures like, ‘if you love me, keep my commandments’ and things like that. I’ve been studying with the Mormons and want to try to be baptized sometime soon.”

I was really proud of A today! That is my Happy Thing for Day 164: A meets with his uncle for the first time in 23 years and what’s the first thing he talks about? Studying with the missionaries and going to the Visitor’s Center. That’s the best!

Of course maybe the fact that we were there at the time had something to do with it. Either way, A showed a real sign of progress. A wants us to be sure and wake him up on Sunday. I told him that if he really wanted to get up, he would need to get to bed earlier the night before. We’ll see…We plan on stopping by tomorrow to talk with him about the Word of Wisdom. Not to rebuke him, but to remind him of what the Lord expects.

Day 163-Some Missionary- 09-07-06

This morning we had some unexpected visitors. At 6:30am my companion and I got up as always. Unexpectedly, two guys opened the front door and walked into our apartment. Still a little sleepy and not sure what was going on, it took me a few seconds to realize that they were our beloved zone leaders, Elder Hall and Elder Bateman. “What are you doing here at this hour?” I said. “Well,” said Elder Bateman, “we wanted to shake up our morning routine, so we drove over here to spend exercise and study time with you.”

“Whoa! Look at that!,” said Elder Bateman. He pointed to the patio. I looked and sure enough, the spider was back with another web covering the door. “Oh, yeah,” I said, “That’s Charlotte. We’re trying to teach her how to spell “Some Missionary” in her web for when Sister W comes to inspect our apartment. “Nice,” said Elder Hall. My companion was less amused. “Where’s my golf club?” he asked. He grabbed it, waved it around and destroyed the third giant spider’s web in 4 days.

After our morning jog, we came back and I made smoothies for everyone. They really enjoyed them. It sure was fun having the zls over this morning.

We were able to get in touch with A this morning. He invited us inside and we talked for a bit. A said he was sorry that he missed church. He told us that he didn’t get home until late Saturday night and just could not wake up on Sunday morning. We suggested that if he started going to be earlier, it would be a lot easier to wake up in the mornings. We asked A to review with us what he had learned so far. He talked about how important it is to have a living prophet on the earth today. I would like to think that he is close to setting a baptism date, but we still need him to come to church, read from the Book of Mormon and stop smoking. Simple, right?

W invited A to dinner with Brother and Sister G (see Day 131). I love going to the G’s home. They always have such good meals. Brother G is a great member missionary. He’s actually a convert to the church. Brother G converted years ago when he was in college. He has a really strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. He can help address investigators concerns and things. We have it all set up for Brother G to pick us up at 6:00pm and then we’ll go get A. It should be a fun evening.

Next, Sister B and her husband came and picked us up for lunch. We went out and had Chinese food. It was pretty good. Sister B is so nice to us. Her husband isn’t a member so this is a good chance for us to fellowship him.

After Sister B dropped us off at our apartment, we went out to work. We visited some people this afternoon. We were just about to start making our way back when I thought that we should go and visit S. We went by to see what she was doing. I had not met with her since she spoke with President P.

I asked S what was new since we last spoke. She mentioned that she had a nice talk with President P. He had given her some pamphlets to read. One was a pamphlet about Joseph Smith. She had a question that she wanted to ask. She excused herself to go get the pamphlet. She said, “I read this and most of the stuff I already know from the videos you showed me, but what I wanted to ask was…and please don’t be offended…but I read something that just doesn’t seem right. I was hoping you could help me with it.” “Okay. What is it?” I asked. “Well,” said S, “on page 3 it says…and you can see I underlined it with highlighter…it says that after God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, he said, ‘I was answered that I must join none of them (meaning churches) for they were all wrong; and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…’”

“Well,” said S. “What?” I said curiously. “Well, according to Joseph Smith, God came down and called all of these Christian churches abominable. Now I don’t know, but to me that does not sound like something God would say. I mean, all the different church around had faith in Christ as their Savior and God is calling them abominable.” I explained to S that our Heavenly Father said that their creeds were an abomination. “Well, what’s the difference?” said S. I told her that an abominable creed is the same as false doctrine. False teachings. It’s like saying that it’s okay to baptize by sprinkling instead of by immersion. Jesus Christ (our example) was baptized by immersion (all the way in the water) and not by just having water sprinkled on his head. So baptism by sprinkling would be an abomination or a false doctrine. That seemed to work for S.

Next, she told us about what happened last Sunday at her church. She said, “I went to my church on Sunday, begging, pleading with God to give me a sign to help to show me what I should do; if my church was right or if it was an abomination like it said in your pamphlet. We were singing hymns about Christ and His glory and power. I looked around and there were people with tears in their eyes. They were overcome with the spirit. I looked at my husband. He never cries and he had a tear in his eye. I couldn't help but feel that God was telling me that this place is good.”

“But then today, I was feeling really depressed. I was sitting around the house moping. I thought to myself, ‘S, it’s a beautiful day outside. Get out of the house and go for a walk. It’ll make you feel better. But then I thought, no, I don’t want to go for a walk by myself. At that very moment the phone rang and it was K (Sister H, S’s neighbor) asking if I wanted to go for a walk. So we went for a walk on the nature trails for about an hour. I was able to talk to her about different things and she was able to answer some questions for me about your church.”

“Isn’t Sister H wonderful?” I said. “She really is,” said S. “You know, when I was feeling sick a couple of weeks ago, K came over and cleaned my house.”

Right before we left, S told us that she felt like she was the ball on a giant ping-pong table getting knocked back and forth with which church to choose and she was “not sure which side to land on.”

I told S to keep praying and know that your Heavenly Father loves you. She said that she knew that. So, my Happy Thing for Day 163 was getting to talk about an aspect of the gospel with S.

(Sigh) we did not get to have dinner with A. Brother G came by and we went over, but no one answered the door when we knocked. We ended up going to eat with the G’s anyway. After dinner, we went on exchanges with Brother G and tried hooking up with A again. He still was not home. Maybe next time…(sigh)

Day 162-Irritants and a Happy Thing- 09-06-06

Well…our apartment looks a bit better. We still have a little more work to do. I’m going to take a break and write letters, then I will get back to cleaning. I’ll try to write in my journal later.

Something I left off of Day 160: When we got home from ZC, there was a message from W (See Day 140).

