Dinkytown week 8

Elder Wall saw his first man in a dress on Friday. His reaction made me laugh harder than Elder Wall when he realized what he was seeing. Oh college kids...

 

We had our last zone training with President Clements this last week. He leaves Fridayand President Forbes will take over. I can't believe he is leaving... But change is the name of the game. I conducted at the zone conference and it was a little nerve wracking.

 

We had a sweet lesson with sister JS. She is really close to baptism and we hadn't taught tithing yet so we discussed that. She does not have a lot and is currently looking for a job. She wasn't too committed to it but we felt inspired to promise her that if she commits, with real intent, to pay tithing after her baptism that she will not only find a job but God will bless her to keep it long time. The Spirit was strong and she committed. I feel quite confident that that is a blessing the Lord wants to grant her.

 

So there was a lot of craziness this week. I was on exchanges in another town with a young missionary when I get a call from Elder Wall. He told me that brother TO called him freaking out and said he was leaving to go back to Kentucky. Elder Well went over to his house immediately and talked with him. He got in trouble with work and he was trying to run from the problem. Elder Wall handled it with ease. I love that Elder. Well the next day we had a scheduled appointment and we get a text from him telling us that he is going back to Kentucky so he wont be there tonight. We were a little shocked and before he could reply he said he wouldnt be leaving before 8 Pm. we said, "good. we will be there at 7:30." So we went over and he told us it is good he is going back so that he can be happy. He feels oppressed here. I looked him in the eye and quite boldy told him that we as missionaries are sent by the Lord Jesus Christ to help people make changes in their lives that will lead them to be baptized. Then we read 3 Ne 9:13-14 and I told him that baptism is the only thing that will heal the effects of his mistakes in this life. I told him that if he went to kentucky he would never find the happiness in his life he is seeking. Happiness only comes through Jesus Christ and he was trying to run from Him (he admitted to us a couple days prior that if he went back to kentucky he would probably get dragged back into drug dealing). Then Elder Wall talked about how if an alcholic goes to a bar he is going to relapse. He can insist he wont drink and bring 10 friends with him to try and protect him but the result is inevitable. He will drink again. Elder Wall told him that if he went to Kentucky he would get sucked back in and be worse off than he was before. We prayed with him, hugged him, told him that we loved him, and then told him to think of what the Savior wants him to do. He was quite visibly shaken and even crying a little bit. The Spirit was super strong. I truly felt as if we had taught with power and authority. it was remarkable. Then his boss came in and talked to him about the consequences of his actions. That night we got a text from the member we lived with saying TO had left....

In the morning we woke up to roughly 12 texts! TO had gotten to St Paul and then turned around and came back because he felt like he was making a huge mistake!!!! The member told us that what we said to him really got to him (which means that the Spirit really got to him) and he came back! Elder Wall went over with one of the assistants later that night (I was in Bloomington) and TO said that we were right and if he went back he would end up in prison. So after a really eventful week he is back. :)

 

Thursday was a crazy day for us. we helped a senior couple move out of their townhome then had 2 hours of phone calls and then we were rushing to the institute building to teach an investigator. as we drove I said to elder wall, "everything that could happen today has happened." then we went over a rail road track and heard a thud then a hissing like noise. So we pulled over and looked around the car. The screws on the plastic cover under the front bumper had rusted off and fell off as we went over the tracks. We called teh sisters and had them teach our lesson and then we jacked the car up and 40 minutes later removed the plastic. as we were driving away I said, "wow. everything that..." then elder wall cut me off and said, "STOP. DONT SAY IT AGAIN." ha ha.

 

This week I have thought a lot about remembrance. I think of the sacrament prayer, " O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat inremembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen."

 

And moroni 10:3 "3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts."

 

Having the Spirit with us, being able to recieve answers to our prayers, and even being forgiven of our sins all centers around remembrance. In fact, the Book of Mormon is a book of remembrance! one of its purposes is to help us remember the tender mercies of the Lord! ( 1 ne 1:20 And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.)  As we remember how merciful the Lord has been to us and all of those around us, the appreciation we have for the Atonement will deepen. We will live richer, happier lives and truly begin to take upon us the countenance of Christ.

 

I love you all! Have a fantasic week!

Elder Damron