This week we have been knocking lots of doors. Not a whole lot of success as far as teaching lessons goes, but we have met some cool people who have seemed willing to let us back and share our message with them at a future date. That bodes well for this upcoming week, though it was a little bit unfortunate for this last one. We are hoping and praying that some of these people will be around for our return appointments. Oftentimes that is not the case, but we are optimistic about a few of them. I did learn from one guy whose door we knocked on that the Warriors lost game one of the NBA finals. I was pretty shocked by that. He told us that he just wants Toronto to win because he's sick of the Warriors. Honestly, I feel the same way. When a team has been in the finals for like 5 straight years, it's time for a change.
We have had no contact with William this week. Not on the phone, not from stopping by, nothing. Not exactly sure what the deal is, except probably work. It's pretty frustrating when someone you know and love and has so much potential and desire to accept and live the gospel just disappears like that due to circumstances beyond our control. I know that if we are able to keep in regular contact with William, he will be baptized. It's just a matter of being able to stay in touch.
This week our old friend Mason wanted to talk to us again. She is the lady that the Sisters were teaching who had a lot of deeper questions that we were able to visit with her about and answer. Mason has been out of town for a couple weeks, but had texted the Sisters a few days ago asking for our number so that she could ask us a question. She sent us a passage of scripture from the New Testament about marriage. From the initial, out-of-context reading, she had come to the conclusion that marriage is not an eternal principle, that it is not for everyone, and that it's not really even desirable at all. Eternal marriage seems to be one of Mason's huge issues with the Church (though she has a pretty long list haha). We sent her what James E. Talmage wrote about that specific passage that she sent us in "Jesus the Christ." Elder Talmage came in pretty clutch by giving a perfect explanation to that exact passage that Mason was confused about. She didn't want to hear it. We were pretty blunt and straight up with Mason, and we basically called her out for asking questions that she didn't really want answers to, she just wanted to argue. Really, if she wants to understand truth (which is her claim) she's going about it the wrong way. She has very specifically told us that she is approaching her investigation of the Church with a "this is all false, prove me wrong" type of attitude. When it comes to spiritual truth (or really truth in general) that type of attitude just isn't going to cut it. God is never going to just prove you wrong. He isn't going to give you truth unless you really desire it. When you want to know, when you have "a sincere heart and real intent" as the scriptures say, then the Lord will give us the truth we seek and the truth we need. Anyway, we told Mason that if she really wants to understand truth, the Book of Mormon is probably the best place to start. We invited her to read it and pray to know of the truth with real intent. We also gave her some books and websites to check out that would be helpful in her search of truth. Of course, she took us referring her to other sources as us avoiding discussion with her. The real reason is that over text is a terrible way to communicate answers to complex questions like hers, and also there are much smarter people than us who have given much better answers than we ever could. I love talking to people about deep and complex questions like many of the questions that Mason has, but when their intent is to argue rather than understand, it's not fun anymore.
We actually had a training in district council this week about how to respond to objections to the Church. We did it mostly because a lot of our district is really young and likely hasn't come across a whole lot if it, but likely will soon. We discussed polygamy, race and the priesthood, adding to the Bible, grace vs. works, and the Trinity/Godhead. We helped the members in the district learn how to help those they teach understand the basics behind these principles when they are brought up. Another reason we did it is because there are a LOT of former missionaries that are less-active. It's crazy. It's sad. I don't ever want any of my awesome missionary friends to follow that path. I'm not sure exactly what the main reasons are for all the less-active former missionaries, but I'm sure that part of it is that they come home and then come across a whole bunch of anti that they had never seen before, they start to question things, they spend more time looking at anti than in the scriptures, and they start to lose their testimony. We have been counseled by President to "inoculate our friends against the anti." But I think it's equally as important to inoculate ourselves. There are lots of people who hate the Church, and who spend a lot of time trying to make it look as bad as possible. I know that there are answers to every objection that is thrown at the Church. They are at least adequate in every case, and much more than adequate in most cases. I know the Church is true. I know that God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. I know that the Book of Mormon came forth the way that Joseph said it did, and that it is evidence that the Church and gospel of Jesus Christ have been restored. Nothing that our critics may say can ever take that knowledge from me. I hope that y'all will follow the counsel of President Nelson and do the spiritual work to also gain that knowledge for yourselves. The Lord will bless you in your efforts to seek truth from Him.
I love being a missionary. I love the truth that I have come to understand as I have spent hours and hours and hours over the last couple of years studying the gospel and sharing it with others. I love learning about the gospel. I love sharing what I learn with those around me. I love y'all, and appreciate all the thoughts and prayers being continually sent my way. You've each got many from me every week!
Love,
Elder Beach
#RollTide
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