Now, most messages from W are harmless enough. He’s just crazy. For example, here’s a message W left on our phone a month ago. “Elder Pierce Sr. This isn’t you, Elder Pierce Jr. This is to Elder Pierce Sr., The guy that’s the oldest. I don’t think it’s fair that you weren’t in a Rocky movie, Elder Pierce Sr. And that I want to see you in a Rocky movie. I don’t want Sylvester Stallone to play Rocky. I want YOU to play Rocky. All right, Bye!” (That’s W)

As missionaries, each apartment has a phone for each companionship. The Sr. partner is in charge of the phone and the phone travels with him from transfer to transfer. My companion likes to save funny messages from other missionaries, members or investigators. He had several stored on his answering machine including a couple from W.

When we got home from ZC, there was a message. It was from W. Uh, oh…W has gone too far. The message that he made was of him quoting different lines from the messages that were saved on my companion’s answering machine. The only way W could have known these things is if he’d been able to listen to our messages; because we sure didn’t talk to him about them.

What happened was: the last time W tried to call us, apparently he pushed some buttons at random and hit on the code to be able to check messages over the phone. My companion admitted that the code was pretty easy to crack. Because the phone was given to him by another missionary, he does not have the instruction booklet to know how to change the phone code. We called the mission office and told them what happened. We were able to get our number changed for free. So, no harm done, right? Not quite. The number that we used to have, (before it got changed because of W), was the same number that the missionaries in the Herndon ward had for over 10 years. That means that written in the Book of Mormons that we have given out, and all of the Book of Mormons that have been given out in the past 10 years in Herndon, have all had the same phone number…which is now disconnected. This turn of events is kind
of disheartening. So, hopefully if someone does try to contact the missionaries from the old phone number, they will be redirected to our new number. Thanks, W. (sigh) {“Why don’t you just gimme a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?” Miracle Max-The Princess Bride} On the plus side, this may be the last of W and his strange messages.

Happy Thing for Day 162: Sister B called tonight. I was able to talk with her a bit which is always a treat. I told her that our number got changed and why. I told her about W and the non-stop phone calls. I told her that my mom sent me an email asking me to thank her for all that she had done to help me, like getting me a new bike light (Day 137). Sister B told me that yesterday was her birthday. “Your birthday?!!!” I asked. “Yeah,” said Sister B. “Why didn’t you call me yesterday to wish me a Happy Birthday. W remembered. Ha! Ha!” Oh, Sister B, you have such a quick wit. I love it! Sister B asked us if we would like to get together tomorrow for lunch. We said that we’d love to, but her husband would need to be there. She said, “Don’t worry. I’ll drag him along.” So…oh boy! Lunch with Sister B and her husband. That promises to be fun.

Okay, now here’s what happened yesterday (Day 161-aside from it being Sister B’s birthday). Remember when my companion broke the rim of his bike tire. Whenever a bike repair needs to be made, we always go out on the patio. My companion opens the door. “Yaah!” he shouted. “Not you again!” Covering the patio door was this giant, fine-woven spider web. The is the 2nd web we’ve had in as many days. The other day when we got back from ZC, there was a giant spider web covering the patio door. My companion almost walked into it, but stopped just in time. He is extremely arachnophobic. He can not stand spiders. So he got a golf club (yes we have a golf club in our apartment, but only one, though) and my companion proceeded to tear down the spider web. He tore it down two days ago and he tore it down yesterday. Personally, I don’t care about spiders one way or another, but with apartment inspections coming up, it’s probably best to get rid of all spider webs. My companion said that he would continue to knock them down. We haven’t been able to catch the spider that is making them. There was a giant yesterday and the day before, but not today. Maybe our spider friend got the hint and will try to build its web somewhere else. Well, enough talk about spiders. I’m going to bed.

Day 161-Crikey-09-05-06

It rained yesterday during Zone Conference. We spent most of yesterday inside, so it didn’t bother us. Today, however…

It rained all day. Being good missionaries, we went out and worked. Today is Tuesday, so our first stop was the Senior Center. Today was a great day of service! I was able to help a woman from Russia. She was trying to learn how to e-mail her daughter and I helped her get all set up with an account on Yahoo.

Now, as missionaries, we are not really supposed to keep up with the news, read the paper or things like that. It’s all about staying focused and losing your self in the work. But, sometimes you can’t help it. Like today, when I was showing this lady how to set up her account on Yahoo, I saw the headlines of the day. This brings me to my Happy Thought for Day 161: I wasn’t killed by a stingray stabbing me in the heart with its tail. This is in reference to the news headline I saw about Steve Irwin, better known as “The Crocodile Hunter”. He died yesterday at age 44. He was filming what would be his last documentary. He was swimming above a stingray when it lashed out and speared him in the heart with its barbed tail. He died within minutes. “Crikey” It was a giant Bull Stingray weighing over 200 pounds. So, thinking about this accident, today is an extra good day to count your many blessings.

After lunch today, we went to teach JA. When we got to his place, he was stepping outside with his umbrella. “Hey, J,” I said. “We’re here for our appointment.” “I thought you were not coming because of the rain,” he said. J said that he had some errands to run today, so we ended up rescheduling to go see him on Sunday at 3:00pm.

Today my companion’s bike broke. At J’s house he noticed that one of the spokes on his front bike rim was sticking out. “That’s not good,” I said. “No kidding,” said my companion. So, we headed home to repair his bike. Fortunately, we had a spare rim in the apartment left by a previous missionary, so changing the rim was not a problem.

We also tracted for a little while. My TTH is now at 48(total tracting hours). No new developments. Tomorrow is p-day. It is also a deep clean day. We found out at zone conference yesterday that sometime this month Sister W is going to pay the missionaries a visit for apartment inspection. We’ve got to make sure this place “shines like the top of the Chrysler Building.”- Miss Hannigan in “Annie”.

Day 160-Good Time at Zone Conference 09-04-06

We got a ride to Zone Conference today with Elder Barraza and Elder Chacon. They got their car back from when it got towed, but it cost them $65 each. Ah, yes…I remember it well. We’ll make sure we get them a visitor’s pass next time they come to visit. It never seemed to be a problem to park at our building before.

The best part of our trip in the car was when Elder Chacon forgot which way we were going and decided to check the map…while he was driving! Elder Barraza actually took the wheel while Elder Chacon worked the pedal. Best of all, we made it to Zone conference without dying.

