Journal Entry from 02/17/12 - Scripture Study Class

February 17, 2012

We have set up a scripture study class at the church on Thursday nights. It is for members and non-members. Our objectives are to get non-members into the church to feel the spirit and learn true doctrine and to be fellowshipped by lds members. We are teaching from the manual 'the life and teachings of Jesus and his apostles.' We had 2 classes so far....[and so far those attending have all been members]...(names deleted) We are working on getting less-active members and investigators to come. We are also teaching a preach my gospel principle in each lesson and using the Book of Mormon in the class as well.

(any ideas to get this rolling better?)

Journal Entry from 02/17/12 - Joy

February 17, 2012 
*Joy called us today. the last time we visited her she just has not been keeping simple commitments and we ended up watching the restoration dvd and it really brought the spirit. We explained our puropose and she answered some questions like what does she want to do to show her faith to God. and she said what she needed to do but we told her we ALL know what we NEED to do but what do you WANT to do? so that was good and we told her to call us when she is ready. She called us today and apologized for not calling at the beginning of the week and told us about her UTI and will call us the beginning of next week. I was amazed. She is spiritually dependant on us i think and we are going to have to stress keeping commitments because we will not be here forever. missionaries come and go, but they are going to have to stop if she doesnt progress. I know that sounds bad, but that is wasting our time and theirs. Because without progression their lives arent changed for the better. and yes fellowship is fantastic. but we cannot serve God and Mammon. I guess it will be important for members to do the fellowshipping and thats how it should be everywhere. But I hope things work out for her. 
also instead of telling frank he is way dumb i invited him to church until he gave me a straight up no. I am gonna "kill him with kindness." He really did make me so mad. i would not be surprised if he really has abused Joy because he has cheated on her and if she leaves him now...she will have nothing.

Journal Entry from 02/17/12 - James

February 17, 2012

So, this really uncool thing happened. Another one of our elect people, *James, who said he believed all the things we were teaching him were true, until coffee (but sincerely said he would pray about it). He was gonna come to church with us on Sunday and we got him some ties and a shirt so he would feel more comfortable because he did tell us he felt nervous. then he called today and said that he prayed and felt like he should go to his dad's church. But as I have been thinking about this i feel like maybe he only said that because he is nervous to come to a new church and he doesnt have anything nice to wear so hopefully if we drop something off to him he will feel more comfortable. Because he said he knew that the things we taught were true.

Journal Entry from 02/15/12 - Kim

February 15, 2012

I cant remember what day it was but *Kim on 29th street...her daughter dropped us. we set up an appointment and she was sick when we got there. the next time we went she was at work...several times and her daughter answered the door. finally this last week the daughter says "she said she is working a lot so she is too busy for this and I am NOT interested." ...well ok then. so that pretty much sucked....so much for coming at the perfect time.

Journal Entry from 02/15/12 - Elizabeth and Kyle

February 15, 2012

I dont know if i updated on Elizabeth. but she hasnt been coming to church and been doing her stupid drugs again. But with this roller coaster of actions we have gotten to know the grounds keeper, *Ron, who makes sure we stay safe from the creepy guy who will assault us if he gets the chance. and he also told us about a man in the complex who has a really good heart! His name is *Kyle.
Kyle accepted a book of mormon and invited us in. we shared the first lesson with him. we went to see him a few days later but he wasnt home. He was way cool and really discussed the questions we had and answered them and thought them out as he answered. we left a note on his door and when he called us he called 3 times cuz we didnt answer. when we called him back he told gunnell he didnt know how people could despute this book, just read the testimonies of the 8 witnesses. WOW! so we are going to teach him again tonight!

Journal Entry from 01/15/12 - Barbara

February 15, 2012
These last 2 weeks we talked to Barbara about how you have to read it to know it. and i asked her if she had to read the bible to know it was true and she said yes. and i said well that is the same thing with the Book of Mormon. We laughed because she said i set her up and i definitely did! :)  we committed Barbara to read on page of the restoration pamphlet because that was easy and something she couldnt have an excuse for. when we went back we were surprised to see that she had read the whole pamphlet. she said she was just unsure/confused. like she understands it and believes that God can show himself to anyone, even if it is a 14 year old boy. hopefully we can get more into a good discussion but as i wrote about this experience in my journal i had a feeling that she probably felt something and just might be scared because she has been attending the same church for years!!

Journal Entry from 02/12/12 - Dan and Susan

February 12, 2012

*Dan and *Susan are so great to us. They believe the bible to be the word of God and as long as we believe in God and Jesus Christ that is what matters. They admitted they dont believe everything in their Nazarene church but really liked a lot of the standards and guidelines we have as a church. which means they were researching about our beliefs on our lds sites! :) I dont think Dan was a Christian when they first started dating and so i think i see this pattern and he doesnt really get the big picture of what we are teaching. but he considers us a big blessing and example to him. Susan I think has felt the spirit strongly and sincerely asked if we believe in the bible then what about revelations in the last chapter where it talks about not adding to these words. I hope that we can readdress that concern cuz we didnt answer it very well but i can see that she wants to do what's right and make sure she doesnt offend God. i think we will be able to teach more, because they invited us to have dinner with them one night and i am SO EXCITED!!!!

