The day after I wrote last, we had transfers. I got myself a new guy by the name of Elder Tyrrell. He's from Colorado (although I think he lives in Nebraska now), and has spent the first and only 6 months of his mission in a tiny little town called Locust Fork, AL. Nobody has ever heard of that place, but that's alright. We have lots of fun, and we have had lots of good stuff happen in the last week or so.
First, we got to teach Amir again last week for the first time in a while. If y'all remember, he was one of the Baja Angels (he's not anymore, though). Amir didn't really grow up with any type of religious background, and in the last little while he has really been looking into Christianity. When we first spoke, he had no idea that "Christianity" was actually busted up into different denominations, he just thought they were all the same. Well, we put him straight on that by teaching him the Restoration. He really enjoyed it, and he actually understands the logic behind all of it. Namely, that Christ established His Church, that it was lost, and that is was restored. That's really all we tell people, but Amir actually gets it haha. (It's probably because he isn't tainted by the "foolish traditions of his father" like many here in the South are.) When we asked him after the lesson what his thoughts were, he said, "I really need to read the Book of Mormon!" Yep! Everyone does! That's all I have to say. Anyway, Amir is really fun to teach because he just soaks it all up instead of bashing with us. He also accepted a soft baptismal date.
Alright, here's the biggest highlight of the week (and the highlight of my time in Capitol). Here's the backstory: This past Sunday, we were told of a 9-year-old girl in the ward who is unbaptized, and her parents want her to be baptized. Their family is named the Cockrells, and they have been in and out of church activity for a long time. Brother Cockrell recently received the Melchizedek Priesthood, and their family is preparing to go to the temple soon. Morgan, the 9-year-old, can't go be sealed to them unless she is baptized (because she is over 8). So lucky us, we literally just had a baptism placed in our lap. Her baptism is scheduled for May 5, and so we just have to get through the lessons and make sure she understands the importance of it and all that and then she can get baptized. Anyway, we had our first lesson with Morgan last night (Wednesday). Morgan, Megan (her 16-year-old sister), and Sister Cockrell all came to the church and we taught with Brother Lamb (their long-time home teacher and friend). Morgan is super smart for a 9-year-old, and she understood everything really well. We explained to her the Restoration - how Christ's church, and the Priesthood necessary to govern it and to perform saving ordinances, is back on the earth. When we gave the account of Joseph's First Vision, the Spirit was pretty strong, and the demeanor of everyone in the room kind of settled down, got quiet, and peaceful. After we finished, Brother Lamb took a minute to explain the feeling that we all had. He talked about how the Spirit works, and how we can receive a testimony for ourselves that things are true by paying attention to those feelings. It was pretty cool. After the lesson, we left and went to go talk to some other members who were there at the church, and we assumed that the Cockrells had left. After about five minutes, Brother Lamb comes and grabs us. The Cockrells were still at the church, and he had been talking with them. After we all get back together, Brother Lamb says to us, "Well, we have some good news....Megan wants to be baptized, too!" Whoa! Remember, we were there to teach Morgan, and Megan was the older sister who tagged along for the lesson. We had kind of just assumed that she was a member already the whole time. So we just got another baptism put right into our laps. I know that the account of the First Vision in Joseph's words, coupled with sincere testimony, invites the Spirit really strong. And the Spirit is what softens hearts and bears witness of truth. Megan obviously felt that during the lesson, and it lead her to also want to do what was originally just intended for her sister, Morgan - be baptized. Awesome! I'm really excited for their family. They are doing really well and making the ultimate goal of the temple a priority in their lives, and I know that they will be blessed for it. I know that we all will when we do the same.
Alright, well I have just a couple of minutes to talk about a few other people and a few other things that might be worthy of note. However, nothing is quite as cool as what you just read above (yet, anyway).
We went with Brother Sellers, a member, to go see Zach again this week. Brother Sellers was going to give Zach a ride to church, and so we took him with us so they could meet each other first. We had a good lesson with him, and we read the intro to the Book of Mormon together. The lesson was on Saturday, and so we made sure that everything was all good for Brother Sellers to pick up Zach for church in the morning. Well, Sunday morning came and we called Zach (as we had discussed) to wake him up for church. We called and texted multiple times with no response, so he didn't end up coming to church. Then on Monday we went over to Zach's house just to see what was up. We knocked on the door, and Zach's grandma answered. Here was our conversation:
Us: "Is Zach here?"
Grandma: "He's sleeping."
Us: "It's like 2 PM. Can you wake him up?"
Grandma: "Why didn't y'all pick him up yesterday like you said you was?"
Us: "Well, was he ready to go?"
Grandma: *laughs*
Us: "That's why. Will you have Zach give us a call when he wakes up? Thanks."
Yeah, it was a little weird. We haven't heard from Zach since.
Alright, here's one more quick story. We were walking up the street one day last week (actually it was on our way to see Zach) and a lady named Carrie, who was on her porch, stopped us. We got talking, and she apparently had met with missionaries in the past. We taught her the Restoration again (she remembered some of it) and invited her to read and to come to church. She has depression a little bit, and a couple other things she is struggling with, and she just told us that she would love to come to church with us because she thought it would help. We assured her that it would. Unfortunately, she needed a ride to church, and we couldn't find anyone that could bring her last Sunday. However, we did find someone for this week, so we should be seeing Carrie at church.
Okay, last story. This one deals with how illogical people are sometimes haha. It's crazy to listen to people's arguments about stuff that we teach, especially when their arguments have no validity. Here goes: We were walking up the street again and met a dude named Daryl. We started talking about what we do and what we teach, and we kind of started teaching him the Restoration. We told him that Christ established His Church (which for some reason was confusing. Please read the New Testament everyone). And then we told him about the necessity of the Priesthood (again, read the New Testament. It's in there). The whole time he kind of just wasn't having it. Well, we told him that Christ's church is on the earth today, led by revelation to a prophet and apostles, the same as it has always been. And the evidence of this glorious truth is the Book of Mormon. Well, here's where his arguments went wacky. He literally quoted the last chapter, last verse of John, which says something to the effect that "there were many more things that Jesus did [not recorded in the New Testament], which, if they should all be written, the world itself could not contain the book which should be written." Then he proceeds to use that as an argument that the Bible is the ONLY word of God, and that it is all we need to learn of Christ and come unto Him. I literally looked him straight in the eye and said, "Does that make any sense?" Apparently in his mind it did haha. He used a scripture to present an argument that went completely contrary to that which he was trying to argue. It made no sense. And then I asked him this question: "If the Book of Mormon was the word of God, would you read it?" He kind of repeated the question back to himself, thought about it, and said, "Yes, I would." I then testified to him that it was, and offered him one more chance to accept a copy. He declined it. Haha, I have no idea what goes on in some people's brains. He contradicted himself so many times. Well, I taught, I testified, and I invited. I guess that's all I could have done. Maybe he'll accept the invitation when it is extended to him later in life.
Alright, I have to go. I love all of you guys. Sorry if this email is a little weird, I didn't read through it, I just typed and typed fast. I want y'all to know that I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. President Nelson said "the Book of Mormon contains the full power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Period." I know that is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet who saw God and His Son Jesus Christ. I know that through him, the Gospel, the Church, and the Priesthood were restored to the earth. I know that each of those things bless lives, and help others come unto Christ.
Again, I love y'all. Thanks for your prayers. You're always in mine. Have a good week!
Love,
Elder Beach
#RollTide
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