Emotions finally flying in and out of me. Tears of joy and heartache. Excitement and car sickness. The rise. The fall… and not necessarily in that order. It was a good week. Not everything worked out.
Highlight number one: Back to the basics. I started doing this thing where I read my journal writings a year from the day. I’m learning a lot… about how hard it was for me to be out here. I appreciated the little things. I had to. I noticed that I was mostly concerned with relationships and overcoming my pain through connecting with God and others. I’ve lost touch of the little things, to some extent. I’d like to see the beauty of monotony again. Find joy within the mundane. I did it before. I just need to get in that stretching phase again. Life is too good sometimes. I love it. It’s hard and stressful but I’m in a good place. My comp is my best buddy… we’re always having fun. I knew we’d have fun together but… we just get it. Get each other. We get everything done quite easily because we’re on the same page. It’s a beautiful thing.
Not much happened this week… except a new investigator .. and cottage meeting, and our WWU investigator. I’ll go in the order that isn’t really in order.
New Investigator
We met him last Tuesday. We stopped by his house and a lady answered by opening an inch of the door and sticking her nose out to ask who we were. After a few awkward jokes to help loosen the tension she yelled to our investigator to come to the door. He invited us in and gave us some water as we sat and talked about things. Every other word he said was vulgarity and he seemed desperate to change. He talked about his “baby momma” who became Mormon and he’s never seen someone change so drastically. He didn’t understand. He is just out of prison and is trying to turn his life around. He said he’s willing to do anything to change. I believe him. We’ve had a couple lessons with him so far. They’ve been some of my favorite, most spiritual, lessons I’ve had on my mission. I’m learning a lot from him. Almost everything he says highlights a principle of truth that he just phrases it in a different way. He doesn’t swear around us anymore. We didn’t even bring it up he just stopped for some reason. He said he is actually happy in the morning. He has purpose to live. He’s never found that before he met with us. Our first lesson he said, “I’ve seen and talked to a lot of missionaries and never felt connected to them. It feels like I’ve known both of you forever. I can open up to you and tell you anything. I think God put you here to help me.” Or something along those lines… it was a good thing to hear. It will be hard for him… he has a lot to overcome. We set a baptismal date with him for the 29th of September… he doesn’t get off parole until then so it’s the earliest we could set. I love that guy.
WWU investigator..... We decided to set up a “movie night” at our friend Enrique’s place and watch the Joseph Smith movie with her. So we did… and then had a very bold, hopefully loving, discussion after the movie. I told her that Joseph Smith is either a man of God, true prophet of the restoration, or a liar who made everything up and everything we stand for is false because of it. I bore my testimony of Joseph Smith and so did everyone else. We asked her what she now believed of Joseph Smith. She said he was a prophet. I asked if she believed the true church of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith and is the only true and full gospel on the earth. She said yes. And I asked again, what are you going to with that? She said she knows she needs to be baptized. Please keep her in your prayers. Everything is on the line.
Cottage meeting was last night. I don’t know if I’ve ever explained what that is. Maybe I have. I’ll just do a short version… So the whole mission invites their investigators to the mission president’s home on the second Sunday of every month. We move all of President’s furniture into the garage and set up 100 chairs on the main floor. There are 3 to 4 recent converts who bear their testimony and share their experience of becoming converted to this church. It’s one of my favorite meetings. The investigators really connect with the speakers and can feel understood and supported. Our WWU investigator came and had a great time. Elder Draper conducted. I sat by the door to greet everyone and directed them where to go.. then sat down on the floor behind the wall and fell somewhat asleep… but that last part was a secret.
Zone Conference is starting tomorrow. So we’ll be on tour all week. I still haven’t fully come up with my instruction but… it’ll be good. I think I’ll do some kind of soap box exercise and help with people’s fears and teaching ability. It’ll be intense. I’m starting to like meetings that we have to instruct in. We do a lot of instruction to the mission. I get nervous still but I’m getting better. I even still get nervous when teaching people 1 on 1 but… I love it. Maybe it’s not nervousness anymore as much as butterflies. The good kind.
Gallon a day,
Elder Trent Jay Merrill
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