Dinkytown Week 3 (May 19)

This week we had zone conference. My first zone conference as a zone leader! We prepped the church for the conference and found people for prayers, etc. We gave a training on how to effectively use joint teachers in lessons. Elder Harrison and I, along with two other elders, sang "Redeemer of Israel" for a special musical number. One of the other Elders is a musical genius so he did some arrangement stuff and the song was amazing. The whole conference was about the role of the family and how this mission is supposed to create a foundation upon which we can build our future home.  I recieved a lot of revelation on who I need to become to maximize my potential.

 

At the institute building one night I started talking to a member of the Bishopric. He had this tie with a bunch of little elephants on it. I complimented him on his tie and told him how sweet it was. To my horror he said, "really? It's yours!" I tried to tell him I did not want his tie but he took it off right then and there and put it in my hand. He wouldnt let me give it back. I felt pretty horrible about taking this man's elephant tie and I told Elder Harrison what happened (he was on the other side of the room). He was like, "it happened to you too??? shoot! I forgot to warn you!" so now we both have ties from him. And now I have an elephant tie.

 

We have been teaching a girl named DF the past few weeks. She is agnostic only because she cannot disprove God, but she doesnt really believe he exists. But she has kept every commitment and come to church twice. I am really quite amazed at how much her faith has grown in this last two weeks. We truly develop faith as we keep God's commandments, pray, and study the scriptures. Her prayers have gone from a skeptical nature to a i really want to know if you are there nature and it is super sweet to see her development as a disciple of Christ. Sadly, she leaves for wisconsin for the summer so we had our last lesson with her on Saturday. But we will be emailing her and we have referred her to missionaries there.

 

So at DF's lesson the joint teacher brought a My Little Pony stuffed animal because they both love My Little Pony. Nate, one of my friends back in AZ, recently sent me a package in which he put a my little pony figurine in there with the comment that he felt it "captured my personality." ha ha. Anyway, i brought up the fact that Nate had sent the pony to me and made aforementioned comment. DF asked me to describe the Pony. I described it to her and she pulled up a picture of it on her phone. DF said the Pony's name is Twilight Sparkle. Elder Harrison burst into laughter. Aparently my personality is that of a twilight sparkle. To make things even better, a member walked by who loves to give people nicknames (she gave Elder Harrison the nickname Elder Bacon and hadnt thought of one for me yet) and she overheard this coversation. She spoke up and said," Elder Sparkle! Thats it! Thats your nickname!" so yeah. im now Elder Sparkle in the YSA ward here. (I wore a blue tie that has a little bit of sparkle in it to Church that sunday just for kicks and giggles. shout out to Anna Griffin for sending me that tie for my birthday :) )

 

Mildly amusing story round two: on exchanges this week i took an elder to visit a media referral in St Paul. we went to this area where we were the only two white people in miles. It was sweet :) anyway, we find the referral's house and the brother let us in the doorstep. Then this little poodle jumps up on me. So i gently push it down and notice a drop of water on my shoe. realization crept into my mind as the dog jumped up again. I quickly pushed it down again and looked down. My leg was soaked. so yep. I got urinated on by a dog this week.

 

So we taught this Catholic guy last week who wanted to meet up with us again this week. So we invited a Recent Convert in our ward who converted from Catholocism. Right before the lesson the investigator texted us and asked if he could bring a friend. In the missionary world this means two things: it's a sweet miracle and its going to be a powerful lesson or the other person is coming to bash. Usually it is a bash. But we werent worried because our Joint teacher is the MAN. So the two investigators show up and sure enough start to ask some loaded questions. Our joint teacher asked if he could answer a few of them and we happily obliged because we knew his conversion story. This member actually studied at the Vatican for 7 years. He knows a ton of the major catholic leaders at the moment and has had personal time with the previous pope on multiple occasions. (he said the old pope was as big as an ewok. we started laughing and he said, "you think i am kidding but i am not. seriously." I have never heard anyone compare the pope to an ewok.) The two catholic investigators brought up some other catholic leaders and out JT talked about how he took classes from them and had dinner with them and all this tuff. Their faces were really quite amusing this whole time. And our joint teacher is a genius and knows everything about everything about the Catholic church. So yep. The two catholics decided they didnt want to pick a fight and the friend who came to bash was pretty quiet the whole time. :)

 

Sunday night we went to the Mission President's Fireside where recent converts tell their conversion stories. These things are always interesting. the first person spoke and talked about how the Spirit told him to street race on the local highway and he was going 105 mph and the Spirit told him to go faster. He said the spirit was trying to tell him that he was set free by baptism. Our mission president was squirming. The second guy grew up in chicago and he said that he loved us missionaries. he said, "18 year olds where i am from carry pistols and they rob and snatch purses, not wear shirts and ties." He has a legit story and a love for the Lord.

 

anyway, time is super short so i must be off! This week I have been really focused on 2 ne 27:20 "I am able to do mine own work"

this is God's work! not our own! As full time or member missionaries we can have the confidence that if we just put forth our efforts he takes care of the rest. we just have to not be afraid to open our mouths.

 

i love you all! have a great week!

Elder Damron