Meeting a 70! (Week 58 In The Field)

So we had not only a great week, but a successful one too. On Wednesday we had what is called a mission tour, where a member of the first quorum of the 70, or an apostle comes to speak to our mission. (In this case it was a member of the 70, Elder David S. Baxter). Anyways that meeting lasted the whole day, and was up at the very north end of our mission in Parker. The drive up was beautiful and so was being there.

I saw the area and I was like oh man what I would give to serve up here. Everyone who serves up there says it's the place to be. Anyways, the meeting started at 10 AM and went to 4 PM. The meeting was awesome, and Elder Baxter is an amazing speaker, we were so blessed to be able to have him come speak to us.

He talked a lot on the conversion process a person must feel before they decide to be baptized and we also had a 2 hour question and answer session with him. There were a couple of silly questions that were asked, but more of them were serious and the spirit was just so strong there. And as I mentioned last week, half way through the meeting a few missionaries and I did a special musical number of I Am A Child Of God. It was a little different from the regular song because a missionary named Elder Wasden Composed the music himself. One sister played the violin, while he played the piano and 5 of us Elders sang. It was so beautiful, and the spirit was so strong during it. I had a solo part, the first verse, and then a duet with another Elder for the second, and then we all sang the first verse. I wish I recorded it because it was amazing. I was super nervous at first, like my heart was thumping so hard I thought you would be able to hear through the mic but it ended up going well, I calmed down once I began singing. :) So yeah that went really well.

Oh, Something I forgot to mention is that each missionary got to meet Elder Baxter personally which was cool. He is like the British version of Elder Holland, doesn't sugar coat anything.

The rest of the week was really good, we did some more service for our potential investigator, and I think he is really starting to feel the love of Christ from our service. We have been doing service for him every week. His name is Shawn and he is just the nicest guy ever. Please pray that he will have a desire to actually meet with us to do a lesson and come to church.

We also met with our investigator Duane and he is awesome. He is an ex marine, so he looks super scary but he is just the nicest guy. We hardly have to teach him though. We started teaching him the plan of salvation and all we have to do is state one principal and he will figure out the rest himself. He believed everything we taught him and we didn't have to teach him much. We state a small principal and he will talk his way into understanding it. And oh boy can he talk. We took a priest out with us that day so that was a good experience for him. Please pray for Duane that he will have the desire to be baptized.

One other thing that has been amazing lately is that we have been asking members that we have dinner with, the day before, what they would like us to teach for the spiritual thought that night. And the spirit has been so much stronger during lessons. A member told us last night that the thought we shared helped him a lot and that it was exactly what he needed to hear.

Well I gotta wrap up, I just love being a missionary so much and am so thankful for this short time I have to be able to serve the Lord. I love and miss you all so much and hope you have an amazing week!

Elder Greer

North Zone Mission Tour Pic

Interviews With The President (Week 57 In The Field)

So last week we had interviews with our mission president, everything was normal and the interviews went great. The next day we were asked to help at the new family history center for about 3 hours. President and his wife sister Rehm were there finishing up interviews for missionaries in our zone. So everything was still normal, that day the local news paper company was coming to do an interview with some of the people who work at the family history center, and to take pictures, because it is brand new and super nice. So we had the job of cleaning it up and decorating it to make it look nice.

Anyways, the family history center is right next to where sister Rehm and the other missionaries were sitting waiting for their interview. So when we weren't doing anything, we went to go talk to the missionaries and sister Rehm. While we were talking, a guy walks into the building, and starts asking us for help. He claims the spirit guided him here to help him with some financial issues he's having. He's not a member. So he comes up and talks to Elder Seymour and I, we told him we can give him the bishops number.

While one of the family history consultants scrambled to get a hold of one of the 4 bishops near the area I went to go sit down with Sister Rehm and she just looks super frustrated. Anyways, he comes to sit down soon after. Sister Rehm starts asking him questions, like if he has family nearby. Then he just blows up, super angry and says ma'am, do you think I would be here if I had family to help, don't you believe we are all family through God? Sister Rehm stays all calm and composed, which was amazing, I can tell she was mad. She tells him: Sir, I do believe we are all brothers and sisters and I was just asking because those are the people you should go to first for help. And then she tells him how she is just worried because people come in off the streets, and basically come in and just use us for our money. The guy is super angry at this point, but then the family history consultant comes in and gives him the bishops phone number.

Sister Rehm gets really bold here, and says if the spirit guided you here, then it is because the Lord wants you to hear more of the restored gospel. The guy says well I don't doubt that. Then she invites him to come to church on Sunday to see if he is truly serious about learning what we believe or if he's just using us for money. He told her he would come. After, Sister Rehm gets up and leaves to cool her tension. The guy is just about to leave but we asked him if he would like to pray with us before he goes. He was asking sister Rehm earlier if she would pray for him during the argument, but she declined. Not because she didn't want to, it was just because the spirit was not in the room the time they were arguing.

So we prayed with him and we each said a prayer with him, one of the sister missionaries that joined in after her interview, Elder Seymour, and me. We went in a separate room to pray. Before we prayed we just told him that Sister Rehm is just looking out for us and making sure we aren't being used, and he completely understood after we told him that. So we each said our prayer and while we were saying ours he would like talk during it, saying amen and a bunch of other stuff. The guy is nuts haha.

After, he stands up and thanks us and then he says, you wanna know what my office is for the church I go to, I'm a prophet. In my head I was thinking no you are not, there is only one and that is president Thomas S. Monson, but I didn't say that because I didn't want to cause more contention. Right before he walks out the door, he turns to me and says you know, you got a good spirit about you, you will go very far in life. I thanked him, that was a super nice compliment, but there is something wrong with this guy. After, sister Rehm comes up to me and is like, you better call me and let me know if he comes to church, I wanna know if he will show up or not.

So that Sunday rolls around and needless to say he never showed up. I kinda expected him not to. So Sister Rehm ended up being right, so we called her, she didn't answer but we left a message letting her know. So thats my crazy story from last week haha, it was pretty funny.

Not much else happened this week, we did service with a potential investigator we are working with, and brought some members from the ward with us to fellowship. After, we had a great conversation about our church and I think it went super well. I'm sure after that, he will progress soon.

So on Wednesday we are having a mission tour. A member of the 70 will be coming to talk to our mission. I was also asked to sing a solo for it. I am super nervous but at least it's only the first verse of I am a child of God. And then I will have a few other Elders sing with me the second and third verse. So wish me luck! :) I hope you all have a great week! I love and miss you! :)

Elder Greer

Another Trip to Garden of the Gods!

Random Pictures (Week 56 In The Field)

Goofing around!

Sister Gallegos at the Family History Fair!

P-Day Glow In The Dark Mini Golf!

Pumpkin Carving :)

Random Member Going As a Ghost Buster!