Sound like a fun weekend. That's sweet that Eastlake won their game against Skyline. Sounds like a pretty suspenseful game. It would have been fun to be in attendance.
This last week we had some neat experiences. We had a name that we found in the area book of an individual who previously had been meeting with the sisters. And then for some reason they stopped teaching him. Not really sure why. He's a cool guy, religious, loves the missionaries. In fact when we knocked on his house and he told us that he didn't know who was at the door, but that who ever it was was there for him. We were able to get into a good discussion with him, asking him about his religious beliefs and why he enjoyed meeting with the missionaries so much. We also asked him about is Baptismal date and why he decided not be Baptized. He explained that had been attending another church practically all his life and felt a lot of pressure from friends and family not to leave the church. When we met with him the second time he even told us not to worry about him .He said, 'you've got me. You don't need to try. I'm half Mormon and half other church. You don't need to worry about me.' He has a great desire to learn more about the scriptures and we have been invited to come back for more gospel discussions. This is the mentality out here among many of the people that we talk to. They believe that because they attend church, follow his teachings and are good Christians that everything is all good. We know that isn't the case. It’s so great that these people are so religious and are trying to follow God, now the next step is to help them understand proper authority-without offending them.
We had the opportunity to provide some service to two potential families. Jerry Bolin is an older man whom we tracked into earlier in the month. He and his wife were on their way out the door when we first met them, but we gave them a Mormon.org card with our names and phone number and asked them to call us if they needed anything or would be interested in learning more about the church. He did call us a couple weeks later, and on Friday we were able to go to his house and rake his front yard. It took longer then Sister Shutt and I expected and we filled more bags than we thought we would (19 of those tall 50lb bags) but we had a fun time doing it. And we had a very good discussion with Jerry while we worked. And he was a great host offering us food and drink. At first we said no thanks because neither of us wanted anything, but when he persisted we agreed to a can of pop. I realized then that it is just as important to be served. I think he felt kind of bad to have two women helping him, and when we said yes to his offer I could tell that he was really excited to be able to serve us.
Then on Saturday we had another opportunity to rake leaves. Shawnee is a young single mother who we've recently started teaching. I don't think she grew up going to church, but has recently become involved with some religious group close to where she lives. So religion is very new to her. She is very accepting of what we have talked about so far. And had really only had two pressing questions- Polygamy and Gay/lesbians. We discussed polygamy with her last time and she seemed okay with everything there. Gays and lesbians, we didn't have enough time to go into great detail. That's something we are planning on going over in more detail later this week when we meet with her again. But we did give her a Proclamation on the Family pamphlet and asked if she'd read it in preparing for our next discussion. She promised she would so hopefully that sets the stage for a good spiritually lead discussion. So Saturday, she wasn't feeling to well so she stayed inside with her son while sister shutt and I raked. Our Zl also came by to help us rack, which was a lot of fun and made the work go quicker. We had a humbling experience while working that day. The elders would after putting a pile of leaved into the bag use sticks to crush up the leaves. It looked really funny and we'd call over to them asking them how their efforts were going. It wasn't until we started our second bag that we realized the elders were still on their first bag. We'd picked up close to the same amount of leaves, yet we were on our second bag. We then humbly picked up some sticks and started mimicking their same actions. When they noticed this we all started laughing. I learned to valuable lessons: first listen to your leaders, they usually know what they're talking about; second, work goes a lot faster and is lot funner when everyone is working together as a team.
I've learned this week that it is so much easier to serve those whom you love- and if you don't love them, you need to find ways to love them. Someone the other day said, if you can't be with the ones you love, love the ones you're with! I've really tried to take that to heart. It was really hard at first to be here because it wasn't something I was used to. I kept thinking about home and how the church seemed to be so much stronger there. But that kind of thinking didn't get me anywhere and made the work slower. I have now adopted the idea that the church although it is struggling here can become stronger, and as a representative of Christ it is my responsibility to help strengthen the members and bring others unto Christ. As we have met and come to know the members out here I have grown to love and admire them. I love the work. I know that this church is true and that we all have a responsibility to help others come unto Christ.
I know that President Thomas Monson is a true prophet on the earth today. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I love being able to read it every morning. I wish that I could have two solid hours to do personal study. Reading the Book of Mormon each morning provides such a strength and protection. Love you all!
Love Sister Salmon
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