River Falls Week 7

So this weekend was pretty interesting. River Falls doesnt do anything for Fourth of July because the following week River Falls Days begin. And this is pretty serious business around here. People from all over the country fly in to return to it, people from the Twin Cities come in as well. Basically the population of this town probably doubled or tripled. And since Wisconsin the is state that leads the country in alcohol consumption, you can imagine we had a difficult time finding people to teach. Originally we were excited to go downtown and find people to teach since there were so many people. We tried once and realized that it wasnt going to work too well... 

I rode by one guy, who was stopped at the light, and he told me he loved Satan. I just kept riding. But then he drove past me holding this black book with devilish looking symbols out the window. Apparently he was serious. Ha ha. 

So we are teaching this girl named Sarah and she is super awesome. She has kept every commitment, stopped drinking, come to church the last few weeks, but still isnt 100% on baptism. She moves July 27.... so naturally we want her to get baptized on July 26th. Hopefully that will work out. SHE IS SOOOO CLOSE. 

We also taught this other lady, Amy, (I think I mentioned her last week. She said her bible tells her that infants can be baptized and whatnot) and using the scriptures we responded to all her questions and she was confounded in every sense of the word. But her heart is still not open and she blamed it on her not remembering because it has been many years. She then refused to talk to us anymore and said we must talk to her husband. It is hard when we bring a message of truth that really has basically every answer and people reject it. It puzzles me. 

So on tuesday Elder Berg and I biked about 30 miles. That was pretty crazy and fun. we rode our bikes like 5 miles out of town to this trailer park. We talked to a less active who told us that we must NOT go knocking next door because a schizophrenic lady lives there and most the time when people knock on the door she calls the cops and accuses them of some pretty terrible things. the cops come out about once a week because of it. Even the accusation of such things can get us into a lot of trouble as missionaries so we stayed away. But I realized that a few weeks ago we did knock on the door and actually met her. She was very nice but told us to come back later. It is such a sad situation. 

The next day we knocked on the door of this apartment building and this guy came out. He started yelling about a golden book and Joe Smith and told us we were nuts and ran up the stairs. In that process he slipped and totally faceplanted on the stairs. Elder Berg opened the door and said "dont trip, buddy". it was quite amusing and ironic. He then went upstairs and him and his roommates set off all their car alarms as we tried to talk to someone else. It was an interesting couple minutes.

Funny Elder Berg Moment of the Week:

I said," I need a letter opener". Elder Berg then replied,"well that is a cocky statement". I found this so funny for some reason...

So I keep mentioning Grace as one of our investigators. Well we stopped by and taught her again this week and she expressed her desire to be baptized! It was great. Well, 2 days later she said she had tried calling bishop to report us for harassment and said she would call the cops if we showed up again. Talk about a 180 turn. She then rambled about not having a boyfriend for some reason. We asked her what that was about and she forwarded us a text from 3 weeks ago where elder Berg asked her and her mother, "what is your guy's last name?" She took that as us asking for information on her boyfriend or something and that is when she dropped us originally. She is still pretty mad about it I guess. We apologized for the confusion and tried our best to get back to teach her but she said absolutely not. She is so prepared. WHat a sad situation. 

On Wednesday we taught 9 lessons. That day absolutely flew by. But it was so fun! I love teaching so much... we actually taught 153 total lessons this transfer or about 25 a week. This first transfer absolutely flew by. Hopefully we can do something similar on this transfer.

Elder Berg popped his back tire on a curb that day too. We had to go to a bike shop in town and replace the tube in it. Luckily it was pretty cheap.

I also got sick for the 3rd time on my mission. 3 times in 2 months! (Today is my 2 month mark!) Elder Berg drank from my milk on accident and gave me something wicked (He had been sick for awhile). Hopefully I can get over it quick....

I can also drive now! So I drove for the first time in awhile this week. Elder Berg still does all the driving really though. I dont mind too much. I like to sit back and watch the scenery or memorize stuff. We also cant speed. So driving is really boring.. he he.

While weekly planning in the park this man named Rod Knox approached us and started talking about religion. He is one of the first known guitarists in the Hudson area or something like that. But he loves mormons and our beliefs and what type of people we are. We taught him the resto right there, gave him a BoM, and he wants us to come over sometime! Talk about being handed an investigator by the Lord... 

So im a pretty slow biker (compared to Elder Berg. He has one speed: Mach 89) and so Elder Berg told me he would give me a dollar if I beat him to the park (Where we were teaching someone). So he took off and I just went about my normal way. Right before we got to the park, he slowed down on a hill and I zoomed past him. So i beat him to the park. He wasnt too happy about that. He tells me he doesnt believe he is gambling when he makes bets because it is not a gamble if you know you are going to win. His face was pretty priceless when he pulled up. ha ha. he wont even give me that dollar. (i wouldnt actually take it though, dont worry)

Thought of the week: Ether 2:16-20,25

16 And the Lord said: Go to work and build, after the manner of^abarges which ye have hitherto built. And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did go to work, and also his brethren, and built barges after the manner which they had built, according to the^binstructions of the Lord. And they were small, and they were light upon the water, even like unto the lightness of a fowl upon the water.

 17 And they were built after a manner that they were exceedingly^atight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish.

 18 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me, and I have made the barges according as thou hast directed me.

 19 And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish.

 20 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt make a hole in the top, and also in the bottom; and when thou shalt suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air. And if it be so that the water come in upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hole, that ye may not perish in the flood.

25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?

While reading this I felt like I should compare the barges unto our testimonies. First, verse 17 tells us they were tight like unto a dish. water could not get in. Our testimonies need to be built like this! Built with fine materials so water cannot seep in and waterlg or drown our spirituality! (so build faith on scriptures, church, etc. not going off of our parents testimonies or something). But what is important to remember is that the Lord told the Brother of Jared HOW to build that ship. The Lord has shown us how to build our faith in Him. And if we follow that counsel, we can have strong, tight testimonies. But even after the ship was completed, there was still problems (air and light). So no matter how strong our testimony is, it can always be stronger. Brother of Jared asked the Lord how to fix these problems. For one problem, the Lord gave the answer. He will tell us how to strengthen our testimonies if we ask. But the Lord told Brother of Jared to try and figure out the second one for himself. We still need to find ways to strengthen ourselves here on earth as well. That is part of learning. we cannot truly learn a whole lot if the Lord just tells us everything without us struggling to seek it out ourselves.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week! 

-Elder Damron