So we started the week so strong
and just kept it going throughout the whole week. On Tuesday, we had
our "Miracle Day." We just kept teaching and teaching and finding... it
was so great! Early in the afternoon we taught Cory Hodge because he had
cancelled the night before. Y'all should've seen this lesson, you
could've put it on "The District" videos about missionary work. We kept
bouncing off of each other, perfect scriptures, we were saying the
perfect stuff and the spirit was so strong. Cory finally understood and
gave a solid commitment to be baptized this next month. The only thing
he had to do was go and talk to his pastor... We talked about what to
say and not allowing him to change his mind. We came back on Friday and
found out what happened. Cory got dropped... Whether it was because he
didn't have the courage or his pastor said something, we aren't teaching
him anymore. It was kind of sad, but the day got better. I had taught
him for so long and really loved him and wanted the best for him. He
just couldn't commit. We will probably go see him in a couple of weeks
and see if he notices a difference in his life. I pray Heavenly Father
helps him find the courage and see the difference.
Jermichael
is doing well. (Found out this last week I was spelling it wrong this
whole time..) He continues to progress and still wants to be baptized. I
just hope he is ready. We might also teach his fiance in the future as
well. Right now she is really busy, but in the future we definitely
will. They read and pray together and their faith is growing. Heavenly
Father is working in their lives.
Some fun
stuff happened this weekend. We met this Grandma named Yvonne and her
daughter Ebaney. They are such nice people and they accepted us well. We
did have an interesting lesson with them though. We started to talk
about the Holy Ghost, I wanted to help them understand how they can
recognize truth. They then took the lesson and ran with it, to sort of
speak. Ebaney started to talk about seeing Jesus' face in the water, not
too crazy right? Then Yvonne started talking about her spirit leaving
her body and her feeling it. She laid down with a headache, told God to
relieve the pain and her spirit left her body and went to the ceiling. I
chuckled a little, not expecting it. She was dead serious. Then she
started exclaiming about having a spirit baby. I was like "What the?" in
my head. She continued to tell us about having this spirit baby in the
middle of church on the ground. She had tons of agony, but could feel a
spirit baby coming out of her. Elder Davis had no clue what to say, so I
just started telling them about Joseph Smith and the first vision.
After all these experiences they had gone through, I knew his vision
wouldn't even phase them. They actually loved it! We left them with a
Book of Mormon and may be able to teach them more in the future. It was a
crazy lesson, didn't know you could have a spirit baby?...
President
Olson came up to Greenville this weekend. He taught a third hour lesson
about missionary work to help the ward get more involved, I think it
will help them. The spirit was strong all through church, I loved it. It
even carried over to yesterday. We went to Clinton to have a
"specialized training" meeting. All the new missionaries in the past 6
months had to go, so I took Elder Davis. It was great to learn from
everyone and just share what I knew. I looked around and realized I was
one of the oldest in the meeting. Crazy to think how far I have come.
I
wanted to share one last thing before I head out. I was reading in
Jacob 5 this past week. If you haven't read it, read it. It talks about
the Lord working in his vineyard. He says a question in there that
really stuck to me. "What could I have done more in my vineyard?" This
next year I want to leave saying, "I could not have done more in my
vineyard." As we look at our own lives, in our vineyards that we are in.
Are we actively "nourishing" the people around us? Are we helping the
Lord in this great work? In versus 49-50, The Lord is ready to get rid
of all the bad in the vineyard and cast them into the fire. His servant
than says "Spare it a little longer". We do not want to lose any of the
"trees" or "branches" or the Children of God that surround us. As a
servant, I am happy to have this time to help the Lord in this great
work and find the joy in his eternal vision. May we each find that joy,
through the spirit, in simply sharing what we know.
Thanks y'all for all the love and support, have a great week! Keep on smiling!
Love,
Elder Mason Rankin :)
No comments:
Post a Comment