Dear All,
This week is simply ama-za-zing! We have 2 baptim dates now; we got one with a 9 year old who's dad is less active, and the second is with a lady named Hillary. She had parents who would disown her if she became a member. We prayed, fasted, and put her name in the temple prayer roll and on Friday she told us her mother gave her permission and said not to worry about her father, and then her father gave her permission! Indeed miracles are all around!
We visited with Mike, who has had alot of health issues and he's been telling us more and more about himself. He's ready, really [to be baptized], and he believes the Lord can heal him of his infirmities, and I believe it too.
We met with the girl who is in the addiction recovery group, and she has been open more about herself. She made us Elders Day Cards! because she went to Tuesday night activites for the Young Women and they were making Fathers Day Cards, except her father is not allowed to have contact with her so she made me and my companion Elders Day Cards. It made my day! So after a bit of talking she got out the Book of Mormon and said, "We left off on page..." She is really working to try and find God and faith and I can't wait to see what changes she makes. Any changes anyone makes are just absolutely AWESOME!
We have been meeting some goals and exceeding some, which makes me feel good, because I know it means I'm becoming the kind of missionary the Lord wants me to be. Amazingly, we looked at our goals and thought they might be too low but after this Sunday we are glad we have set them where they are at. Agency is the one thing we can only hope will be used correctly, but the Lord knows how it will be used. We also have been getting some amazing revelations at the most random times. My companion and I have decided it is easy to go for the low hanging fruit, or people who are already ready to be baptized, however we know we seem to be able to get places with people other missionaries only hope they could because we do not push our goals on them. We had a thought to visit people who we have been told are not interested by members. The scripture we thought of is about the sons of Mosiah wanting to teach the Lamanites, and the Nephites saying in Alma 26:24
"24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.
25 And moreover they did say: Let us take up arms against them, that we destroy them and their iniquity out of the land, lest they overrun us and destroy us.
26 But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls."
We aim to visit those whom most members do not expect to be interested. We also intend to get maybe at least one person who may be interested once they see we are not missionaries who push our goals on them but that we really care, that we might bring a few souls unto the Lord. (yeah we might not be dealing with people who shed blood, and members don't want to destroy them)
All is well my dear Family and Friends, and I shall write unto you again when Monday comes again!
Sincerely,
Elder Hedgecock
