Que tal mis familiares y amigos?!!
Well, this week was pretty good. We didn't have as many lessons as we
were hoping, nor did we have anyone come to Church. Which that might
have been partially because it was Stake Conference. Just the fact
that it'll be in a different place, with different people sometimes
scares people off a little bit. Plus, because we weren't able to get
as many lessons as we wanted and because we saw people less than we
normally do we weren't able to invite people as much as we wanted to
do. But that's ok. Elder Payne and I spent some time figuring out some
ways to stay in contact with people a lot more throughout the week so
that we can 1) have more lessons by keeping in touch 2) have contact
even when people can't have lessons 3) follow up a lot more, and a lot
more frequently and 4) invite people to Sacrament Meeting and other
activities much more. Pretty much after a second week that kind of was
sub-par, and after lots of us dropping the ball in little things we
decided to do much better, and try to leave nothing undone in our
efforts to help these people we have stewardship over.
In other news, our Stake Conference was great! We had a Seventy here,
Elder Bowen. It's funny because Elder Payne is from Blackfoot, Idaho
and Elder Bowen is from Idaho Falls, about 15-20 min. north of
Blackfoot; so Elder Payne was pretty excited to have him there and was
geeking out a little bit :) But it really was really cool to have
Elder Bowen there. He had a lot of good instruction that he gave the
Stake and, through the Holy Ghost that he invited in, to each of us
individually. I really learned a lot from him about how to help
members be good member missionaries (and how to be a good missionary
when I get back). He had us "full-time missionaries" stand and then he
talked about how, as great as we are, we're not enough. He asked the
members, "how many people do you know here in Fairfield? Do you think
you know more than the missionaries?" and the answer of course is,
yes. In where we live (assuming we stay there for at least a year or
two) we each meet and get to know much more people than the
missionaries ever can while there for a few months. And so members, as
we've heard since the dawn of time, are the key. But he didn't stop
there of course. He talked about how members have to be bold, and open
their mouth. He shared that he personally likes to ask in most of the
conversations he has with new people he meets "Are you a Mormon?" and
that he nearly always has an opportunity to share the Gospel with them
because of that, and in a non-threateningly way. I personally resolved
to be more bold, and at the same time natural, with talking to people.
He also talked about how sometimes we have friends that already know
that we're members of the Church, and that sometimes, because they're
good friends we have a hard time knowing how, exactly, to share more
with them. He said that often we have a fear of offending them, or of
being rejected. But then he talked about how it's the same for the
friends on their side. Our friends see us and they have questions,
they notice something different. And because they appreciate our
friendship a lot they don't want to offend us by asking their
questions. And so he said that one really good way to approach friends
like that is to just say to them something like, "Hey, if I were you
I'd have some questions about me. I just want you to know that you can
ask me, I won't get offended or mad at all." And just help them feel
comfortable with asking questions. And then be bold in your answers.
I want to end with another thought from Elder Bowen. He also talked in
conjunction with this about how our duty is to open our mouth and be
bold, not to worry about what happens after that. Our experiences may
range from angry rejection to mere curiosity to eager seeking and
acceptance, but that doesn't matter. Just open your mouth. I love
y'all and wish you well this week!
-Elder Whitaker
Well, this week was pretty good. We didn't have as many lessons as we
were hoping, nor did we have anyone come to Church. Which that might
have been partially because it was Stake Conference. Just the fact
that it'll be in a different place, with different people sometimes
scares people off a little bit. Plus, because we weren't able to get
as many lessons as we wanted and because we saw people less than we
normally do we weren't able to invite people as much as we wanted to
do. But that's ok. Elder Payne and I spent some time figuring out some
ways to stay in contact with people a lot more throughout the week so
that we can 1) have more lessons by keeping in touch 2) have contact
even when people can't have lessons 3) follow up a lot more, and a lot
more frequently and 4) invite people to Sacrament Meeting and other
activities much more. Pretty much after a second week that kind of was
sub-par, and after lots of us dropping the ball in little things we
decided to do much better, and try to leave nothing undone in our
efforts to help these people we have stewardship over.
In other news, our Stake Conference was great! We had a Seventy here,
Elder Bowen. It's funny because Elder Payne is from Blackfoot, Idaho
and Elder Bowen is from Idaho Falls, about 15-20 min. north of
Blackfoot; so Elder Payne was pretty excited to have him there and was
geeking out a little bit :) But it really was really cool to have
Elder Bowen there. He had a lot of good instruction that he gave the
Stake and, through the Holy Ghost that he invited in, to each of us
individually. I really learned a lot from him about how to help
members be good member missionaries (and how to be a good missionary
when I get back). He had us "full-time missionaries" stand and then he
talked about how, as great as we are, we're not enough. He asked the
members, "how many people do you know here in Fairfield? Do you think
you know more than the missionaries?" and the answer of course is,
yes. In where we live (assuming we stay there for at least a year or
two) we each meet and get to know much more people than the
missionaries ever can while there for a few months. And so members, as
we've heard since the dawn of time, are the key. But he didn't stop
there of course. He talked about how members have to be bold, and open
their mouth. He shared that he personally likes to ask in most of the
conversations he has with new people he meets "Are you a Mormon?" and
that he nearly always has an opportunity to share the Gospel with them
because of that, and in a non-threateningly way. I personally resolved
to be more bold, and at the same time natural, with talking to people.
He also talked about how sometimes we have friends that already know
that we're members of the Church, and that sometimes, because they're
good friends we have a hard time knowing how, exactly, to share more
with them. He said that often we have a fear of offending them, or of
being rejected. But then he talked about how it's the same for the
friends on their side. Our friends see us and they have questions,
they notice something different. And because they appreciate our
friendship a lot they don't want to offend us by asking their
questions. And so he said that one really good way to approach friends
like that is to just say to them something like, "Hey, if I were you
I'd have some questions about me. I just want you to know that you can
ask me, I won't get offended or mad at all." And just help them feel
comfortable with asking questions. And then be bold in your answers.
I want to end with another thought from Elder Bowen. He also talked in
conjunction with this about how our duty is to open our mouth and be
bold, not to worry about what happens after that. Our experiences may
range from angry rejection to mere curiosity to eager seeking and
acceptance, but that doesn't matter. Just open your mouth. I love
y'all and wish you well this week!
-Elder Whitaker