Hey everyone! This week is going to be weird because I turn 20 tomorrow and then the day after that I hit my 6 month mark. Time flys by fast. I am going to feel ancient though... Oh well. I guess I will just get over it. But I definatly will miss being a teenager. It gives me excuses for being immature;) haha. But we got a good next couple of days going because we are going to the City muesum today with 20 other missionaries and then tomorrow we get to go to the temple on my Birthday after we go out to lunch with some other missionaries after district meeting. This last week has been a lot of work though...
Tuesday we did some service for this lady Jackie again. Then taught her a lesson after. Before we went there my comp and I decided we were going to find out whether we would drop her or not. I was getting a feeling she was just using us for free labor. So we went there with a member did some work then sat down and and a discussion with her. We told her we were not coming back again after that lesson because she said she had no interest at all. Never did. We figured out that for the past year missionaries had been just going there to waiste time because she told the first missionaries who started to do service for her that she did not care to hear what they had to say. We have been doing a lot of cleaning up from missionaries who have been here in the past but it is fine. I am just glad we got everything out. I had no clue what she had said to other missionaries in the past, niether did my companion. That night at dinner at a members place one of the boys in the family does Native American hoop dancing. He promised he would do it for us when we had dinner over there. It was really cool actually. You have to be Native American to be able to touch the hoops so he taught me how to do a little. One pday we are going to go there and he is going to teach me how to do a full dance. Even though I am only a 1/16th Cheeroke It still qualifys me to be able to do it. haha.
Wednesday was good. We decidied to track which ended up going very well becaue we taught a couple lessons at peoples doorsteps and gained some potentials. When we try not to tract as much it seems to go well when we do. I always make it be a last resort. We dropped some more investigators that day also.... But that night at an appoinment with Shane we got a commitment to Baptism from him!!! We just have to figure out a date now. He knows he as to make many changes before he takes that step though. Please pray for him.
Thursday was probably the best day we had this week. We had many appointments that day. We dropped one more person that day too... But that is part of the process, gaining new investigators and dropping others who are not really keeping commitments and do not care so much to keep them. Like last week we gained 4 but then this week we dropped 3. It is the sifting process. We had a dinner appoinmtnet that night with a recent convert, but they canceled on us last second. So we went tracting for a little bit. The first door we knocked on it was a buhdist guy. We were there talking for a while. We gave him a Book of Mormon and a Resotration dvd. Before he left he was like I want to donate some money to you for giving me all this stuff. I said please you do not need to dnoate for this. It is a gift from God. Then he said well then take this money and go get yoursevles dinner on me. He kept insisting to the point it put the money in my pocket. (he had no clue our dinner appointment was canceled) That was really cool though. Then we knocked on a door, which the family was eating dinner. THey said they were intrested to hear so we set up an appointment for the next day to teach the family. I was very excited about that!!!
Friday monring we went to that house for the appoinment with a member. We were so excited for this appointment because it was a whole family. We prepared our lesson so well that day in comp study. We get there and there was no answer to the door. We checked back there an hour later, no one was there still. That stunk but oh well. Hopefully they had something going on that they forgot about because it is spring break for them right now. That night we went to the Viewing of Jamie Haubner, which is the first counsler in the wards wife. They called us that day and asked if we could be there for the whole viewing because many non members would be there. We had a table set up with Books of Mormon and pass along cards. They had a sign saying if you would like to learn more about Jamies' faith please take one and or talk to the missionaries. We talked to a few people there. We talked with this Orthodox Jew for over an hour. That was the most interesting conversation I have ever had. He tried Bible Bashing, We did not bash, but he would misqoute the Bible and we would correct it. People out here act like they know the Bible so well out here. SO I always have to check the scripture they are quoting. But for the most part it was a good converastion. It was sad though in the fact that the Viewing was actually closed casket. They had a bunch of pictures and stuff set up and videos and people were there with the Family in support. They had to have it closed casket because Jamie Hauber was gored by a bull.
Saturday morning we went to the funeral. It was a very muscial funeral because Jamie Haubner was a music teacher and also had a little farm. I never got to tmeet her but I already know what kind of person she really was. I know she was a great person because many people love her and were in support of her. She did not have a single mean bone in her body, she would not even kill spiders. The service was beautiful though. The talks and music was awesome. She had 7 kids. 6 daughters and 1 son. Most of them are out of the house though. When one daughter spoke she stated that how her mother wanted to die from something awesome or while she was doing something awesome. So she was like well way to go Mom you were gored by a bull. Saying it in a joking way of course. It was nice to be at a funeral that was not all dramatized and depressing like the ones I experienced in E. St. Louis. People were crying and screaming their heads off at the ones there that I were at. It was nice to be at a members funeral who was not like that. The Family knows that they will be together forever. That is a great blessing is having the Temples where we are sealed for time and all eternity. And that family konws that.
Sunday we had ward council and then church. No investigators came to church though... that was sadening. Oh well. W saw a part member after our dinner appointment and we should be starting to teach the part members wife soon now! So things are coming around. I know that as long as we keep up our faith that things will always turn out. At times things get depressing because they are not going well but it will turn around if you keep the faith. I know this to be true. I hope you all have a great week, a blessed week.
Love,
Elder Derek Turner
*SERVING IN ZION*
