Dinkytown Week 4 (May 26)

So since today is a holiday my email will probably be short. LIbraries are closed and we have reduced email time. 

This week we taught Brother J twice. He has had some serious legal issues from a lot of mistakes he has made. We gave him Alma 36 to read last week and it was super sweet when we came back and he basically bore his testimony to us how he has started to feel what Alma felt. His soul was really comforted. We also taught him the Plan of Salvation and we incorporated a lot of elements of repentance in the lesson. He just kept telling us how much he really needed to hear this message right now. So it was super sweet :)

We also have picked up a liberian girl, Sister JS, this last week. She was being taught by sisters in another town but since she is coming to the YSA ward they referred her to us. She has set a baptismal date and she LOVES the Book of Mormon. She has read about half of it the last few weeks and her recollection of it is absolutely insane. We asked her about her reading and she had read the first 2 books of Nephi. We asked if she remembers any details and she began to explain how much she liked the vision of the tree of life. She said she remembered the rod, the mist, the big building, the tree, and everything else. We sat there stunned. Then Sister Clements, the our mission president's wife who came joint teaching, asked her if she remembered what all those things symbolized. She then went into great detail about all the symbolism. It was complete insanity. I think she knows it better than I do. ha ha. 

We also got to teach this guy named B on the street. We contacted him and he blew us off but we kept talking and he turned around like 10 feet away and asked what we were sharing. We explained a summary of the message and then he told us his best friend had died suddenly a few weeks ago and he is really struggling. He said he is terrified of death and asked us how he could find comfort. You could visibly see the pain in his eyes. We taught a summary of the Plan of Salvation and then taught about the Restoration. We read moroni 7:41 and gave him alma 40-42. We could quite literally see the Spirit easing his soul as we talked to him. it was a sweet experience. 

A more humorous experience we had this week occurred when we were teaching this girl who LOVED talking about Jesus at a table. Right as we get into the First Vision a pakistani man walks by and asks if he can join us. His english was a little rough but we said of course. We then started teaching him about Jesus and this girl we were teaching basically became our nonmember joint teacher, which was amusing all in itself. Things were going well till she started teaching the man about the trinity and he kept saying it doesnt make any sense and she agreed it doesnt make sense and said we just have to trust. He didnt like that answer and they started arguing. We sat there trying to calm them down but they had basically stopped listening to us. Eventually the whole thing collapsed and we all went our separate ways. oh man. this place is thebest. 

We also taught this guy, Brother DF, on the street. When we started talking to him we could tell he had this attitude of "im about to rock their world". He started laying into us about all these questions about the bible being translated too many times and losing vital information and how he doesnt agree with his old church because they said you must only believe and the people who have never heard of christ are going to hell. Elder Harrison stopped him and said, "You have not said a single thing yet that we disagree with." The man was REALLY taken aback. He was basically testifying of the apostacy and we were able to teach that and spark his interest. 

Mormon 9:7-10 

7 And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God,and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations,nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking withtongues, and the interpretation of tongues;

 8 Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so,he does not understand them.

 9 For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?

 10 And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.

I really like these scriptures because to me it solves the dilemma of the apostacy. God does not want us to live in confusion. A woman told me there are 44,000 registered churches in the United States. To me, that is confusion. But God still speaks to us today both personally and through prophets so we can seen the help and inspiration we need to find truth.

have a wonderful week! Love, Elder Damron