We like offering service in the same place that a lot of people in trouble with the law help out at. One day, I was watching a guy wheel a toilet out the door. He hit a bump and it shattered. I told him to run, not thinking anything of it. I then realized that he's actually in trouble and that'd make it worse.
Anyways, we met a wonderful woman who had a DUI last year, so she's working it off. She saw our tags and started asking questions about the Bible. We were able to answer every single one. We briefly taught about the plan of salvation and the restoration. She had rejected missionaries in the past, but now that she had actually talked to some, she realized we're not so bad! She lives in the part of Spokane I came from, and she allowed me to tell the guys there about her. Now she'll be taking all the lessons!
Early one morning, our YSA sisters called us. They were extremely scared because a giant bee was terrorizing their bathroom. My companion was worried because we aren't supposed to enter a sisters apartment. It took some convincing, but I got him to let us go in to the sisters rescue. I threw on some work gloves and we headed over. They stepped out of their apartment and we entered the battlefield. The son of a gun was resting upon the mirror, blissfully unaware that it should soon be visited by death. In one fell swoop, I one hit k.o.'d that fool. I then held it by the wings to show the sister that the enemy has fallen. It's twitching body was thrown upon the cold asphalt of the rainy streets of Idaho.
We managed to catch one of our potential investigators one day. He invited us to his back porch where we sat and discussed religion. His beliefs were so similar that he started to really enjoy the conversation. That's when we laid down some fat doctrine on the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. By the end of our lesson, this man was so intrigued that he wanted to bestow some treasures upon us. I was gifted a whole case of wet cat food and a fig bar. Woahhhh!
As a missionary, I don't have a whole lot of entertainment in the form of videos. This is why during my lunch of scrambled eggs, I watched Mr Kruegers Christmas. It was good.
We found an old lady in a walker crossing a road with no regard at all to the heavy traffic. We ran out to her to assist in any way that we could. We carried her bags and helped her get to her apartment. She ended up being a member who stopped attending when she was 14. She was happy to see us and got a ride to come to church for the first time in over 50 years. We also helped another guy attend for the first time in four years. It was so good to be an instrument in the Lord's hand to help His lost sheep come back.
Time for the blow right to the feel goods. We got a referral from the mission office. It's this really great man living in a motel. He initially just wanted us to hire him? He's going to be leaving on Wednesday. He doesn't have a job because people keep trying to ruin him because he was accused of something in the past. I believe him to be innocent. His rent ends on Wednesday, so he will become homeless. He hopes to take a train and go south if this happens. We were able to teach him about the plan of salvation and left him a book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson, we made him a promise that if he reads from it, he will find a way to stay here in Coeur d'Alene like he wants to. We came back to see him the next day, and he had read the first 18 chapters. He really liked it, too! He took it seriously and could feel it's power. He then came with us to church and cried upon taking the sacrament because he knows how significant it is. He then told us he had to leave. He said he was on his way to sell his car so he wouldn't be broke any longer. He also said that he would call us when he settles down somewhere again. I felt part of my heart breaking. He smiled and told us goodbye, and that he will find a Mormon church somewhere because of how amazing they are, and that was the last I saw of him. I was speechless and even cried a bit myself. It hurt to see such a good man suffer. What about the promise we made him? He had been reading! In my moment of desperation, we went to the bishop and asked for literally any job he knows of that we could get this man. Bishop worked and prayed and found something that should work. We anxiously called the man and told him to go to this place to find work. It's a bunch of temporary jobs which are hiring every single day. He will go there today. I sincerely hope that it will work out for him. I know if he is willing, he can make this work. We've done all we could to help him, now it all rests on his shoulders.
So that was my week. Everything was really good until this situation destroyed my mental well being. But I am now at peace, reflecting on what had happened. Jesus told us to love one another as He loved us. This wasn't about teaching this man and baptizing him, adding him to a list that hardly matters. It was about loving a man, doing everything we could to help him. It was about charity. We believe no effort is wasted, and so even if it doesn't work out, I know we did what mattered. I really hope it will, but if it doesn't, the Lord will still be with him.
 |
| Gift of cat food |
 |
| For this here cat |
 |
| Reflection |
 |
| Tag picture for mom |
No comments:
Post a Comment