Hey guys!
This week has been interesting. Most of the
interesting things happened on Friday. We will just cut to the chase.
We got a call from Louis between our
appointments with two new potential/real investigators. We had been preparing
to send him off well, because he had plans to moved back to Cameroon. Turns out
that his flight, however, was over-booked and it was bumped a few weeks
earlier. He had to leave Saturday and is now in Cameroon. He plans on being
baptized there, and so the effect overall is still the same, so long as the
transition goes smoothly and he gets in touch with the ward there as soon as
possible, which we will be attempting to see happen. I'm still a bit bummed we
never got a good goodbye.
Those two investigators we met with, now, both
agreed to being baptized at different times in December. That is, if they feel
this is the right path. We got pretty excited about that, but I am trying to
focus right now on actually getting them baptized. We've set dates while I've
been here, but none but two have gone through (both in the first two weeks that
I got here in Germany).
One of them is a man who moved here from China
named Shen, who speaks pretty alright German and is here to study. He was
pretty open to talking with us but I am unsure as to what he actually is
understanding. We did our best to check for understanding as we taught but we
still aren't completely sure. He has scarce concept of God or any sort of
Greater Power, and so this will be an interesting time teaching him. I am not
sure the direction he's going in so far, but he seemed to be enthusiastic about
coming to church in a few weeks, so that at least is a good sign. He also was
open to praying on the first lesson at the end of us teaching. We got to teach
him the process and meaning of prayer and he nervously did it. I thought that
was really cool! At the end, we asked him if he would be baptized on the 10th
of December, and he accepted if he came to know these things were true!
The other man was later that night. His named
is Godwin and approached us on the street a few weeks previous asking us if we
could take him somewhere through the buses and trains (We can carry a passenger
with us, with the cards that we have for public transportation). We set an
appointment with him, which was on this specific Friday, and we taught him The
Restoration. He was really open and honest about everything. I don't feel like
we were just talking at him. He told us that he "wouldn't believe everything
right off the bat" but that he wouldn't deny anything either, also expressing a
desire to know if it was true (Spoiler alert: it is true). We told him that was
a great desire to have and that he truly could learn of the truthfulness of the
message through the Book of Mormon, which we gave him and invited him to read.
He accepted. We then extended a baptismal invitation to him for the 17th of
December, and he said that if he did feel it was true by then, he would be
baptized!
So we have dates with these two guys, as well as
Mauricia, and Sina. I think that we can really start experiencing real progress
with these folks soon. It's a matter of communication, most of all, as well as
simple desire for them to come to church, because sadly, we have had no
investigators come for a while (in spite of, really, high efforts that are
within our reach). We had a fast this last Sunday for all of these
investigators. We're hoping and praying and doing all we can to prepare these
people.
Quick thought: In my personal study this morning
I studied Jacob chapter 5. I realized some things I previously haven't before.
In verses 47-48, it says:
"47 But what could I have done more in my
vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have
nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have
dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the
end draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my
vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned. Who is it that
has corrupted my vineyard?
48 And it came to pass that the servant said
unto his master: Is it not the loftiness of thy vineyard--have not the branches
thereof overcome the roots which are good? And because the branches have
overcome the roots thereof, behold they grew faster than the strength of the
roots, taking strength unto themselves. Behold, I say, is not this the cause
that the trees of thy vineyard have become corrupted?"
I then read a conference quote that elaborates
on this very same principle. I think that in this case, we can see ourselves as
the individual trees in the vineyard. Many people begin to falter in faith at
times because they perhaps feel that the "fruits" of the gospel are not present
or shrinking from sight in their lives. Perhaps they feel unhappy, or that
their faith itself is not strong enough, or they lack direction, or whatever it
may be--of the many gifts that are readily available to those to accept and
pursue the Gospel. If we feel this in our lives, I learned today that we need
to look at our roots. Are they too weak to hold up the many fruits we can
experience? If we feel lacking or diminished in faith, are we doing the
scripture study and prayer necessary to receive and strengthen such faith? I
promise you all that as you focus on strengthening the roots of your faith and
of The Gospel, the fruits will become apparent. I hope we can remember this,
and don't forget that the Lord is there to help us all along the way. We read a
tender phrase by him multiple times in Jacob 5: "What could I have done more in
my vineyard?" He wants to, and will, help us! Let's accept his help!
Here's a hastily drawn illustration!
In other news...Today was a blast of a P-Day.
We got to visit the Oberhausen Christmas Market, which is one of the biggest in
Europe so I hear! It's pretty cool. I bought a hot cocoa mug and two chipmunk
Christmas decorations. I don't know. I'll share some pictures in the coming
weeks.
AND NOW WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I PRESENT TO YOU MY
CHRISTMAS CARD, CAREFULLY CRAFTED STRAIGHT FROM OBERHAUSEN:
Here's my stack of vocab cards I've been
building. Each card has three to four words on it, to save money and paper.
And in the background is my PROGRESS BAR for getting the vocab list I've been
working on completed. Busy language studies!
Anywho. I think that is the only interesting
stuff that I have for you all this week. I hope you guys have good
Thanksgivings! Love you all!
Love,
Elder Wallentine
No comments:
Post a Comment