The theme of this zone conference was learning how to rely on the Spirit more. We had several great talks. President W spoke and so did the AP’s (Assistants to the President). I took notes from several of the talks and kind of put them all together here. I’ll go over them now and talk about what I learned to help me be more receptive to the Spirit.

Four things you can do to be a more spiritually intoned missionary: 1.) Gratitude. When you pray, bring a grateful heart. Remember to thank your Heavenly Father for all of the blessings that you have. 2.) Obedience. Follow the mission rules to a T. Don’t waste this time. Remember, this is the Lord’s errand that you are on for the next two years (or 18 months if you are a sister)[“Let’s not forget those ladies, y’all.”-O Brother, Where Art Thou?] 3.) Sacrifice. Being on a mission requires sacrifice. We were encouraged to send anything home that might be a distraction from the work. Lose yourself in the work. 4.) Be BOLD. Witness to people that you know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world; that Joseph Smith was called of God to be a prophet in these latter days; and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and proof of the divinity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God as well as the divine calling of Joseph Smith as a true prophet. 5.) Prayer. We were taught that when we pray, we should ask our Heavenly Father what to pray for. We need to be quiet and listen and then act upon the answer you receive.
When you teach, make sure the things that you talk about lead up to Jesus Christ restoring His church through the prophet, Joseph Smith. The Restoration is our unique message to the world.

One of the AP’s talked about how important it was to be silent sometimes. Don’t feel compelled to fill in gaps in the discussion with more talking. Sometimes when you are silent for a moment is when the Spirit is able to testify to your investigator of the truthfulness of your message. As an example, he brought up my teaching experience with S on Day 106. He mentioned this because he heard me talk about it at a transfer meeting on Day 107. He said that was a great example of what can happen when you are quiet for a moment and let the Spirit speak. Don’t be afraid of silence. (Pause)

Later that day we had the mission doctor, Dr. Manwaring address us. This is one of my all-time favorite puns. Manwaring address. Man wearing a dress. I love it. I could say it all day. Manwaring address. (haha)

He said, “Before I talk to you about your health, I just want to say what a great job you are doing out here as missionaries. You are like an inverse pyramid scheme. (Pause) A pyramid scheme is for the benefit of the person who starts it, but the people you share with, the work that you do, that goes on and on and has endless benefits. It’s an inverse pyramid scheme. Dr. Manwaring told us that one baptism can lead to many conversions. Like a drop of water, the ripples it makes continue outward.

“Do you know what day of the week is the most dangerous for missionaries?” he asked. “P-day. Most accidents happen on your preparation day. Sports injuries are the leading cause.” (Not a problem for me, but most missionaries love sports). “Another problem,” said Dr. Manwaring “is service. Do you know what the most common accident is when performing service? Poison ivy,” Dr. Manwaring answered. Poison ivy will get you every time. So make sure when you are asked to clear away brush or dead leaves this fall, that you wear gloves, jeans and a long sleeved shirt.” (“You’re gonna need an ocean, of calamine lotion…) Dr Manwaring told the missionaries who ride bikes to be sure and wear helmets. Bike helmets save lives.

Happy Thing for Day 160: Today at Zone Conference, my companion was asked to give a spiritual thought. A spiritual thought on the “Standard of Truth”. He went up to the podium. On the microphone was this huge, fat fly. My companion flicked it off and was about to begin speaking when that fly he flicked, flew back to the podium and landed square-in-the-middle of his nose. The whole chapel full of missionaries started laughing. President and Sister W were seated beside my companion. At first they did not realize why everyone was laughing. My companion just stood there for a moment and did not move. Then he brushed the fly from his nose and began his spiritual thought. About halfway through his thought, the fly returned and landed on his nose again! From that point, he was pretty much done.

My companion then led everyone in reciting, “The Standard of Truth.” One last note for today: I got to see Elder Patton (from the MTC) at Zone conference. He seemed to be doing all right. He asked if I still carried those oils around with me. I replied with a resounding “Yes!” Manwaring Address. Manwaring Address. Good day today.

Day 159 continued…Blessing a Baby, Word of Wisdom and a Holy Roller…

Okay, I have some catching up to do. I forgot to mention N’s baby. On Day 96, I mentioned that N had lost her voice. On Day 128, I mentioned that their family moved. Here is what I left out:

While it is true that V and her son D moved, N, her daughter stayed behind. What I did not mention before was that N was expecting. Elder Pierce and I went to President P’s house to teach A on Day 150. What I did not have time to talk about was what we did after. On Day 150 I said, “Busy day. Lots of things happened.” What that was in reference to was President P taking us over to the D’s house. The D family had been letting N stay with them until time for her baby to be born. Her baby was born on July 26. She wanted President P to see her baby, so we all went over and got to see her new-born baby, J. N wanted to know if President P would bless her baby in Sacrament meeting on the 3rd of September. President P said that he would be honored.

So, that is what happened today. I wasn’t able to be there because I was running around with Brother C trying to get A to church. My companion said everything went fine and that baby J got blessed today.

In sacrament meeting today, V, N’s mom, gave a stirring testimony. She said how thankful she was to have been a part of the Herndon ward. (V and D came to church today along with other family members and friends to watch the baby get blessed). She said how she loved her new ward, but that it was not the same as the Herndon ward or its members. She thanked Brother and Sister H for being such good friends and a home teacher to their family. She thanked the D family for taking N in and letting her stay in their home for a while. Then she thanked President P. President P was the one who first talked to V and her family about joining the church. She said that President JP had been their guardian angel who helped to guide them to the true church of Jesus Christ. V said that was why N named her baby J, after JP, so that the family would never forget him. Or the many blessings their family enjoys now because of his willingness to share the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ with them. Today was a good day at church.

After church, Brother N gave us a ride back to his house to teach J. We had a really good lesson today. We went there to teach about the commandments and were able to answer some questions he had about the Word of Wisdom. The reason behind the WoW: It’s not so much about “no coffee” as it’s about staying in control of your own body. Brother N shared with us the introductory verses of the WoW. He read, “A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, also the saints in Zion-to be sent greetings; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days-Given for a principle with a promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints who are or can be called saints.”

Brother N then said, “J, I’ve been studying the Word of Wisdom recently and I noticed something that I had never noticed before. In verse 3 it says that the WoW is “adapted to the weak and weakest of the saints.” “I now feel that I have a better understanding of what that verse means. I could drink a glass of wine and it would not kill me. Not everyone who drinks becomes an alcoholic. I don’t drink or smoke, though, because it’s a commandment. The Lord said not to.

