Dinkytown Week 1 (May 5)

So I'm on the University of Minnesota now. It is the Twin Cities Young Single Adults ward, we pull YSA from like 5 stakes. The ward is nicknamed Dinkytown (it is the old name) because of a strip of stores called Dinkytown one block away. Anyway, this is unlike anything I have ever seen on my mission. The work is SOOO much different. I feel like all the skills I gained the last year of my mission have been thrown out the window and I have to start from scratch. ha ha. We contact on campus all day every day. It is SO strange talking to people my own age again. It took me a few days to adjust. But it is super fun as well! I talk to ten times more people each day then before. More rejection, but also more success.

 

My first day here this guy came into the institute building (the institute is right next to the campus and we teach lessons there and contact people right outside and then bring them in for tours and stuff) and we taught him the restoration. He wanted to know what was unique about our church. At the end he said, "you have priesthood authority. You are the only church that can act in God's name." IT was pretty sweet.

 

My second day in the area I go to turn the shower on and I hear a click. The nob broke and you couldnt turn the water off. It was stuck! So we had to call the building manager who called a plumber and an hour later he came to fix it. During that time we drained all the hot water in the small apartment building. ha ha. Oh man... Later we had Vietnamese food. I had Pho for the first time. It was really good! i didnt like the beef tendons too much, though.

 

Being a zone leader is fun and challenging. I get to see the progress of all the missionaries around me as a collective whole and it is neat to see. But we get a lot of paperwork to do. Thursday we spent almost the whole day in the institute building planning all of the events for the transfer. We got a little stir crazy. One of the new missionaries in our zone is really struggling so we had lunch with him today to cheer him up and we will be exchanging later this week to bring some joy and faith into his life.

 

Friday was a bit of a bummer. 5 verified lessons with joint teachers lined up canceled on us. slightly frustrating. So we hit the campus and found some sweet people to try and teach later. Saturday's lessons fell through as well. But the lord REALLY blessed our efforts. We were about to cross the street next to campus when my companion turned around and saw this girl. So we went over to talk to her. She told us she met missionaries last year and she has been to church! she asked us to refresh her on what our message is about and so we taught her the restoration. She immediately accepted baptism and we invited her to church. She told us yes and then asked us if she should bring her book of mormon (That she still has from last year)! She told us she does not believe it is coincidence that we ran into her because each time missionaries talk to her they walk past a bunch of people and pick her out of the crowd. ANyway, the next day she came to church and in relief society she introduced herself and told everyone she would probably be the next person to join the church! She even came to the CES Devotional last night (Which was sweet, by the way. Definitely a perk of serving in the YSA ward)!! She is legit! The only minor hiccup is that she leaves in june for the summer until school starts in august. but at least she will be back.

 

Finals are going on right now so everyone is busy and 70% of the people here are leaving for the summer. WE have two chinese sisters in the ward who teach like 20 member present lessons a week. UofM has the hightest number of chinese students outside of china so they go to work.

 

Thought: 3 nephi 20:1

 1 And it came to pass that he commanded the multitude that theyshould ^acease‍ to ^bpray, and also his disciples. And he commandedthem that they should not cease to pray in their hearts.

 

The stake president challenged the zone leaders to prayerfully study this scripture and think about what it means to have a prayer in our hearts. Prayer is the way in which we align our will with God's. But how often do we pray seeking guidance or something and then forget about it a few minutes after we pray? When we continually have a prayer in our hearts we are constantly seeking to find out what the Lord's will is and to do it. This is not easy! It takes much effort and great care!

 

I love you all! Have a great day!

Elder Damron