So.. I'm pretty much a veteran missionary by now, right?
This week, was SO hard. Now, not particularly "hard" in the sense that it was emotionally tolling, or that I was incredibly homesick, or anything like that, but man did I catch quite the illness!! I told you I was sick before but... that was nothing. A word of advice... if a member of your district catches a cold... RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!!! Hahaha. The odds of catching that same illness here are ridiculous! You're spending pretty much 24/7 with the same people here in the MTC, and boy oh boy did the plague hit here. Everyone is sick, although I'm pretty sure I got the worst of it. Last Friday I was feeling too ill to go to teach at our TRC, and the day after that I felt like I was going to die.. as I got to class I spent a fair share of time in the beginning throwing up in yonder bathroom. Wahoo. I was excused from class and was able to sleep most of the day, trying to fight this inane illness, all the while not being able to go and buy any cough syrup or things of that sort. Elder Munk shared some with me, and I've been getting a little better each day, today being the best of days so far! I did have to give up my assignment to bless the Sacrament last Sunday, but Elder Grossgebauer (as our Sacrament coordinator) has asked me if I would do it this Sunday, so hopefully I can make that happen.
Alright, time for the highlight reel. ..At some point this week (for whatever reason I absolutely cannot remember which day) we committed our investigator, Brother Kim, to baptism!!! It was by far the most incredible lesson I have ever taught with my companion, Elder Shaver. We KILLED it! It was so so so neat. We prepared a lesson for him on the Commandments to Pray Often, Study the Scriptures, and Keep the Sabbath Day Holy, and we went in feeling great. We talked to him for a while, and made sure he still wanted to learn more about the commandments, and then explained that our church has a lot of them, but not too many. To help him understand them all, we told him we had prepared to only teach him three that day. He thought it was a great idea, and was all for it!
We started off with Praying often, and had a scripture ready for each commandment that could help him understand each one a little more. He understood praying often very well, and asked how often he should seriously pray. We told him at least once in the morning, and once and night, and whenever else he felt like he needed help. That was most important, to just become close with Heavenly Father. He was feeling good about it, but seemed a little down today, although he was so very appreciative of our concern for his understanding. Next, we taught about studying the scriptures, and reading every day. We shared the scripture about "feasting upon the words of Christ" (2 Nephi 32:3) and all Heaven broke loose. We had him read it, and he sat there, for maybe about two minutes pondering this scripture SO deeply. He wouldn't look away from it, and as I asked him (absolutely inspired from here on out) how he felt, he looked up at me with tears in his eyes. He couldn't quite explain it. ..Then, I asked him if he felt something in his heart, and he said yes. I asked him next how we could help him, and as he was a little bit taken back by our generosity and kindness he started to explain that his life was good, but there was something missing. ..Work was hard, and he can feel happy, but not really .."happy". He said it was hard to explain and that he just knew something was missing. ..It was so cool.
Next, still pretty sure I had no idea what I was saying, I explained to him and promised him that through this gospel, we can be happy. That's all our Heavenly Father wants, is for us to be happy. In 2 Nephi Chapter 32 verse 5, it says that if we "enter in by the way" the Holy Ghost will tell us all things that we should know, and I pointed that out to him. Next, I explained that entering in by the way meant being baptized, and then I looked at my companion, and back at Brother Kim, and asked him if he would accept baptism. ..He said yes!! He wanted to know how he could become prepared, and we told him that we just had a few more lessons to teach him, and invited him to come to church with us on Sunday. How awesome that was!!
Next major thing was that on Tuesday for our devotional, we were called as the Ushers for the devotional, and Elder Bednar came again!! Remember how I told you that he had us ask questions via text? Well, turns out he received about 1,000 questions, and came back to answer some more of them. He drew from the large pot he had, and answered some really good ones for us. One that really stood out to me was the third question he answered, "Why does God have good people go through hard things?" He shared the story of Spencer W. Kimball and the challenges he had to go through with throat cancer, thoroughly impairing his voice. He had surgery, and was almost unable to speak for a very long time. Prior to this, Elder Bednar explained that if he had learned one thing about Apostles and Prophets, it was that all they need is a voice. They don't need to have gone through hundreds of mind-shattering experiences to become an apostle or prophet, they simply have to be capable of heeding the word of the Lord and sharing the gospel. I was blown away as he told us that this was the one requirement, and Spencer W. Kimball had lost his requirement. Through much adversity, he was able to speak again, and spoke many times thereafter, but it really made me think. We have so much around us, and are so blessed in so many ways. As missionaries, no matter how inadequate or ill-suited for the task we may seem, we too have voices. We have been called of God and have the one thing we need to share this gospel. How wonderful that message was! He also talked about how the Priesthood is not just for men, as wonderful as that question was. He told us to picture the Priesthood as an umbrella, and the men are assigned the task of holding it so that all others may stand underneath and receive it's blessings. He said the Priesthood isn't something to think of someone having that takes it away from someone else. Using it multiplies it in the lives of everyone around you.
Anyway my wonderful family and friends, I can't wait to leave for Korea, and am thriving here in the MTC!! Thank you all for your wonderful support and love! I know this church is true,and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. No human mind can conceive the truths and concepts that you find in the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith translated that book in about 65 days, with no errors, flaws, or inconsistencies, and I would challenge anyone, anywhere, at anytime with any resource they could ever possibly need and all the help they could get plus a hundred years ...and they could not create this. I know this gospel is true. And I love this work with all my heart. Until next week!
Lots of love,
Elder DeMille
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