Handwritten Letter on 02/01/12 - Baptism

So I sent home pictures of *Ashley's baptism.  There were about 30 people there to support her.  Her mom was there which was good!  She didn't really answer our texts to teach her again and didn't show up on Sunday!  What's up with that?  She had a rocking testimony!  I'm nervous she did it for the wrong reasons...but the way she answered questions and did stuff on her own and kept commitments just seemed real.  I hope she stays active!

We didn't teach the lady on 29th street yesterday.  When we prayed before knocking on her door I knew today wouldn't be it.  And it wasn't.  She was sick and invited us back on Thursday.  I think and said she had been reading!  So, that's good I guess.

....

Email on 02/06/12 - Julie Ashworth's Song

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I Know That My Redeemer Lives- Julie Ashworth

Play video This past summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the Governors School for the Arts. This changed my life in many ways. I was with 99 other musicians/artists my age: 16. It was amazing. I… 00:04:38 Added on 11/29/11 370 views

This is a girl in our ward! she is singing I Know That My Redeemer Lives!

The best part about this is that she wrote her testimony underneath it and

That is the best part about it. There are few mormons out here...but the youth

just make me so happy with their testimonies and pride to stand up for what

they believe!!! what examples they are to us and families and the community.

I seriously feel no greater spirit then when a youth bares their testimony of

Christ and especially here...wow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx7UGIEI3Xo

Journal Entry from 01/24/12 - Kim

January 24, 2012
I prayed this morning about finding the elect in Nitro. And I looked over the map and was like ok do any stand out to me? and 29th street did...I wasnt sure if it was just me. I felt like i was just making stuff up because I have little faith. While we were in Nitro I drove down the street but didnt say anything to Gunnell. I still didnt know. So we stopped at someones house to visit and then we didnt know what to do. Gunnell said why dont we just go tract those one apartments. I really didnt wanna do that. i mean tracting really isnt that fun...especially here. I dunno if it is different in other places. but ugh, i can be a little negative sometimes. so i just said i dont wanna be there. and then we prayed. and then I just drove us back to 29th street and I said how bout this and I said i think this one. and we drove down the dead end part of the street turned around and parked. We knocked on every door. and i was getting so discouraged. There were people home and even one person with their door open and i saw them right there and they didnt answer the door... ugh and gunnell was like dont be sad we arent done yet. and i said i know. and then in the dead end loop *Kim opened the door. and I told her we were missionaries sharing messages about Christ and asked if she had a faith in Him. then I asked her how that helps her family in the crazy world today. she just said it does. and i said umm...well, like i said we are missionaries and we love to share messages how Christs gospel has blessed our lives (and I think our families) and said we believe in the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible. Because it testifies of Christ and as we follow His example it is a strength in our lives. and I asked her if we could stop by and teach her more and she said yes, and when we gave her the BOM she said she would read it and pray. then she said that we came at the perfect time and told us a little about her family, and then I just got to bear testimony. I almost cried it was unreal!
God really does answer our prayers! But like it says in the bible dictionary under prayer that prayer accompanies sacrifice. which means if we dont search for the answers we ask in our prayers...they cant be answered

 

Journal Entry from 01/27/12 - Elizabeth

January 27, 2012 (straw glasses)
Yesterday we went over to give *Elizabeth some pictures of Christ so she could make her sister a birthday present. And she invited us in. She was pretty happy. and she told us she had been reading and then told us how she needed new glasses. all she had was the frame. and so i asked her if she had any bendy straws, super glue, or tape. and she had all those things! she thought i was crazy but i put it all together and sized it to her face and we got them to work! she was laughin so hard she couldnt believe it. then we got some black nail polish and painted the straws black so you couldnt tell they were straws! it was the funnest thing ever! 
We also talked about why God would want us to set goals and she gave a perfect answer so we asked her about when she was gonna get baptized and she told us February 18. I hope she pulls through this time! my prayers are with her as she does this. 
She read through the baptismal questions and told us that she participated in an abortion a long time ago. and wondered why some of these questions were on there. That was the only one she said she would say yes to and that she had a misdeamenor or something. but i asked her why God would want us to repent for having participated in an abortion. She said that she already asked Him for forgiveness but said that it was like murder and said she also looked back on her circumstances and how she was an alcoholic and doin drugs and all this crazy stuff that would make it bad for the kid. That is not an excuse for participating in an abortion but, she did say she asked for forgiveness. But I hope all works out for her. she seems to be trying. But we are leaving it in God's hands. and guiding her and giving her hope. I hope she finally does it because she KNOWS!