Brother N continued. “Smoking and alcohol are addictive. We don’t use these substances because we can become addicted to them. The Word of Wisdom is there to help the weakest among us.” “No, I agree with that,” said J. “I don’t smoke or drink either. I was just wondering about tea. I like to drink green tea now and then, but the Word of Wisdom says no. I know it has caffeine in it, but so does Mountain Dew.” I fielded this one. “The Word of Wisdom is a guide to help us avoid addictions. There are two kinds of people. Those that keep the letter of the law and those that keep the spirit of the law. The letter of the law says no tea, no coffee. The spirit of the law says don’t rely on a substance to help you wake up or give you a buzz. That’s how addictions start. When people begin to depend on anything to help them get through the day, whether it’s a cigarette or Mountain Dew, if you crave it and can only think about the next time you have one, that is where the danger lies. One reason we have the Word of Wisdom is to teach us about what is harmful to our bodies. This information was around long before any doctors validated that caffeine or smoking was not for the body. The Word of Wisdom is given to us to help keep us healthy if we will study it and abide by its principles. D & C 89: 18-20 “And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; and shall run and not be weary and shall walk and not faint.” This is the blessing and promise of the Word of Wisdom.

We also watched a dvd I brought about temples and the purpose of temples. We were able to answer a lot of J’s questions that he had regarding temples. I felt very good after our lesson. I think J is progressing nicely. He could be reading more from the Book of Mormon, but nobody’s perfect. We’ll continue to work with him. The N family has been a big help and is indispensable in being there to help support J as he has been taking the discussions. As Brother N drove my companion and me home, he said that he planned on inviting J to their family's nightly scripture study. Looking at J’s progression, I can’t help but realize how much more A must do before he can be baptized. His baptism that was set for the 23rd won’t be able to happen.

We had planned to teach JA after J, but our appointment ran long. I called JA and told him that we might be running late, but he said it would not work today anyway. So, we set up a time for Tuesday.

Wow! Today sure was busy. I’ve got a Happy Thing for Day 159: Today my companion and I saw the “Holy Roller” again (flashback to Day 109). We were biking past the Giant grocery store and she called out to us. “Hey Mormons!” she said. “What’re you doing outside your temples?” I was so happy to see her again. I waved and said, “So nice to see you again. Have a good Sabbath day!” I meant it, too. I asked my companion, “Quick! Can we go talk to her?” He said, “No, Elder Pierce. You just want to go and bug her.” “Who, me? No. Never!... Well, maybe a little bit…” So, yeah, we did not stop to talk with her. We just wished her a good day.

Tomorrow is Zone conference! The topic: Relying on the Spirit. I’ll be sure to take notes.

Day 159-Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark-09-03-06

The time: 6:55a.m. The place: Outside A’s window. We tried knocking on A’s door to wake him up. No answer. So, we went around back to the other side of the apartment building and knocked on A’s window. At this point, I’d like to say how grateful I am that A lives on the lowest level of the building. If he lived a couple of flights up, we might have had to try throwing rocks to get his attention, but that is neither here nor there.

The window blinds were raised. The window was opened by…D. “Oh! Uh, hey D,” I said. “Is A around?” D said, “No, man. I don’t know where he is.” D gave us a number where we could reach A. Walking back to our apartment, I thought, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Where on earth could A be at this hour of the morning?”

We got home. I took a shower. My companion called the phone number D had given us. Ring...ring…ring…ring. “Hello?” came a familiar voice from the other end. My companion said, “Uh…This is Elder Pierce, A.” The response came, “No man, this is D.” As it turns out, A was home all along. He was just asleep in the other room.

Brother S, our ward mission leader, gave us a ride to church. Brother W was at church. Always good to see him. We plan on stopping by later this week to share with him a spiritual message. President P was there as well. Some quick background:

On Day 156 we taught S. President P’s son, S went with us. President P was disappointed that he could not go with us. He was our scheduled exchange. He told us that if we ever got a chance to talk with S again, even casually, to let him know because he really wanted to speak with her. After we got through meeting with S, President P’s son, S gave S an envelope. “Oh, what’s this?” said S. S said, “It’s a note that my dad wanted me to give you.” I never found out what was in the note, but today at church he told me that S had called him. He said that they had a nice conversation.

J(an investigator) came to church today. He’s been pretty good about coming. His girlfriend, M was there. M came home from school this weekend to celebrate her older sister’s birthday. We mentioned coming over after church for a missionary discussion with J. Brother N said that would be great and would give us a ride.

Church starts at 8:30. At about 8:25, Brother C and his family show up-without A. “What happened?” I asked. “Well, said Brother C, “we went by his apartment building and waited a few minutes. He never came outside.” “Did you knock on his door?” I asked. “Well, that’s the problem. We did not know which apartment was his.” I got a mental image of A sitting in his apartment, all dressed, looking at his watch and wondering when the missionaries or someone would come knock on his door to let him know that his ride was there.

“If you want to run back and knock on his door, I can give you a ride,” said Brother C. “Yeah, let’s do that,” I said. As the three of us were getting ready to leave, Brother C said that there was no need for all three of us to go. Just then Brother B came in. Perfect. I said, “Elder Pierce, you stay here with Brother B and greet people. I’ll go with Brother C to check on A.”

So Brother C and I sped off to go pick up A. We got to his place at about 8:40. I was about to knock on the door, when the door suddenly opened. It was D carrying a bucket of soapy water and a sponge. He was going to wash his car. “Alex is still sleeping,” D said. (sigh) “I tried to wake him up, but he fell back asleep. Wanting to see for myself, I went inside. He was asleep. He looked so peaceful. I did not want to wake him. He would not have time to get dressed and make it to church for much of the service today. Best to let him sleep.

On the way back to church, Brother C and I talked about different things that happened to him on his mission. “Yeah, he said, “don’t let what happened to A today get you down. Conversion’s not easy.” “That’s true,” I said. “Never forget that the door to personal change turns on small hinges.” “Wow,” said Brother C. “That was profound.” I do the best with the tools I’ve got. Also, I like to read a lot. I write what I like about what I read.

