They are so pumped because of all the lessons they had this week!
Hola a todos!
Winter weather has officially set in here in Smyrna. But, the South is weird, because we've had days this month where it's been 70 and sunny, and other days the high is 40. This week was pretty darn cold though. And windy. But we are super stoked for Thanksgiving and all that good stuff. We are not sure if we'll be having a Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving because most of our members are going to be out of town this week. But, we did get invited to come to one of the member's houses in the Smyrna English ward. Apparently this guy cooks up three turkeys every year, and invites all the missionaries, so we'll at least have that to look forward to. Elder A and I certainly have a lot to be thankful for this week. We had a great week here in Smyrna!
This week started off with exchanges! Whoo! I was with Elder L again (last transfer I did an exchange with him in his area). Elder L's great, and I'm always getting new ideas from him. We had an awesome day. I was super nervous because I was going to be running the Spanish area with a companion that couldn't speak any Spanish. But, we were super blessed to find some new investigators, and we taught 4 lessons, as well as another lesson with our less active, C. Usually our goal is to have four lessons a week, but we did it in one day!! So, Elder A and I adjusted our goal to seven, and we still blew it out of the park. This week, we were incredibly blessed to teach 11 other lessons, 2 lessons with less actives (total of 13), as well as find 7 new investigators!!! Those kind of numbers are unheard of for our area!! It was so crazy! Let me give you the highlights from all those lessons:
On Wednesday, we met with the V family. They won't really commit to baptism yet, so we are trying to get them to have testimonies of the Book of Mormon first. We read part of Alma 32 with them, and had a great discussion about how they needed to experiment upon the word, plant a seed of faith, and how they could recognize answers from the Holy Ghost. The spirit was super strong, and we felt like it was just putting words into our mouths, and it was such a great experience with them. On Friday, we were finally able to meet with M, but her husband decided to not listen to us this time (dang it!). But, we had a great lesson with her. She hadn't heard from the missionaries in a while, and so we were able to re-cover the Restoration with her, with a big emphasis on Joseph Smith. Super solid. Then, on Sunday, we met with E and her inactive husband, O. We decided to focus more on E, and there was incredible spirit in the room as we taught her the Restoration, and when we recited Joseph Smith's own words in the first vision, the spirit was just amplified. E is super solid, but O is still a little apprehensive about us.
In spite of all of our lessons, we weren't able to meet with two of our most progressing investigators. O just didn't have a whole lot of time this week (he works like crazy), and H wasn't able to meet with us either. We were hoping to get H baptized this Saturday, but it's just not going to happen. Even if we had finished teaching him everything, we are still trying to find a doctor to confirm his condition. We've got members of the high council working on finding a doctor in the Stake, but they haven't gotten back to us with anything yet. (You'd think that with a stake of 1400 people that there'd be a doctor).
Speaking of the Stake, we had a great opportunity this Sunday to have Stake Conference! We had a great meeting on Saturday night that was all about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Sunday was a little interesting. First off, the meeting was held in the conference center of a hotel, so that we could fit everyone. Also, we were going to be getting a new Stake president, so Elder Zwick was back in town, as well as Elder McArthur of the 70. We received great counsel from two marvelous general authorities. They released the old Stake president, President T, and called his second counselor, President P, to be the new Stake president. Oddly enough, President P's son, Elder P, was Elder A's companion in the MTC! Small world, huh? Elder Zwick is incredible, and I really felt the spirit when he was speaking. One of the things he talked about was that (similar to Peter when he walked on the water) the Savior is simply inviting us to "Come." He invites us to simply follow him, keep his commandments, and become like He is.
Now let me tell you about the Other Gift of Tongues. Many missionaries are blessed with the gift of tongues so that they can learn a new language. I have definitely felt that so far in my mission. But, I have also developed a strong testimony in the 2nd gift of tongues, specifically, the gift of taste buds. Before my mission, I was terrified about being able to stomach weird food. But, I have definitely seen how my appetites have literally been changed. I still have a rough go at refried beans though. The gift of tongues is real. Also this week, I got to have one of my favorites, carne asada. It's soooooooooo gooooood. Not as good as bacon, but it's nice.
Recently in my studies of the Book of Mormon, I've been studying the war chapters in Alma. I've found a lot of great scriptures in there, so my next few ponderizing scriptures will be coming from there. This week, my scripture is Alma 48:17 which reads: "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." I love this scripture. The missionary work that we are engaged in is a war between us and the adversary. But, if all missionaries would be like Moroni, and study chapter 6 of Preach my Gospel, and develop those Christlike attributes, then Satan's hold on the hearts of others would be shaken forever. I leave you my testimony that this is the work of the Lord, and that this is His true church. I hope y’all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Mitchell
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