Sunday, August 18, 2013

Planting Seeds...(7/24/2013)



Hey everyone!!! 

It sounds like you had such an amazing trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons!!  I loved the pictures of the hot springs! The colors were beautiful.  I showed my companion (because he's from Wyoming) and he says, "It makes me feel trunky." I wasn't able to see all of the pictures that you guys sent because the computer I'm on wouldn't let me look at them!  But I loved the ones that I did see. I want to go there so bad!   You had better take me there when I get home! 

You bought fireworks in Wyoming on your way home?!  You guys are hypocrites!!  I was going to drive to Wyoming to get fireworks and you talked me out of it and told me I was going to get busted by the cops and crap!  But it's ok.  Being a missionary of the Lord, I'll forgive you.  Ha! :P t

So transfers were today! I stayed in the Capitol West area which covers Oxon Hill, Fort Washington, Suitland, Camp Springs and other areas around there. Anderson and I are still together, but we have a new roommate. Elder Tavana left and Elder Snow is now companions with Elder Giles. 

So this past week was really good! We got 4 new potentials, but then we had a really bad lesson with one of them. We had met Troy the week before and he seemed like a super awesome guy! We gave him a Book of Mormon to read and he said he would! So we went to his house the following Monday and as soon as we walked in we couldn't feel the spirit. We tried to ask him some BRT (building relationships and trust) questions just to get to know him and he would give us really vague answers. So then we asked him if he started reading and he said "ya".  So we asked ,"What did you think about it?" and all he said was "I didn't like it". We were really bummed! 

We tried explaining why we have the Book of Mormon and how it can bring us happiness.  We showed him how it's used with the Bible and he was completely shut off from the idea that there could be any other book besides the Bible!  We told him, "If God had scriptures, and prophets and all that back in ancient times, and He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, then why would God stop giving us revelation and scriptures? The Book of Mormon is that revelation".  But he shut that down and told us that he still didn't like it, that it wasn't important to him and that it didn't apply to him. so we left. We were both extremely depressed because neither one of us had faced that situation before. 

Elder Anderson changed that out look. he said, "Ya that lesson did suck and the spirit wasn't there, but he just wasn't ready to hear the Gospel yet.  We did everything we could think of to try to help him understand and he just wasn't open. We planted a good seed and that was what he needed for now.". That really helped me a lot to get over it. So that is my lesson to you all!  There will be those time that you share the gospel with someone and they completely shut you down.  It's uncomfortable and you don't want to do it ever again, BUT YOU MUST GO ON! YOU MUST CONTINUE ON IN THE WORK! Even if it wasn't a baptism right then and there, there was still a good seed planted and that's what they needed at that time and nothing more. Just have pacience and show that person as much love as you can.  The Lord will bless you.
I love you all!!

Elder Gold 

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