Another week. I won´t bore you guys in talking about...again...how the time really flies. Unfortunately, I wasn´t able to have the opportunity to enjoy many fruits this week. The ones I did have I will try to talk about, but I think this week was a week of learning more than anything. I want to tell you guys that I´m not down on myself, never had been. If I sound like I´m a little disappointed in my letters, it probably means that I am a little disappointed, but I´ve never felt like this isn´t where I should be or that I´m wasting time. In fact, everyday, I realize that this is exactly where I need to be, and that time is short and should make the most of it, because for these two years, none of it is mine.
This week, I received a great testimony about the revelation of the Mission President and his Assistants. In our Zone Conference in the las Change, another Model Lesson was introduced. This lesson was designed by the Assistants and the president in order to receive more referrals. It includes a letter with a talk by L. Tom Perry called "Bring Souls to Me"(from April 2009 conference)and other short quotes from Gordon B. Hinckley and Joseph Smith about the necesity of missionary work with the members. At first, I, knowing much of the members thought about each one of them and thought, "I don´t know who would have references." We didn´t teach it very well.
Then came Elder Gamez who already tried and had a testimony about this. We read the letter with several members this week and had more fruits than I thought we would get. One person after the final prayer gave us the list. It had 18 names on it! This came as a surprise because whenever we passed by her house we asked for references and she would say: "I think the other Elders have knocked on all the doors around here and no one has accepted." But this conference talk brought in the right spirit and she chose to give us the references.
I´ve also learned a lot about my teaching. I mentioned in my other letter about an experience with a confirmation after almost "Bible bashing" them. What I have come realize more and more that it wasn´t that at all. It was pure doctrine explained with clarity. We weren´t apologists for the doctrine, the doctrine is black and white. I´ve come to realize that I have been a sort of apologist in the past for the doctrine. I thought I was expressing love to the investigators, but I wasn´t doing that. I was trying to explain the doctrine for something that I saw they were having troubles with in a way that didn´t hurt their feelings...and what do I see? People who love having us around because we talk pretty, but don´t complete their commitments.
So I realized a little bit too late what I was doing. I also tried to spoon feed doctrine to some people. I would take a scripture and try to apply every part of it to their lives exactly....what ended up happening was I ended up blabbing on for a long time, and they just looked at me. That isn´t how the work should be. They need to teach themselves. We explain the doctrine cleanly, purely, plainly, and then let them apply it to their lives....let them see what they need to do in order to apply to their lives.
I continue to marvel at the patience of my companion Elder Gamez with me. I had one such lesson on Saturday where I basically blabbed and blabbed. Afterwards, I realized what I was doing, and tried to get him to save the lesson. He simply bore his testimony on what I said and set another appointment. After the appointment he told me quickly, quietly, but clear as ever that I need to study the doctrine and teach it clear and pure. He said that I would learn soon enough as senior companion(he believes that I´m going to transfer to another area as senior comp....I think it´s wishful-thinking because he doesn´t want to be transferred and become District Leader like everyone says he will be.) that I can´t always rely on my companion to know what to say. I need to study the doctrine to know for myself what I need to say.
Anyway, I think that he´s completely right, and I´m going to take care to study not only from the Book of Mormon, but also from Preach My Gospel and the pamphlets for the lessons that we have.
So I have no time, but thank you all for your prayers and support. Love you all!
Cariños,
Elder Thomas Blackham
Showing posts with label Zone Conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zone Conference. Show all posts
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Weekly Letter: July 13-19th, 2010
This week went.......well, it could have been better. Thanks to conflicts with work, Hermana Zavaleta was unable to be baptized, and Hermano Uriel Orea, wasn´t able to either, because his grandmother was sick. This next sunday looks good though. We´re going to keep better contact with them this week. We had a goal of having three baptisms this week, them and a new investigator that has come to church three times, but up until yesterday after the services, we hadn´t taught her a thing. She contacted us actually and asked where our church was and when we met, and she has gone every sunday since. It´s difficult to get a contact of her because she is often with her grandchildren in another part of DF for most of the week. But we were able to teach her basically all we could at once. We then invited her to be baptized and she accepted to be baptized this Saturday.....only it´s going to be difficult to keep in contact with her this week....I just hope it all pans out.
