Last week, we got to hear a speaker named Liz Wiseman talk about seeing the potential in ourselves and in others and I've thought a lot about that message this week. As a missionary, it's very easy to see potential in people. Everyone has the potential to progress spiritually, even though some grow faster than others. As for myself, I'm learning to not be too hard on myself, I'm learning to look through Heavenly Father's eyes. Whenever you're down on yourself, just ask yourself:
How does the Lord see me? Remember, Heavenly Father always loves us, no matter what! All we can do is our best, and Jesus really does make up the rest.
Some houses we'd try to visit have fenced off their front door... Why would anyone do that? I'd never really noticed that before. Don't you want visitors? It made it harder to visit people. We met some people on Wednesday. There was one man who was walking his dog. He was curious and wanted to hear what we had to teach him. He said he'd think about learning more. Another man however, wanted us to teach him for a wrong reason. He was confused by the Book of Mormon.
In the Bible, it says we can't add to the word of God. In the Book of Revelation, it states to not add to this book. The Bible is made up of many books that have been put together to make up the Bible. What we learn from the Book of Revelation is that we cannot add to the Book of Revelation, or in that case, any other books that make up the Bible in its entirety. Also, we can't just write something random on a piece of paper and say it's of God. The Book of Mormon is also made up of a number of books that have been put together to make that book of scripture, and those books are not to be added upon either. The Book of Mormon is the word of God because He commanded the prophets to write on plates and pass them down from one generation to the next so that each generation would have a record of His commandments and of the lineage of their people, just like the prophets from the Bible. Then Joseph Smith was commanded to translate the plates, so we could have the Book of Mormon, which is another Testament of Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, as we tried to explain this, the man simply wouldn't listen. He just kept accusing the Book of Mormon for being evil, and that we should only be teaching from the Bible. We tried to explain many things to him, such as we do teach from the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon, and they go hand in hand. We don't worship Joseph Smith and our lives are centered on Jesus Christ. I took my name tag and pointed to it. I told him it says Jesus Christ, not Mormon, and not Joseph. Everything we tried to teach him seemed to go in one ear and out the other, because he couldn't understand our message. I felt like I was doing a terrible job at teaching him about our church. I was afraid contention was going to build up. He finally said farewell to us and wished us well. He told us he had a "soft spot" for missionaries, and yet he pretty much told us what we were teaching was wrong. I felt sad that we didn't get to teach him and help him understand. I also felt like I was being too bold.
But my District Leader encouraged me to read D&C 121: 41-43:
"No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile- Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy."
This weekend there was a dance for adults: single and married. It was New York themed. To say they go ALL OUT at this Ward is an understatement. There were decorations everywhere, and the food was awesome! As missionaries, we helped out in the kitchen.
Sister Hosea and I have been learning more about family history. I was able to find my grandpa, Charlie Brown, on FamilySearch. It is amazing to me that I could find him so quickly and feel such a connection to him. We want to get the Ward excited for family history as well.
- Always, Sister Brown
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