It is barely becoming spring-y here in Lancaster. The work is going well, we picked up a bunch of new investigators this week, which is exciting! But the devil always throws his hand in the works, tossing up discouragement and disappointment at us. A couple of people we've been meeting with have asked us to stop coming by, like the H family I was telling you about last week. So that's tough. But I'm not discouraged! Things are looking way up!
We have had some great experiences taking members out with us this week, it helps us a lot but it remarkably helps them a ton as well. It can be hit and miss though! Yeesh! We were contacting referrals with Brother H, and he jumps in and starts bearing his testimony to this guy who opens the door. So we’re like, "Cool," but then he starts talking about how the government is trying to cover up the truth of the BoM and all these crazy theories so we have to hastily just redirect back to something else so this guy doesn't freak. Bro H was pretty solid though for another lesson we taught though, and afterwards his wife told us how much it meant for him to go out with us. It was the highlight of HIS week and that's good because he has some tough physical handicaps that make life misery for him; he has no feeling in his hands or legs. So that was positive overall. But we took out J, who is a recent convert as of Saturday! I'll tell you about him in a second, but anyways he is just pumped out of his mind to help us teach and he was super excited. He bears testimony like a boss. We were teaching J and Y, two teenagers whose landlord is a member. We were teaching the restoration and it was good, you could really feel the Spirit strongly. However, there was some member sabotage to an extent. Bro G, the landlord dude, was also there, and is just so passionate about the gospel that he just tosses everything he knows about the BoM out all at once, and you can tell it just blows these girls' minds. Have you read the part in the New Testament where Paul tells us to have milk before meat? Well, this lesson was akin to slapping a T-bone in front of a baby and telling them to chow down. And if you think it's hard to redirect a lesson, try doing it in Spanish when the guy's talking 500 words a minute! Yeesh! But despite this, the Spirit still testifies of truth when you let it, and they both accepted the invitation to be baptized. I am super excited.
Something interesting is the effect that testimony can have on people. It invites the Spirit and can take a volatile situation and defuse it. People can tell when you have a genuine witness and they do feel the power of it.
But anyway about J, he and his wife Y have been investigating the church for 5 years. They have seen scores of missionaries; they come to church more regularly than some active members, and are generally awesome. But they finally took the leap of faith to become members, so they were married Friday night in the chapel. (I'll send the details and stories in a letter, because they are many.) Suffice to say it was a lovely service and they are really an awesome couple. They had a slideshow of pictures, and the last was of the Washington DC temple, withe the words 'Our Goal" written next to it. They were baptized Saturday and confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday and that was a very cool experience. They were just glowing. It was awesome. He will get the priesthood in a few weeks so he can baptize his 8-year-old daughter, G.
So the takeaway of this is that the Gospel does change lives! Sometimes it just takes awhile. But it does happen, and when it does it is wonderful. And it will impact this family for generations, hopefully, to come. Also, when we share the Gospel, we don't have to bury our friends in words, doctrine, and testimony. The Byron Elton elevator pitch is a valuable method because it is short, direct, testifies, and informs. That's all you need. Milk, then meat.
Love,
Elder Wright
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