Oh, and from what I see in the Liahona, there have been a lot of changes in mission presidents in the world. With these changes, we have a few more technical changes that came from the first presidency. One of them is the use of the phrase "desafío a bautizarse" changed to "invitación a bautizarse." Basically, there are no longer baptismal challenges, only invitations. The other changes have to do with Zone Conferences and interviews, but since I´ve only got one complete transfer period in the field, it shouldn´t be hard the adjust, and I don´t exactly know the differences anyway, because they don´t really matter to me.
Anyway, yeah. So with these changes, I hope the work....well, works! I´m sure it will, because these changes came from the first presidency. But I´m really excited to work with these new president. He has a great deal of energy for the work and expresses his love very easily. President Fuentes also loved us deeply, and I came to feel that too, but he expressed it in a different way. Even though I had basically no time with President Fuentes, I have a great admiration for him. That being said, after my interview with President Villarreal, I have absolutely no reserves in serving with him. I´m really excited actually to take everything he´s put in front of us and apply it to the work.
But sometimes work goes slow. It´s funny, our numbers were basically the same as last week (in some areas better), but I felt so much better about how the work was going last week. However, that said, I am really excited about this next week. That´s the thing with missionary work, and I suspect with life, if one week doesn´t go well, I learn from the experiences we had, and apply what we learned to make the next week better. I´m really grateful for my companion Elder Childers. My other companion was a little more reserved and was completely serious during the lessons(in the house and with me, however, that´s another story). It was difficult for me much of the time because I felt awkward because no one was talking many times during the lessons, and without a grasp of the language I had no hope to do anything about it, except offer a few laughs(which was not appropriate in some ocasions).
However, with Elder Childers, I feel that we teach very well together. He has a great grasp of the spanish language, which is invaluable for me. He has a great focus in the work. In fact, whenever people ask how much time he has in the mission, it gives him a great deal of pain to say 22 months, knowing that they´re going to say, "You´re basically done!" I´m really grateful how well this companionship has turned out, I´ve learned so much from him, and I really want to be a lot like him when I´m where he is.
Well, I´m sorry that I couldn´t say more about the week. Really, I think this week was a lesson in patience. It was funny because I realized that in the chapel just before the person giving the talk said, "I´ve decided to talk about patience." I think the Lord was definitely sending me a message saying, "Don´t worry. This is my work, and I will make sure that my children get the opportunity to get what they need. Just be humble, be patient, and let me do my work through you." I think every missionary feels that they can work on that. We´re reminded everyday that our personal efforts are nothing without the Lord´s miracles in the lives of His children. We can try to sell the gospel to people, but that will never work the change of heart that they need to truly accept it in their lives.
Anyway, thank you all for everything you do, for the letters you give, and for the support that I feel through your prayers. Please pray for us. Missionary work is the lifeblood of the church, we need it, and we, as missionaries, need your prayers. Also, please look for opportunities to share and give references to the missionaries. I don´t think you guys realize....at least I didn´t until now....that it really doesn´t matter to us if they aren´t exactly prepared to be baptized right now. That preparation can only come through the workings of the Holy Ghost, and we as missionaries have the calling to teach them how to experience the Spirit more in their lives. I think I speak for all the missionaries when I say that receiving a bunch of references that, may not want the gospel in their lives is better than knocking on doors. At least when someone is referred to the missionaries, they become aware that the gospel isn´t just for us members, but for everyone of God´s children.
Even if they slam the door in our face, at least they have this seed planted in their heart, and who knows who will see it grow, but while there is that seed, there is that hope. The missionaries don´t mind rejection, they´re used to it. And often the friend´s of members, even if they are interested, will listen to us to not be rude, or simply reject us more politely than other contacts. The family Orea Zavaleta had a bunch of problems when we first met them, following a reference of their friends that are in the ward. And they have turned out to be some of our most golden investigators. It´s true references work, do them. (Here I am near the end of my time on the computer, and I´ve just realized that the term for the word reference is "referral" in English. Oh well, I don´t have the time or patience to go back and change every word, but I don´t think it matters much anyway, it´s basically the same thing.)
Well, time is short, so I will say goodbye. But I hope each of you take an initiative and work in sharing the gospel with all the world wherever you guys are. Thank you so much for your faithfulness and support.
