Mission Blog Sept 15, 2012
Once it a while I
check out the FaceBook pages. That seems
to be how we actually find out any news from home, except for our wonderful
Bishop Gordon Whitehead. I was saddened
to see a young friend, of about 40, face book statement. It is not the first one, where he has
attacked the church. He likes to brag
about how monetarily successful he is, been in a Bishopric, etc, etc. But he is very critical of the church, and is
on a kick that they lie about being open and honest. Then he surfs the internet for anything that
concerns this. He is gathering quite a
following. I have seen his page before
and usually don’t even stop to read, but today I did. When members begin to attack the church, you
bet your bottom boots there is a reason behind it. The reason being an unresolved sin. And when they accuse the church of a flaw,
especially about being open and honest, I wonder just how open and honest they
really are. What does it really tell you
about this person.
So, I left a message,
asking if he gave the Book of Mormon and study and prayer equal time to his
aimless research.
In today’s world, with
all of its temptations, we cannot afford to squander time delving into
information that will lead us away from God.
We have to give the time to develop faith, by reading and prayerfully
studying the scriptures and the word of God.
Elder Storrer and I
have had quite an interesting week.
We look at the notes
all of our fore missionaries have left regarding the less active. So the Bishop gives them a list to visit, or
they just get a ward list and do it on their own. We don’t know. We only know that the results are always the
same. “Not interested at this
time.” Or “It has no value.” Or “I made some bad decisions in my life and
don’t go to church because I feel guilty.”
Or “I had my feelings hurt, and refuse to forgive so and so, and will
never go to church as long as he/she is in church.”
So we have analyzed it
carefully, pulling from the scriptures,
Alma 31 talks about Alma and his brethren first praying for the
missionary spirit, and then praying that they can touch the hearts of the
Zoramites. They never touched one heart
-----until they meet those, “poor in heart.”
Because they were poor they had been kicked out of the Synagogues that
they had built with their own hands.
They had no place to worship.
“They had a need.” And so Alma
and his brethren were able to teach them.
In working with a less
active JAE and trying to get to know her (she is 18 and living with her nonmember
boyfriend, whose father is a member) we invited to her to dinner, but she
declined telling us, “it has no value.”
This is considered a big put down, that no one, in good company would
say. So as the unknown missionary we
tried. Oh did we try, going to her
residence over and over again until we found her home. Well we had been encouraged by those who know
her, believing from some of her recent activity in the church, that she was
ready.
That tells us that as
a missionary couple we are here 18 mo to 2 years, as strangers from
America. They do not know us, and will
say to us, what they would never say to an acquaintance. And the Bishop gives us the same list as he
did the other missionary couple to get them out of his hair.
Well, it is going to be
different. The Bishop was put on alert
last Wednesday in the ward council meeting.
When the younger missionaries reported, he asked how many members had
they been using in their discussions.
Well we know that missionaries have a hard time getting members to
participate. The Bishop, rightly, told
them that he wanted them to use the members more. In one of our district meetings, we had
actually discussed that topic. It was
decided that part of the members problem is they don’t know what is expected of
them. Members either sit there frozen in
silence or go off on some rambling tangent.
If they would roll play and help them understand how they can be used
effectively in a particular lesson, like bearing their testimony as to what had
been said. Yet the missionaries seem to
have a problem with working with the members, so that they can be
prepared. It is more of a last minute
thing. We were talking with a senior
couple yesterday who said that they had been going with the missionaries as
members, but their Branch President, a very young returned missionary in
Solvania, told them that he did not want them doing that. It was important that the members become
involved as they are the ones required to fellowship them.
The missionaries watch
the videos of Preach My Gospel, and love and learn, but they seem to miss that
those missionaries bear “bold” testamonies.
So back to us. Elder Storrer suddenly was having problems
speaking German, and the Bishop said, “Perhaps it would be okay if we spoke in
English. In that room was one man who
does not speak a fair amount of English.
It was a blessing for it allowed me to know exactly what they were
talking about and contribute. The Lord
has promised me that I would have what I need when I needed it. I pretty much told them quickly about Alma
31-32. Bishop Schubert did not seem to
happy and a little impatient when I started on the scripture. But I just
ignored him. Then I told them, “People are not converted to the gospel of
Christ, unless they have a need.” As
strangers we do not know what the needs of the less actives are. Surely there are members here who know them,
and can help us. We cannot do, as
strangers, what the members and people they know can do. We are willing to work with the members, but
without them we will just continue to do what every other missionary couple has
done, with exactly the same results.
There were those in the room who grasped the picture quickly. Brüder Brunner, the High Priest Group leader
kept nodding his head. Brüder Denng, in
the Bishopric just stared at me. But you
could see in his eyes that he felt the spirit, because I felt the spirit as I
spoke. I knew that they were not my
words, but the words the Lord would have me say. I asked for a possible list of
people who knew them. I mentioned Samaia, the 18 year old, and reminded them,
that she is the perfect example of how successful we will be if we just go
through the motions.
Elder Storrer spoke up
and said, “Our goal is to have success.”
Elisha Grünnaur, the
other counselor, suggested exactly what we were fishing for—a home teaching and
visiting teaching list. While Brüder
Dengg commented, “Do they even have home
and visiting teachers.
Brüder Fegg, the
Elder’s quorum president agreed to create a list. Now we have to get the RS to produce one, and
they were not represented that evening.
In the past we have
always had to wait, and I am sure this is no different. So we will continue to formulate our plan and
move ahead in a different direction for a second confirmation.
But as we have studied
the scriptures, and been preparing and planning. We have talked a lot about needs and talking
to our Heavenly Father about it. We have
also talked about praying to understand how they feel. Elder Storrer and I had a disagreement the
night before. I feel that without the
language, I am always walking around the parameters. And I like a little independence but more
than that I feel that I have to constantly fight for my individualism. This is not the first time in our marriage that
this problem has arisen, so I will not let it go as far as it had before. Well Norm went to the Lord and asked if he
could feel how I feel. He was shocked
and frightened to find that it leaves me with a very empty feeling. I thought about that as I took my shower and
realized that yes it does leave me empty, because when I feel that my
individuality is being tugged from me, I do feel empty. I feel that I am not me. But it was a very interesting experience
because this came out of it.
When the Savior was in
the Garden of Gethsemane did He ask the Father to let him feel how the sinner
feels. We know that Joseph Smith had to
study and constantly ask. Is that how
the Savior, who had been sin free learn the last great lesson He had to learn?
Before he paid for the sins of the world.
Just something to
ponder.
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