It has been another week. This week the
temperature has been consistently cold with temperatures being above
-10 on certain days. But we did have a full Church service yesterday
with no setbacks although we did get 4 inches of snow Saturday
night. That prevented all of the Liverpool members from coming to
Church because the roads didn't get plowed in time. That was the case
for most of the members that lived outside of Bridgewater. We were small
in number for Church.
It was Austin Fraser's
(The bishop's son) mission farewell yesterday. He will be going to the
Congo Mission. He flies to the Ghana MTC Thursday
morning. In his farewell talk, he spoke of the challenges he faced when
he was trying to get his visa for the Congo. He said he was on the phone
constantly with Salt Lake and with the government, He said he had a
hard time speaking with the Tongan lady from the government. He spoke of
how he felt stressed and anxious throughout the process. He related
that to Satan and how he tried to stop him from serving a mission. He
also talked about how his mission will be hard and there will be times
where he will want to give up. He talked about how in those moments he
will need to rely on the Savior the most. It was a good farewell talk
overall. It was different going to a farewell from a missionary's
perspective. Because I know what he will be going through and the things
he will experience. I know the things he will experience already
because I've experienced them. We also went to his open house on Saturday
night at the Church. There was a good amount of people there. There was
some nice food and good fellowship. It took me back to my farewell. It
feels like that was just 2 weeks ago.
We
got two potential investigators this week. One was on Monday night.
While Elder Quinton and Brother Whiting were teaching, me & Elder Evans went knocking. We knocked into a old couple
that let us right in. We taught them a 20
minute Restoration and left them with a Book of Mormon and our number.
She seemed more interested then he did. She was asking lots of questions
about what we do and about the Book of Mormon.
The
other potential was in Chester. It was a young mother and her family.
We were knocking and they let us right in. We explained to her our basic
beliefs. She was very busy so we didn't have a lot of time to talk to
her. But she invited us back at another time when she's not busy. We
grabbed her name and number from her.
On Wednesday
we watched the Worldwide Missionary Training over the internet in
Sackville as a District. Elder Andersen, Elder Bednar, Elder Oaks,
Sister Oscarson, L. Whitney Clayton, and Elder Nielsen all spoke. I took
a lot of notes so I'll just summarize what they said. Elder Andersen
spoke of the doctrine of Christ and how as missionaries we need to have
Jesus Christ's name on our lips all the time and how we need to be ready
to testify of him at all times. Elder Bednar spoke of the Role of the
Holy Ghost. He spoke of how we need to be worthy vessels of the Holy
Ghost to work through us. He said if we're disobedient the Holy Ghost
can't work through us. He said our job is to bring the spirit unto the
heart of the investigator not into. Elder Oaks spoke of our callings as
missionaries and how this is the most important work we'll ever do. He
also spoke of our divine opportunity to be missionaries. L. Whitney
Clayton spoke of finding thorough less actives and part-members. He
said that we need to treat less actives and part-members as
investigators by teaching them the missionary lessons and rekindling
their faith. Sister Oscarson spoke on Teaching People, Not lessons.
Elder Nielson spoke of working with members to build up the kingdom of
God. The main thing that stuck out to me was I need to testify of Jesus Christ
more and talk to everyone. I also want to be more discerning in
lessons. Those are all my notes. Hopefully Chris can fill in all the
gaps I missed with that iPad of his.
After the
training we traveled back to Bridgewater and had fish & chips with
the Harlows. They were the best fish & chips I've ever had my whole
mission. It was the first time I've had sea food in a while. They were
so good. I'm converted to fish & chips now. After the dinner appointment we went
knocking before Ward Council. While we were knocking, me and my
companions were wrestling around the snow. Elder Evans ended up having a rip down the middle of the back of his pants. Haha! It was so
funny. Luckily his coat was long enough to cover the rip; he just had to sit
down and walk around very carefully. I remember hearing a similar story
from Dad on his mission.
On Friday, we went to Mahone Bay. In Mahone Bay we
talked to a "Evangelical Atheist." I know. It doesn't seem quite right to us
either but he told us we were crazy and that we're a joke. A lot of people were rude to us
that day actually. It was a hard day.
On Sunday, we got told that we were teaching Sunday School with 3 minutes notice. We taught the Sunday
School class with 12 youth from ages 8-16. Instead of teaching a
lesson we did Q & A session with the youth. They mostly asked us
silly questions about our missions like "Why aren't you allowed to do
this, Why aren't you allowed to do that." But
they did some good questions like "My brother talks about how he had
the spirit with him all the time on his mission but when he got home he
still had it with him but not as much as he did on his mission, why is
that?". We answered with when you're on a mission you are on the
front-line of an army; when you're off a mission you're not on the
front-line. He had the spirit with him when he needed it for 2 years
straight. When you're home you don't need it as much but you can still
have it. The same youth asked the question "If you're in a bad place can
the Holy Ghost tell you to leave even though you're in a bad environment?"
It is a good question and the answer is yes. If you are being worthy
of the Holy Ghost then you are able to receive promptings even in a
inappropriate circumstance. There were some other good questions asked
by the youth. I was impressed with the quality of the youth in the ward.
The youth here are stalwarts. There is no cliques with them. They are
all a big group of friends. Most of them said they want to serve
missions.
There
is a sad side to the week. Over the last month 3 Elders have gone home
early for medical reasons. This week a Sister Missionary that I served
with in Houlton had to go home early as well. It made me really sad when
I found that out. This Sister was a really good missionary and I had a
great time serving with her. It is hard when you see missionaries you
served around and that you've served with go home early for medical
issues. It just breaks my heart to see these missionaries who have a
strong desire to serve the Lord and are dedicated have their missions
cut short because of things they can't control. My heart goes out to
them.
Have a good week!
Love,
Elder O'Brien (the older)
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