Cariños,
Elder Blackham
Oh, and from what I see in the Liahona, there have been a lot of changes in mission presidents in the world. With these changes, we have a few more technical changes that came from the first presidency. One of them is the use of the phrase "desafío a bautizarse" changed to "invitación a bautizarse." Basically, there are no longer baptismal challenges, only invitations. The other changes have to do with Zone Conferences and interviews, but since I´ve only got one complete transfer period in the field, it shouldn´t be hard the adjust, and I don´t exactly know the differences anyway, because they don´t really matter to me.
Anyway, yeah. So with these changes, I hope the work....well, works! I´m sure it will, because these changes came from the first presidency. But I´m really excited to work with these new president. He has a great deal of energy for the work and expresses his love very easily. President Fuentes also loved us deeply, and I came to feel that too, but he expressed it in a different way. Even though I had basically no time with President Fuentes, I have a great admiration for him. That being said, after my interview with President Villarreal, I have absolutely no reserves in serving with him. I´m really excited actually to take everything he´s put in front of us and apply it to the work.
But sometimes work goes slow. It´s funny, our numbers were basically the same as last week (in some areas better), but I felt so much better about how the work was going last week. However, that said, I am really excited about this next week. That´s the thing with missionary work, and I suspect with life, if one week doesn´t go well, I learn from the experiences we had, and apply what we learned to make the next week better. I´m really grateful for my companion Elder Childers. My other companion was a little more reserved and was completely serious during the lessons(in the house and with me, however, that´s another story). It was difficult for me much of the time because I felt awkward because no one was talking many times during the lessons, and without a grasp of the language I had no hope to do anything about it, except offer a few laughs(which was not appropriate in some ocasions).
However, with Elder Childers, I feel that we teach very well together. He has a great grasp of the spanish language, which is invaluable for me. He has a great focus in the work. In fact, whenever people ask how much time he has in the mission, it gives him a great deal of pain to say 22 months, knowing that they´re going to say, "You´re basically done!" I´m really grateful how well this companionship has turned out, I´ve learned so much from him, and I really want to be a lot like him when I´m where he is.
Well, I´m sorry that I couldn´t say more about the week. Really, I think this week was a lesson in patience. It was funny because I realized that in the chapel just before the person giving the talk said, "I´ve decided to talk about patience." I think the Lord was definitely sending me a message saying, "Don´t worry. This is my work, and I will make sure that my children get the opportunity to get what they need. Just be humble, be patient, and let me do my work through you." I think every missionary feels that they can work on that. We´re reminded everyday that our personal efforts are nothing without the Lord´s miracles in the lives of His children. We can try to sell the gospel to people, but that will never work the change of heart that they need to truly accept it in their lives.
Anyway, thank you all for everything you do, for the letters you give, and for the support that I feel through your prayers. Please pray for us. Missionary work is the lifeblood of the church, we need it, and we, as missionaries, need your prayers. Also, please look for opportunities to share and give references to the missionaries. I don´t think you guys realize....at least I didn´t until now....that it really doesn´t matter to us if they aren´t exactly prepared to be baptized right now. That preparation can only come through the workings of the Holy Ghost, and we as missionaries have the calling to teach them how to experience the Spirit more in their lives. I think I speak for all the missionaries when I say that receiving a bunch of references that, may not want the gospel in their lives is better than knocking on doors. At least when someone is referred to the missionaries, they become aware that the gospel isn´t just for us members, but for everyone of God´s children.
Even if they slam the door in our face, at least they have this seed planted in their heart, and who knows who will see it grow, but while there is that seed, there is that hope. The missionaries don´t mind rejection, they´re used to it. And often the friend´s of members, even if they are interested, will listen to us to not be rude, or simply reject us more politely than other contacts. The family Orea Zavaleta had a bunch of problems when we first met them, following a reference of their friends that are in the ward. And they have turned out to be some of our most golden investigators. It´s true references work, do them. (Here I am near the end of my time on the computer, and I´ve just realized that the term for the word reference is "referral" in English. Oh well, I don´t have the time or patience to go back and change every word, but I don´t think it matters much anyway, it´s basically the same thing.)
Well, time is short, so I will say goodbye. But I hope each of you take an initiative and work in sharing the gospel with all the world wherever you guys are. Thank you so much for your faithfulness and support.
Cariños,
Elder Blackham
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