Brother C and I got back to church around 8:55am. I sat down next to my companion who was sitting with the B family. He filled me in on what had happened at church in the first 25 minutes. Brother S had been released as the ward mission leader and Brother C had been called. My companion told me that when Bishop T made the announcement, he said, “Well Brother C is not here right now. He’s out helping the missionaries. He doesn’t waste time jumping into his new calling!” So, wow. Brother C is the new mission leader for the Herndon ward. I’m going to miss working with Brother S, but I know it’s for the best. Brother C and I get along really well. I’m sure he’ll do great in his calling.

Day 158 The Visitor’s Center- 09-02-06

Well, we just got back from our temple trip (6:45pm). I'm going to grab a bite to eat and then write about the events of the day.

Early this morning Brother C (our ride to the temple), called and asked us if it would be possible to move the temple trip to later in the day. We said that would be fine with us, but we’d have to run it by A and G. We had not been able to get in touch with A for four days. We went by his place today around 10:00 and… he answered the door! G wasn’t home, but A said that he was looking forward to going to the temple. We told him of the time change and he said that was fine.

So, that squared away, we went to do service (like we do every Sat. and Tues.) Fortunately, the severe rains that we’d had yesterday as part of Tropical Storm Ernesto has died down. By this morning, all we had to deal with was a light drizzle.

After we left the senior center, we checked in on some people, and then came home for our lunch break. We also needed to get ready for the temple trip. Put on our suit coats. Looked pretty sharp. Pierce and Pierce.

We met Brother C downstairs. His wife was planning to come also, but their 15month old daughter was just waking up form her nap, so he came to get us and our investigators first and swing back by and get his family.

We drove to A’s apartment. I saw A standing outside his building and at first I thought that he was waiting for us. He was wearing regular street clothes. I thought this odd since he had told us this morning that he was wearing his nice clothes to go to the Visitor’s Center. That’s when I saw it. A was smoking a cigarette. I had never seen A smoking. When Elder Buttars and Elder Chacon first contacted him and began teaching him, Elder Buttars wrote in his area book how A had quit smoking. I’d assumed that he’d given it up. Looking at A smoking from inside Brother C’s van, I said, “We’re still working with him on the Word of Wisdom.” “I can see that,” said Brother C calmly.

The windows of Brother C’s van are tinted enough to where A could not see inside. When Elder Pierce and I stepped outside in our nice suits, A was a bit surprised. “Oh, you guys are here already?!” he said, discreetly putting out his cigarette. “Hang on. I’m ready. Just let me get dressed.” He ran inside to change.

Brother C told us that he was going to go get his family while A got dressed. We thought that was a good idea. We waited for A. G never showed up. (sigh) A came out looking sharp. Brother C picked us up and we were on our way.

I was distressed to find out that A still had a smoking habit. Nothing was said on the way to the Visitor’s Center. Brother C kept the conversation light. He is also a good returned missionary. He asked A on the way, what the missionaries had taught him about the temple. (Ut-oh, a pop quiz!) A was ready, though. He said, “Yeah, ummm, they told me that it’s different from your regular chapels. People get married in the temple forever.” (A+ A! Now if you can just pass the Word of Wisdom exam, you’ll be set). Which brings me to my happy thought…

Happy Thing for Day 158: Going to the Visitor’s Center with A. We went there to see the new Joseph Smith movie. The next screening time was 4:00. We got there at 3:59. Brother C said he would drop us off at the front and go find a parking place. We would find seats and he would meet us inside.

We went in and were greeted by sister missionaries. “Okay, which one of you lost your name tag?” (haha another Elder Pierce and Pierce joke)

We were also greeted by (recently RM) Brother M and his mother. He just got back from his mission to the Philippines. He is still gung-ho about missionary work and wants to know if we can ever use him for exchanges. “I don’t care what you guys are doing,” he said. “I’ll go tracting with you. Anything.”
Sister M was so excited that her youngest son had come home from his mission. She is in charge of passing around the missionary meal calendar in the ward. She is a big help to the missionaries in the Herndon ward.

The movie was starting, so we hurried to find our seats. The Joseph Smith movie was great as always. It just keeps getting better and better with subsequent viewings.

After we came out, we listened to the Christus. It’s always been very inspiring for me. As I was sitting there, my thoughts turned to S. I remembered when we came here with her. That was so much fun. When I last talked with S, she said she would love to come back sometime, but she wanted to wait until the kids were back in school. I’d like for her kids to go as well, but S tries to keep her kids from it out of respect for her husband and his views about the church. Oh, well. We’ve planned to go by and see her one day next week.

Sorry…sidetracked…Where was I? Oh, yeah, A. A said that he really liked the Christus. He liked that Jesus said, “if you love me, keep my commandments.” A said how none of us are perfect and that he was trying to keep God’s commandments but that it was hard when you have things in your past that keep coming back to haunt you.

We saw the other exhibits. The Washington DC Visitor’s Center is a great place. There are so many things there to help you learn about the church and what we believe.

On the way home Brother C offered to give A a ride to church tomorrow. A says he’ll be ready. Elder Pierce and I still plan to go by tomorrow and give him a “wake up call.”

So, yeah, that was the temple trip today. Tomorrow is Fast Sunday. Those are always tough to get through. We plan to go by and teach J at the N’s house and then J#2 afterwards, so we should be pretty busy. Let’s see, any other thoughts tonight. Well, A’s baptismal date will need to be moved back. He still wants to be a member of the church. Today he asked Brother C what kinds of music members of the church listen to. He has the desire. We just need to help him stop smoking first.

Day 157-The Rains Came Down 09-01-06

Today we got hit by Tropical Storm Ernesto. The rains came down and the floods came up. The winds blew and shook the trees. Ravines turned into rivers. And, yes, the missionaries went out in this weather. We are out there right along with the mail carriers and then some. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of Ernesto will keep missionaries from their appointments.

Happy Thing for Day 157: Rain Gear! I am thankful for my umbrella. I’m thankful for my mittens. I’m thankful for my warm overcoat. I’m thankful for the earmuffs that Sister B gave me on {day 101}. The ear muffs I got; Elder Davis took home an electric manicure set. These ear muffs sure keep my ears nice and toasty while we are out and working.

Today was pretty fun, in spite of the rain. I was able to teach a lesson to someone while walking in this downpour. I taught a woman from Africa who’s name is G. It was raining and she was walking home. I offered my umbrella. We got to talking about our Heavenly Father’s plan for us. We shared with her the story about Joseph Smith and how she could find out the truth through sincere prayer. We were able to get her address. She said that she was very busy. She works 7 days a week, but if she can find the time, we might be able to teach her again.

