Things have picked up here in B-ham now that school is back in session and students are out and about. It's a lot easier to meet people when there are people to meet.
We met a guy this week on the street named Greg. He seemed super excited to talk to us, and he told us that he had had dinner with a couple of other Elders several months ago. As we asked him about that, it turned out that it was Elder Davis and Elder Hastings that he had eaten with, sometime last June or July. Greg told us he loved the Bible, and would love for us to come over, have dinner, and just talk about it, so we made a time this week for that to happen. After we parted ways, Elder Corbett said, "He's probably going to bash us. He seemed way too happy to be having us over." Haha that made perfect sense to me, and so we messaged former Elders Hastings and Davis on FB with the hopes of either confirming or denying our fear. They told us that he was a nice guy and that he just "low-key" wanted to bash with us. Elder Davis said that Greg just tried to tell them that the Hebrew version of the Bible basically supported none of our doctrine, but he couldn't prove it because we don't speak Hebrew. Haha, I'm excited, it should be an interesting visit. Our appointment is actually scheduled during our exchange this week, so I will be going with Elder Rumel. I told him we had a bash scheduled and he was so pumped. He really knows his scriptures. (I consider myself somewhat of a bashing expert myself, though those skills are rarely, if ever, used against actual people. I often just use them to defend our beliefs to myself or my companion after the contentious interchange has already ended). Anyway, I'm so pumped to have a dinner and a Bible-based discussion with Greg. We will not bash him, nor initiate contention, and I hope that he doesn't either. I hope that it becomes more of an exchange of ideas and beliefs, building upon common ground, rather than a "who's right and who's wrong" type of deal. Should be good.
We had a couple of exchanges this week. For one, I went with Elder Nielson in Hoover. For the other, I went with Elder Rout in Ensley. While with Elder Nielson, we had an appointment to go visit a member and talk about how we can help her share the gospel with extended family, many of whom are non-members. She almost immediately began telling us about all of the crazy-awesome-miracle missionary stories that she has had in sharing the gospel. There had to have been at least a dozen people that she told us about who were baptized as a result of her introducing them to the Church, and a dozen or so more that she is going to start working on. As President has said before, "The members are the means." We invited her to pray for a specific non-member family member who would be the most receptive to the gospel, and then we would help her begin working with him if she needed help. She's just a missionary-minded individual. It's awesome. After we left, Elder Nielson said to me, "That's my kind of finding right there." Absolutely, that was so much better than knocking doors.
When I went with Elder Rout to Ensley, we had a blast. Ensley is a suburb just west of Birmingham, and it is pretty much the most hood area in the mission. It reminded me a lot of Montgomery and Tuskegee. They had several lessons and follow up stop bys planned, and almost all of them actually went through. As a result, we were able to teach a lot of lessons in a short amount of time, which is my favorite. Teaching is one of my favorite parts of missionary work. I love being a missionary, but if I could just be a missionary and not have to plan or find - just teach and baptize - that would be the dream. Still trying to figure out how to make that happen haha. There is one guy in Ensley named Cleophus whom we went to go see. He is all set to be baptized except for one thing: he's on parole for something that he did a long time ago. If you are on parole, you can't be baptized. The Ensley Elders and Branch have been working really hard to get him pardoned, and hopefully it all works out. They seem to think he can get pardoned. If not, he has to get special permission from the First Presidency to be baptized and that takes a LONG time. So please say a few prayers for Cleophus so he can be baptized soon. Thanks!
One really cool thing that Elder Lyons told me yesterday. I guess Attalla had their unit conference this week, and a few things got reorganized, and Attalla got made into a WARD! That's so cool! And Daniel is the Bishop! Haha just kidding, but yes it actually became a ward. I was so pumped to hear that. From what I heard a few months ago while I was there, I guess the next goal is to split the Birmingham Stake into two and create the Gadsden Stake. That would be cool too. Not sure how close they are to doing that, but it would not surprise me if it happened in the next couple years. God's Kingdom is increasing! I love it!
Okay, well I need to get running. I hope y'all have enjoyed the new Come Follow Me stuff for the last 2 weeks. I know that the changes are inspired of God. I know that as we do our part to make our homes and our lives into sanctuaries of faith, we will have the Lord's blessings poured out upon us. When we do our part, nothing will stop the blessings from coming. "What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints." (D&C 121:33)
Love y'all, have a great week.
Elder Beach
#RollTide
Exchanges! Elder Rout, me, Elder Tausinga, Elder Corbett.
Elder Tausinga's one-string instrument haha.
Pike Road that we saw in Ensley. Funny because Pike Road is also the rich suburb of Montgomery, as well as a trash street in the hood of Ensley...
These are some characters that Elder Corbett and I drew on one of our whiteboards. We have created a new show in which all of these play a part. Still working on some details, casting, and screenwriting, but it's going to be awesome and hilarious.
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