Day 182- 9/26/06 One lesson and Nobody's Home
This morning we had service at the Senior Center. We told the people at the front desk that we wouldn't be in on Saturday because of our churches General Conference. We headed up to the computer room.
I was able to help a man named JW. Real nice guy. He's 68. His profession was Substitute Teacher. When it was time for him to go, he told me thanks so much for my help. "Here, let me give you some figs." I haven't heard that phrase before on my mission or ever for that matter. He reached into a paper bag and pulled out 10 figs. "I hope you enjoy them," he said. "I want you to know that these figs are as fresh as figs can get. I picked them off my fig tree not 2 hours ago. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go pay my mother a visit." My first thought when he said that was, "where, at the cemetary?" but I didn't say that. "My mother is 95 years old," he said. "She's getting on in years, but she still manages to get around in her house. I go and pay her a visit a couple of times a week." Wow! 95 years old. That's pretty impressive.
As we were leaving the Senior Center, I saw a flower pot that someone had made in the art room. It had some pretty flowers in it. The pot itself was painted all manner of bright colors. There was an inscription on it that said: "In memory of A H. We will miss your gentle humor. From: the guys at table 5." (sigh) I miss A. I hope you're doing well on the other side of the veil. Ah, another good day of service at the senior center.
Happy Thing for Day 182- We taught S today! We had a nice lesson in Sister H's home. We taught S the rest of the 3rd lesson on repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End (E.T.T.E.) When we talked about baptism, S mentioned how her husband was raised in the Pentacostal church. When their children were born, her mother in law insisted that they be baptized into the Pentacostal church that she attended in California. The whole family flew out to CA twice, once for each birth so that their two children could be baptized as infants.
"Now I love my mother-in-law," S said. "That might sound strange, but most people don't like their mother-in-law. Mine is just the nicest woman, especially when compared wiht the kind of parenting I had growing up. I love my mother-in-law."
S continued, "But when D was baptized as an infant, I leaned over to my husband and whispered, 'this doesn't count because baptism isn't supposed to be done on babies'. I feel a person has to personally accept Christ as their Savior and know what they are doing before they can be baptized. I remember that my mil was a little upset when my husband was baptized as an adult. She said it was pointless since he already got baptized as a baby. She didn't attend his baptism. Since then, D (S's son) was baptized." "By immersion," I asked. "Yeah, by immersion. Before he could be baptized, he had to take a 6-week course that met once a week after church. Then he had to take a written test to make sure that he understood what it meant to be baptized. He got 100% S (S's daughter) wants to be baptized. We're thinking of enrolling her in that class soon."
"It's kind of the same with us," I said. "We don't have a written exam or anything, but we don't baptize willy-nilly. When a child turns eight years old, they are interviewed by their bishop. He'll ask them to tell him what they know about baptism and things like that."
My companion shared a scripture that he liked about baptism. Romans 6:4 "Therefore ye are buried with him by baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we all should walk in the newness of life."
Baptism comes from burying yourself. "We are buried with him." Not sprinkled. Could you imagine a Catholic funeral? I can see it all now. "Well, to be baptized is to be buried in Christ." We believe in baptism by sprinkling, so we've reasoned that you do not have to go all the way underground to be properly buried. Just sprinkle some dirt on the top of the casket and call it good."
We also read Moroni 8 to S and talked about how she was right! Infant baptisms are wrong. We committed her to read from the Book of Mormon. Anything! Any of the chapters that we have given her to read. In the middle. At the beginning. It's just important to read, to acquire that knowledge. Take what she's learned to her Heavenly Father and ask Him if what she has read is from Him.
In scrutinizing my performance as a missionary, I could have done better with that lesson. Something happens to me when I teach S that doesn't happen when I teach other investigators. I didn't teach in unity with my companion like I should have. I didn't pause as often as I should have. Now, don't get me wrong. It was still a good lesson, and the Spirit was definitely felt, but I still have a ways to go in becoming an effective missionary.
What can I say about S. She's still as nice and respectful as she ever was. We'll continue to work with her.
We have a long day of appointments ahead. That is a good thing.
We have a 4:00 pm appt. with A. While heading to meet A, we saw A who lives in her building. We made an appt. with him to meet at 8:00pm this evening. When we got to #1A's house, she wasn't there. (sigh) Well, at least we were able to see A#2 and make an appt. with him.
We had a meeting with W, but he could not meet with us after all. W is a nice guy, but has surrounded himself with friends who like to smoke and drink and have parties at his house without his permission. He would come home to find people he didn't know and messes throughout his house. W is so nice and kind-hearted that he has a hard time saying no. He says that he still wants to talk with us, but it will have to be another day.
We checked in on C, another potential investigator. Her son answered the door and told us his mom was sleeping. So, alright, we'll try back later. We had some other people to check on. No one was home. Isn't that always the way. (sigh)
At 8:00 we went to A's apartment for our appointment. We knocked. No one answered. Now what?! We decided to check on W#2 since he lived in the same building. His son answered the door. "Hi T, is W around?" I asked. "No," said T. He went back to Kenya. He left last Friday."
So, it's official. W is gone. This is one of those times when you just have to hope that somewhere down the line, W will want to act upon those things that we've shared with him and continue to find out more about the church where he lives. Well, W, I will remember you. We will always have those fun stories like the time W went to the French airport (Day 36).
I'm pretty tired now. I think I will head to bed. First, though, I'm gonna have a fig. Mmm...Yummy. Yahoo! Tomorrow is p-day. It's our zone activity. We'll go play basketball and volley ball at the Oakton Stake Center. It should be fun. (Well, the basketball won't be too fun for me, but I'll play some volleyball)
Good night.