Met with D today. It’s been a while since we talked with him. He’s doing okay. We were not able to share a spiritual thought with him since he had to get to work. Oh, well. Maybe we can have a longer visit next time.

We were able to meet with G today. We weren’t able to teach him the first lesson because he did not have time either. (sigh) He is looking forward to our first temple trip tomorrow, though. We have it all planned out. Brother C will come and pick us up around noon. We’ll go see the new Joseph Smith movie, see some of the sights, things like that.

Hopefully A will be there tomorrow. He has not shown me the best track record of late. We’ll see. I know that G and A are in for a spiritually uplifting experience tomorrow and we still plan on them coming to church on Sunday. One way or another, we’ll know tomorrow. Well, guess what? It’s still raining hard. Good night.

Day 156 –I Call That Bold Talk for a One-Eyed Fat Man-08-31-06

Wow! Today was pretty busy. Guess I’d better start from the beginning. We went on an exchange today. Elder Pierce, my companion, went to Reston with Elder Phelps and Elder Williams. Elder Thomson came to Herndon with me. Elder Phelps told me something neat today. When Elder Phelps went to transfer meetings a week ago, he saw Elder Thatcher. We were together at the MTC. “Elder Pierce,” said Elder Phelps, “Elder Thatcher wanted me to tell you that he loves you.” Good ol’ Elder Thatcher.

Elder Phelps also saw Elder Francom( he was also in my district at the MTC) at the transfer meeting. Guess who his new companion is? Elder Spencer! That’s great. I know those two will get along just fine. Boy, Elder Francom is companions with Elder Spencer and has Elder Oram as his zone leader. I’m sure they will fill him in on my progress as a missionary.

Elder Thomson and I went tracting this morning. My current TTH(total tracting hours) at this point is 47. We experienced some memorable tracting moments. I’m writing them down so that when I get older I’ll remember them.

We went up to this one door. No one was answering. We were about to leave when a Domino’s pizza delivery truck arrived. He walked past us carrying a pizza. “ ‘Scuse me fellas,” he said. He rang the bell and a woman answered the door. She saw the pizza and then she saw us. She paid the delivery man and he departed. There was an awkward silence for a moment, then Elder Thomson said, “I’m sorry, did you order your pizza without missionaries?” The woman said that she was not interested. (sigh) On to the next house.

The next house wasn’t much better. We talked briefly with a Jewish woman. She told us that she didn’t have time right now. “Well, we’d love to come back another time to share our message with you about how God has called a prophet on the earth today!” “Look,” said the woman, “don’t disrespect my faith. I know you guys think what you are doing is important, but some people just aren’t interested and you need to know when it is best to just move on.” She was about to close the door when Elder Thomson asked, “You’re Jewish, right?” She paused. Elder Thomson continued, “I guess I don’t really know much about the Jewish faith…” “Look it up on the internet,” she said curtly. She was about to close the door on us again when I said to her, “I guess what we were wondering is if we could come back sometime when you husband is home and talk about your faith. You could bear your testimony of the things you believe and then we could bear our testimony of what we believe. We could share our different faiths with each other.” “No,” she said and closed the door.

It never ceases to surprise me how many people don’t want to share their religion with others. I can’t speak for them, but I’ll just say that… “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first and to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.” Romans 1: 16-17

We taught S today. President P came along with us. We watched the Bruce R. McConkie talk about the Atonement. This lesson has been in the works for a long time. We talked about the Spirit World. I asked S, “Where do you believe that you will go after you die?” “Well,” she said, “if I’ve accepted Jesus as my Savior, I’ll go to heaven.” “Do you believe in a final judgment?” I asked her. “Well, of course. It says so in the Bible.” “Right,” I said, “and we know that the final judgment won’t happen until after the resurrection and the resurrection won’t happen until Jesus Christ’s second coming. So, my question is, S, “where does your spirit go to wait for the Second Coming?”

S agreed that the concept of a spirit paradise and a spirit prison made sense to her. She admitted that spirit paradise could not be heaven because, “why would God put you in heaven, only to take you out, judge you and put you back in again?”

One of the last things S asked us, before we left was, “Isn’t it a little bold of you to claim that you are the only true church? I mean that’s pretty bold. I go to my church every Sunday. I wouldn’t tell someone that if they weren’t going to my church and listening to my pastor that they weren’t getting the full gospel of Jesus Christ. I mean, how can you say that?” I told S that our claim comes from the Holy Priesthood of God being restored through Joseph Smith as well as his calling to be a prophet. We (being the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) are the only true church on the earth. It is a bold claim, but it is true. (“I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.”-Some movie. I can’t remember the title, but my parents always quote this line from the movie) {From Elder Pierce’s mom: The movie in question is “True Grit.”}

Later that evening, Elder Thomson and I went to A’s house. At least what used to be his house. A’s wife told us that he was not living there anymore. Poor A.

Happy Thing for Day 156: We talked with G. We plan to go by and teach him tomorrow. G is looking forward to the temple trip on Saturday. I hope that we can get in touch with A (G’s friend) tomorrow. He has been surprisingly hard to contact.

One last thing before I end my writings for today. There was a notice taped to our door. It was from our apartment manager. The notice said that tropical storm Ernesto will hit our town either late tonight or tomorrow. It advised us to take the necessary precautions. Tomorrow we’ll find out just how bad Ernesto is.

Day 155-Cooler Weather, Towed Cars, and Investigators- 08-30-06

Well, this summer heat came and went very quickly. The weather today has been just wonderful. I’ve been told by many people that few places can compare to the fall season in Virginia. I mean, when it was hot, it was really hot! No fun. But now, it’s a nice 76 degrees with light clouds and a gentle breeze. I did hear that we’re supposed to get some rain later this week. That’s good. It’s been a while since we had a good rain. Well, we’re about to go and check out emails. I’ll probably write in here later tonight.

Well, gee, today’s not a good day to be Elder Chacon. Elder Chacon came over today with his new companion, Elder Barraza. Elder Barraza came out to Virginia when I did. He was one of the other missionaries with me on the plane to DC. They came over to visit, but mostly to email and make cd’s.

After an hour or so, they said that they were going to head home and work on straightening up their apartment. I finished checking my e-mails, then my companion and I, too, left to go clean our apartment. No sooner did we leave the computer room, than we saw the Elders walking towards us. “Forget something?” I asked. “No,” said Elder Barraza. “Our car got towed.”

