Enjoy the long email :)
Last week I cut a suspenseful story short. I will keep the suspense going a little longer while I explain some other events of this past little while.
Zone conference was held in Brampton (part of the Greater Toronto Area) on Wednesday. We drove down to Brampton with another set of Elders the day before because it's an 8 hour journey. Ontario has some beautiful landscapes. I miss the Rocky Mountains in the west but I love the lush forests and abundance of fresh water here. I took half-decent pictures while driving to give an idea. Road trips are awesome. It's nice to take a break from proselyting and enjoy a long drive (and occasionally get pumped up from listening to Motab, Elder Holland, etc.).
At Zone Conference we watched a video of Elder Ballard talking about his experience as the Toronto Mission President many years ago. He shared the secret which increased the mission wide baptism rate from aprox. 18/month to 60/month over a short period of time. Basically it's this: if you talk to more people, you will teach more people, and you will baptize more people. We know missionary work isn't a numbers game, but the more baptisms the better eh? If missionaries never opened their mouths, millions of people today who now enjoy the eternal blessings from the gospel, would not have received it. Sometimes, I fail to open my mouth: I would hate to be the reason why a person doesn't receive the gospel until many years down the road. I have a testimony that our decisions matter not just for ourselves but for the sake of others (both temporally and spiritually). Human beings depend on each other; too many people let their friends and family down without even realizing it. When I think of the times I have let others down, I wonder how many times I have let God down. Our decisions are so important. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction--it's just the ways things work--you get out of life what you put into it. I like to keep that perspective.
Elder Fabiano and I gave talks on Sunday. He spoke on the Light of Christ and I spoke on the Mission of the Church. The mission of the church was a great topic, I love giving talks.
AND THE STORY CONTINUES
Okay, if you forgot what happened in the story from the last email and you are too lazy to go back and read it here's a quick recap: Mysterious man called us and had questions about gay marriage and abortion. We arrived at his house and he held a wooden cross in his hand, I was a bit worried. AND RESUME
We met at the bottom of the driveway, he reached out his hand and greeted us in a friendly manner. He said, "Hi I'm Martin." (not his real name). We introduced ourselves and he said come on in. There were a couple of middle aged people smoking on the front porch, he noted that they were his friends and we said hello, they were friendly too. My initial impression was that the place was a shared home for people in need. He took us downstairs to his room and sat us down on two chairs he had set up before hand. Keeping his hat and shades on, he sat comfortably on his bed and got out a pen and notebook. At this point I still didn't have a good read on what Martin's intentions were. I said a silent prayer to prepare for whatever was about to hit us.
Martin looked down at his notebook and asked his first question in a non-threatening way, "What is your churches stance on gay marriage?" Elder Fabiano opened his mouth to speak and took a few moments before he said anything. Martin interrupted the silence with a non-abrassive response, "Well, I don't agree with it." We nodded our heads and said our church doesn't support it either. I thought to myself that was easy. He then asked the next question. "What is your churches stance on abortion." Before we could answer he softly said, "I am pro-life." We nodded and said ya we agree, we are pro-life too. I'm just thinking, wow that went very well. Neither of us felt the impression to explain why the church doesn't support gay marriage and abortion. It was not necessary in this circumstance. We were happy that Martin's values were in line with God's. He also asked us what the church thought about drugs and pornography and things like that. He agreed with the churches stance on everything. He asked what makes our church different from other churches and all of these golden questions. We taught him about the restoration and gospel of Jesus Christ and gave him a Book of Mormon. He accepted it all and said he was going to read the Book of Mormon that night. Voila! 1 new investigator.
In a visit I thought might bring about bloody fists, smashed bottles, and leave 2 scrawny elders unconscious on the floor, turned out to be a highly spiritual first lesson with a humble follower of Jesus Christ. Serving a mission is lots of fun, you never know what to expect! I should mention that Martin does suffer from some minor mental issues. Although this may add some obstacles to his progression, I am looking forward to witnessing his conversion.
I am so happy I am serving a mission for the Lord. I'm grateful for the support I have received from friends and family on my journey to the present day. For a spiritual thought I invite you to read a talk by Brad Wilcox entitled, 'His Grace is Sufficient'. It's a well known talk among members of the church because it is so empowering. After reading this talk, my outlook and understanding of the Plan of Salvation and the gospel has been refined. A good understanding of Christ's grace is something I wish I had earlier in life. I've still got a lot to learn!
I strongly encourage you to take the time to read/listen to this talk, today if possible. It is sooooo good. I wish you a wonderful week!
Pictures:
1. Where the branch meets for church.
2. One of many rivers by the road on the way to Brampton.
3. Elder Wulstenhulme from Utah in the back. My companion on the right, and another Elder Johnson from Ohio behind me whom you can't see. I thought one Elder Johnson would be enough :)
4. Large area of very flat farm land is a rare site. Sorry about the window reflection.
5. Sunset from our 3rd floor apartment.
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