Right now, I'm dead tired. I'm going to bed.
I was able to help a man named JW. Real nice guy. He's 68. His profession was Substitute Teacher. When it was time for him to go, he told me thanks so much for my help. "Here, let me give you some figs." I haven't heard that phrase before on my mission or ever for that matter. He reached into a paper bag and pulled out 10 figs. "I hope you enjoy them," he said. "I want you to know that these figs are as fresh as figs can get. I picked them off my fig tree not 2 hours ago. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go pay my mother a visit." My first thought when he said that was, "where, at the cemetary?" but I didn't say that. "My mother is 95 years old," he said. "She's getting on in years, but she still manages to get around in her house. I go and pay her a visit a couple of times a week." Wow! 95 years old. That's pretty impressive.
As we were leaving the Senior Center, I saw a flower pot that someone had made in the art room. It had some pretty flowers in it. The pot itself was painted all manner of bright colors. There was an inscription on it that said: "In memory of A H. We will miss your gentle humor. From: the guys at table 5." (sigh) I miss A. I hope you're doing well on the other side of the veil. Ah, another good day of service at the senior center.
Happy Thing for Day 182- We taught S today! We had a nice lesson in Sister H's home. We taught S the rest of the 3rd lesson on repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End (E.T.T.E.) When we talked about baptism, S mentioned how her husband was raised in the Pentacostal church. When their children were born, her mother in law insisted that they be baptized into the Pentacostal church that she attended in California. The whole family flew out to CA twice, once for each birth so that their two children could be baptized as infants.
"Now I love my mother-in-law," S said. "That might sound strange, but most people don't like their mother-in-law. Mine is just the nicest woman, especially when compared wiht the kind of parenting I had growing up. I love my mother-in-law."
S continued, "But when D was baptized as an infant, I leaned over to my husband and whispered, 'this doesn't count because baptism isn't supposed to be done on babies'. I feel a person has to personally accept Christ as their Savior and know what they are doing before they can be baptized. I remember that my mil was a little upset when my husband was baptized as an adult. She said it was pointless since he already got baptized as a baby. She didn't attend his baptism. Since then, D (S's son) was baptized." "By immersion," I asked. "Yeah, by immersion. Before he could be baptized, he had to take a 6-week course that met once a week after church. Then he had to take a written test to make sure that he understood what it meant to be baptized. He got 100% S (S's daughter) wants to be baptized. We're thinking of enrolling her in that class soon."
"It's kind of the same with us," I said. "We don't have a written exam or anything, but we don't baptize willy-nilly. When a child turns eight years old, they are interviewed by their bishop. He'll ask them to tell him what they know about baptism and things like that."
My companion shared a scripture that he liked about baptism. Romans 6:4 "Therefore ye are buried with him by baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we all should walk in the newness of life."
Baptism comes from burying yourself. "We are buried with him." Not sprinkled. Could you imagine a Catholic funeral? I can see it all now. "Well, to be baptized is to be buried in Christ." We believe in baptism by sprinkling, so we've reasoned that you do not have to go all the way underground to be properly buried. Just sprinkle some dirt on the top of the casket and call it good."
We also read Moroni 8 to S and talked about how she was right! Infant baptisms are wrong. We committed her to read from the Book of Mormon. Anything! Any of the chapters that we have given her to read. In the middle. At the beginning. It's just important to read, to acquire that knowledge. Take what she's learned to her Heavenly Father and ask Him if what she has read is from Him.
In scrutinizing my performance as a missionary, I could have done better with that lesson. Something happens to me when I teach S that doesn't happen when I teach other investigators. I didn't teach in unity with my companion like I should have. I didn't pause as often as I should have. Now, don't get me wrong. It was still a good lesson, and the Spirit was definitely felt, but I still have a ways to go in becoming an effective missionary.
What can I say about S. She's still as nice and respectful as she ever was. We'll continue to work with her.
We have a long day of appointments ahead. That is a good thing.
We have a 4:00 pm appt. with A. While heading to meet A, we saw A who lives in her building. We made an appt. with him to meet at 8:00pm this evening. When we got to #1A's house, she wasn't there. (sigh) Well, at least we were able to see A#2 and make an appt. with him.
We had a meeting with W, but he could not meet with us after all. W is a nice guy, but has surrounded himself with friends who like to smoke and drink and have parties at his house without his permission. He would come home to find people he didn't know and messes throughout his house. W is so nice and kind-hearted that he has a hard time saying no. He says that he still wants to talk with us, but it will have to be another day.
We checked in on C, another potential investigator. Her son answered the door and told us his mom was sleeping. So, alright, we'll try back later. We had some other people to check on. No one was home. Isn't that always the way. (sigh)
At 8:00 we went to A's apartment for our appointment. We knocked. No one answered. Now what?! We decided to check on W#2 since he lived in the same building. His son answered the door. "Hi T, is W around?" I asked. "No," said T. He went back to Kenya. He left last Friday."
So, it's official. W is gone. This is one of those times when you just have to hope that somewhere down the line, W will want to act upon those things that we've shared with him and continue to find out more about the church where he lives. Well, W, I will remember you. We will always have those fun stories like the time W went to the French airport (Day 36).
I'm pretty tired now. I think I will head to bed. First, though, I'm gonna have a fig. Mmm...Yummy. Yahoo! Tomorrow is p-day. It's our zone activity. We'll go play basketball and volley ball at the Oakton Stake Center. It should be fun. (Well, the basketball won't be too fun for me, but I'll play some volleyball)
Good night.
Right now, I'm dead tired. I'm going to bed.
posted by Garden Anywhere Box | 7:34 AM
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