So, they came back to our apartment and spent most of the afternoon with us. Elder Chacon called the mission office to make a report, much like Elder Davis did when Maddie got towed. I’m still a bit surprised. That’s the first time that I have heard about a missionary car getting towed. The funny thing is, the Spanish Elders usually would come over every p-day and their car never got taken before.

Elder Chacon ended up calling their dinner appointment and telling them that they’d need a ride from our place. Elder Chacon said that they should get their car back tomorrow…but it’ll cost them. I know how that feels.

Happy Thing for Day 155: I got a package today! My family really liked the sea turtle story that I told on Day 120, so they sent me a stuffed sea turtle. That was so nice of them. My companion and Elder Chacon took turns playing with it. It’s a sea turtle hand puppet, so they would take turns putting their hands in it and sneaking up on Elder Barrazza while he was typing e-mails and give him a little turtle bite on the ear. Elder Barrazza did not mind. It did not bug him and it was pretty funny. I’ll treasure this sea turtle. Don’t forget. We’re going to go see S tomorrow.

Well, gee whiz…we did not see A tonight either. It’s a little disheartening. We’ll try to see him tomorrow (sigh). Why does it have to be all things? Why couldn’t there just be opposition in most things? Oh, well.

Our last stop of the night was to go by the J home. Now if that name does not sound familiar to you, that’s okay. The last time I saw the J family was on Day 48. That was when Elder Oram and I got hopelessly lost. We spoke with the Js tonight about coming over sometime early next week would be good. So, all right, we’ll do that.

The reason that it has taken so long to get in touch with the Js again is because at our last meeting with them they told us that they would be gone all summer, but that we were welcome to come back late August-early September. So we did. Well, that’s enough for today. Good night.

Day 154-His Name is Spencer- 08-29-06

We were able to stop by and see S today. That last sentence ended in a period instead of an exclamation mark because we weren’t able to teach her today. Just small talk.

S introduced us to the newest member of her household. His name is Spencer. Spencer is a rat. Now, I don’t have a problem with rats as pets, per se, but my mother on the other hand…she would have wigged out. S had no problem with him, though. She brought him out so that we could see him. Spencer was a birthday present for her daughter who just turned 10 last week.

We did talk to S about meeting with her Thursday. We’ll see if President P will be able to go. Who knows? Maybe third times the charm. We’ll find out…

Later we stopped by and saw A. Not to teach. Just to set up an appointment for tomorrow evening. A apologized for missing us yesterday. He is looking forward to going to the Visitors Center though. So, this Saturday should definitely be fun. We will see. Maybe A is closer to making his baptismal date than I first thought.

Let’s see…what makes me happy today…hmmm…Oh! I know! Well, you might think this is a weak answer, but here’s my happy thought for Day 154: Tomorrow’s P-day! Yeah! I’m looking forward to P-day tomorrow. Good day to relax and rest from my labors. Well, I’m tired. Good night.

Day 153-One Person Was Home-1 08-28-06

Today is Monday and Monday means Meetings. At meetings today we found out that zone conference is going to be September 4th (Day 160). We’ve been asked to prepare a talk on relying on the Spirit. This is something that I have personally been struggling with, so this will be a welcome topic to address in my journal. I know that as I rely on the Spirit more, I’ll be a better teacher, a better missionary and a better person.

A and G were no-shows again. We went by around noon and no one was home, at either house.

Our next planned appointment went better. We taught J the third lesson( The Gospel of Jesus Christ). Now, as a missionary, I’ve been trying to ask more questions when I teach. Preach My Gospel says on pg. 183: “Good questions will help you understand interests, concerns or questions that others have. They can enhance your teaching, invite the spirit and help your investigators learn.

I asked J, “What does it mean to have faith?” “Faith?” asked J. “Yeah, faith,” I said. “What does faith mean to you?” J said, “Well, if you open your Bible to Hebrews 11:1 it says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” “Wow! That’s exactly right!” I said. J is very knowledgeable about the Bible. We also watch the video, “A Search for the Truth,” with J. That’s one of my favorite church films. Afterwards, we invited J to be baptized. J said not now. He still wants to pray and research more before he commits to anything like that.

President P came by and picked us up. We made it to S’s place right at 4:00pm. There was a note on her door.(groan) The note read: Dear Elders, I am so very sorry. I just found out this morning that my son has soccer practice today at 4:00pm. I lost your phone number, so I could not call. I feel so bad. Please forgive me. Give me a call tonight, if you have time. I’m so sorry. S

So, we left S a note saying that it was not a problem and that we’d try again later. I’m glad that S is feeling better.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we went to go check on C. The last time we tried to meet with C, she was not home. We ended up leaving a note on her door saying that we’d get in touch with her later. When we went by today, the note was still on the door. I guess she has gone somewhere. We’ll try again next week.

Happy Thing for Day 153: I got a letter in the mail today! It was from the Poyner family back in my home ward. It’s so nice to get letters. That’s great! Well, goodnight.

Day 152- I Demand Severance –August 27, 2006

C’mon, people! It’s only 12 hours! G and A were no-shows. We knocked and waited, but no one came to the door. A’s baptism date looks tentative, at this point. I’m hoping to see more commitment.

It makes me appreciate investigators like J. He was at church today and stayed for the whole thing! All three hours! We talked with J; he says when he gains a testimony that this church is true, he’ll commit to be baptized. We plan to go over to the N’s next Sunday to teach J. M won’t be there; she’s gone off to school. J still wants to continue his studies with us. So, as it turns out, J has the desire to find the truth, and isn’t doing this just because of a pretty face.

At church today, (after the 3rd hour), Elder Pierce and I were waiting around for our ride and were able to talk to the Elders from the Reston Ward (which meets right after our ward). Elder Phelps introduced me to his two new companions; Elder Thomson and Elder Williams. It was the first time I’ve been able to see them in person. I’m sure I’ll get to know them better tomorrow at district meetings.

We went by J’s at 2:00 for our teaching appointment with him. We’d hoped to go over lesson 3, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We still need to teach J that; then we’ll try to set a baptismal date with him. When we got there, J was just coming outside. “Oh, Elders!,” he said, “It’s good that I caught you. I’m going out. I won’t be able to make our meeting today.” “Do you want to reschedule?” I asked. “That would be good,” said J, “how about you come back tomorrow at 2:00?” “You’ll be here?” I asked. “I’ll be here,” said J. Alright, we’ll be back tomorrow at 2:00.

Happy Thing of {Day 152}: We went by A’s house at about 3:00. (This is a great story) A is having a bad day. When we go to see him, he’s sitting on the front steps of his house with his 2 miniature Doberman Pincers. When he sees us, he says, “Well, well, well . . . if it isn’t my good friends, Elder Pierce and Elder Pierce, the Dynamic Duo.” A told us that the reason why he was sitting on his front steps is because he locked himself out of this house. He said, “I’ve been out here for 8 hours.” At 7:00 am, A got up to take his dogs for a walk. Before he was ready to go, both of his dogs ran outside and he ran after them. His front door closes behind him, locked, with his wallet and keys inside on the table. After he caught his dogs, he brought them back to his house and then realized that the door was locked and he has been sitting on the front steps ever since. A. said, “I called a locksmith to come open my door. He said he’d be here in an hour. That was 7 hours ago.”

Also, things aren’t going too well for A on the marriage front. “My wife wants a divorce,” A told us. It seems his pregnant wife was frustrated that she was the only one working to support their family. A is still unemployed, with no car. Well, he has a car, but his wife is using it for her job right now. So A is without transportation; his wallet and keys are locked in his house, so he doesn’t have any money to take the bus.

Just then, one of A’s neighbors drives up. A called out to him, “Hey D!” “Good afternoon, A! How are…” Then he sees us. D then stopped and said to my companion and me, “There’s no point in talking to him, (referring to A), he’s already a Christian.” D pauses, then continues, “What’s the point of you Latter-day Saints talking to people who already believe in Christ? There’s no point! Why don’t you go somewhere where you’ll do some good? Why don’t you go to Africa; preach to those people. I’m Catholic! You don’t see us going around … that would be like if I went to a Methodist and told him to be Catholic!” I then asked D, “So, what you’re saying is, it doesn’t matter if you’re Methodist or Catholic, as long as you believe in Christ? Why not be a Methodist then? or a Latter-day Saint for that matter?” Doug stood there for a moment, looking thoroughly confounded. He then stammered, “No, no . . . We’re the ones who put the Bible together! (referring to the Catholic church) In 300 A.D. we put the books together! If it weren’t for us, they would have all been lost (btw, some books were lost)! Think about that (I am).” Then Doug departed. (Yeah, 300 A.D., … What has you church done for Christianity lately?” – I didn’t say this to Doug, but I thought it.)

Okay, here’s where things start getting good. The locksmith arrives. He gets out of his car with his toolbox. It was a French locksmith with an outrageous French accent. He was wearing a black long-sleeve shirt with thin white stripes, blue jeans, black leather shoes and a black beret. All he needed was a pencil-thin mustache and a baguette. Too bad. He was clean shaven and was not carrying any bread. He was still a near-perfect stereotype.

He goes up to A and they start to talk. They begin to haggle over the price.
A: “No, I’m not gonna pay that! You told me over the phone that it would only cost 80 bucks!”
Locksmith: “Right. That was for one lock, but your door has two. Two locks, $160.”
A: “No, that’s okay”
Locksmith: “If you want you door open, you must pay the price.”
A: “Look, really, I’ll just bust a window. I’m not gonna’ pay you. You didn’t do anything, so go. I’ll figure it out myself.”
Locksmith: “Well, then, give me severance.”
A: “Excuse me?”
Locksmith: “Severance. You call me out to here to pick your lock. I come out here; spend my time, my gas and now you tell me you don’t want it fixed!? I demand severance!”
A: “Listen Frenchie, first of all, I called you to come out 7 hours ago. You finally show up and tell me it’s gonna’ cost me twice as much to fix my door. I say no thank you and you expect me to pay you for not doing anything?!?!?”
Locksmith: “I’ll do it for $120 if you pay in cash.”
A: “What!?!?!”
Locksmith: “Is that not generous?”
A: “I don’t have $120 in cash. Look, don’t worry about it. I’ll just break a window.”
Locksmith: “Sir, you called me here to fix your door. I’m here. I have my tools. I want to fix your door, but first you must pay me.”
A: “Well then, if you’ve got to be paid to do it, you must not want to do it very badly. I mean, I know it’s your job; I just don’t have that much money to spend right now. Go.”

The French locksmith then left in a huff. (“of course, if that’s too soon, you could leave in a minute and a huff!” – Groucho Marx, Duck Soup) Things started to calm down after that point and we were able to talk to A about the Restored Gospel on the front steps. A had read some of the Book of Mormon. He liked the part of 1st Nephi where, quote, “The kid cuts off the drunk guy’s head and robs him.” (1 Nephi 4:7-38)

He asked us if we had any videos we could watch with him about our church the next time we came over to visit. I told him we did, but even better that that, we could take him up to the Washington D.C. Temple Visitor’s Center to watch the new movie the church made about the life of the prophet Joseph Smith. A said that he would like to go. I suggested he could see if his wife would want to come as well. “Nah,” A said, “she wouldn’t want to come.” Oh well, I tried to help his marriage.

Wow! If A comes, that’ll be 3 investigators at the Visitor’s Center! (“Did you guys get a group rate?” – Rueben, Ocean’s Eleven [the new one]) We might have to ask Brother B to give us a ride. The B family has this huge van that seats, like, 10 people. The reason why they have such a huge van is because of all their kids. (Day 138) No matter, we’ll worry about rides later.

Later, after dinner, I called S to move our teaching appointment with her from 2:00 to 4:00. President P will go with us. S sounded much better over the phone. I hope she’s past her sickness. She told me she felt pretty good, all things considered. Going to teach S tomorrow at 4:00. I can’t wait!!!

We ran into A and G later this evening. They both apologized for missing church. G said that he was still in the shower when we came by. A admitted that he just slept in. “I’m really sorry guys,” said A, “I had my suit all ready to go and everything. I don’t suppose you could call me before you come over?” “You mean like a wake-up call?” I asked. “Yeah,” A said, “Just give me a call, like around 7:00 am. “Okay, A. We can do that,” I told him. We also set up a time to teach A and G tomorrow. The next day, {Day 153} should be busy. We plan to go teach A and G at noon; JA at 2:00 pm and SW at 4:00 pm. Busy, busy, busy. Well, I’m gonna’ head to bed.