Hey, another week is gone. I don't know what happens to them. This one has been tough. One of the missionaries in my zone almost went home because he lost his testimony, and we almost lost two investigators because of hypocritical "fellowship." We were able to talk with our investigators and help them through it. We explained that Christ's Church isn't a place for perfect people to gather, but a place for imperfect people to get together, repent and progress through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Church is true, but the members aren't perfect. She was able to ventilate with us, and express her concerns. She felt better afterwards, and she decided that she still wants to be baptized on the 20th of this month.
The problem is that she lives in Brinnon which is 60min away from where I live, and we have limited miles on our car. Plus, everyone that lives in Brinnon is less active, so getting strong fellowship for her and her family is really difficult. We are working on it though, and the Lord is blessing us. I have really come to love 1 Nephi 3:7 on my mission.
We found a new investigator this week. He is a referral from one of our recent converts, Anne Able. Cool guy. He is making some serious changes in his life. He wants to be baptized on the 27th. I'm having so much fun out here, its great.
You can see the light in people's eyes when they feel the spirit, and they glow when they make changes in their lives that will bring them closer to their Father in Heaven.
On the other hand, you can see the void in peoples eyes when they won't accept the Gospel. The spirit of discernment is real. It's like you can see into their heart.
We've had some good times this week also, we both like knocking on doors, which makes having a good attitude alot easier. People are so funny. We walked up to this guy's gate and saw him standing in his yard. The conversation went as follows:
Me-"Hey, how are you doing today?"
Guy-"Do you need help?"
Me-"No, we are doing fine, we are.."
Guy-"Do you need help? Your entity keeps sending you guys around. I'm going to have to report you."
Me-"Okay, well, is their anything we can do for you?"
Guy-"You should write my address down."
Haha! What are you supposed to say to things like that?
Another guy told us, "Seriously, I have no use for either of you two. Go! Go find another home!"
Tracting is really fun, because you never know who is going to answer the door, or what they are going to say. They could be completely baked with weed permeating from their clothing, or they could be really nice and offer you chili. It's great.
We met with a guy who requested to meet with us off Mormon.org. We were really excited because he was a self referral. Usually those are really good, but we showed up at this guys house and two seconds after inviting us in he listed off a ton of "contradictions" that he had found with our faith and his, and he wanted us to resolve them for him. The first one was the Trinity. I explained that we don't believe that God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are one being, but that they are separate. Now, you would expect him to grab his Bible and read John 1:1 to prove his point right? Right? Except his Bible was in Greek. He proceeded to read like an entire column to us in Greek, and then said this: "See, it is written in Greek. You can't dispute that. You can't, it's written in Greek." I almost died. I have never had anyone assume that saying something in another language would give it any more validity.
Anyway, I don't know if that guy is going anywhere, but we gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it and pray about it. I hope he does. It is really difficult to teach intellectual people, because their hearts are closed, and they want to prove everything scientifically. But when they are converted, they usually become very staunch members.
We had dinner at a members home yesterday. He is a recent convert to the Church; a really cool guy. He has been a SWAT team operator, a sniper, Narcs officer, a detective, and now he is a high school cop, lol. For a hobby he buys AK-47s and rebuilds and customizes them. Super cool. He showed us one that he just finished. It had a rail, collapsible stock; it was very well made. He offered to take us shooting, but I was really good. I told him that we couldn't do that as missionaries. Haha! He is the second guy who has offered. There is no way I'll break that rule. Bad things happen when you are disobedient. Losing your Divine protection when guns are around is not a very good idea. Anyways though, good things are happening.
We have three investigators on date, one very close to being on date, and another who could be on date shortly. I'll probably be in Port Townsend for another transfer, unless they decided to white-wash the area. Elder Topp goes home in two weeks. Crazy. It has been kind of weird being with a "dying" missionary. He isn't too trunky though, and he works hard. The hardest part is that as soon as members hear he is going home, all they want to talk about is super trunky things. Like, girl friends, movies, music, family, cars, girl friends some more... Haha, poor Elder Topp. When people ask him how long he has been out, he tells them a little over a year. They won't take that for an answer though, and they keep prying until they get a definite amount of time. At which point, the trunky talk begins, lol. Well, have a great week. I love you.
Elder Thornton
Dad and Mom, hey, I don't have much time. I love you and I hope you have a good week. I'm glad the house got finished Dad. I'm writing David Tyler a letter, so keep an eye out for it. I'm fine. I'm warm, I weigh 185 pounds, and I get as much sleep as I can while still being obedient, lol. I exercise in the mornings: I do at least 200 push ups, 40 pull ups, and that's it. Its tough to hop up out of bed at 6:25 and exercise. Mom, I love you. I'm glad you are enjoying the Ward there. I like the raccoon picture. I'll send pictures home for Christmas probably.
Angela and Trevor. Hey, I'm sorry you are sick Angela. I hope you get better. I hope everything is going well for you and Trevor. Say hi to Bella and Xander for me. I love them. Have a great week.
Amber and Brad. Hey, we eat fast food every once in a while: McDonalds or Subway. That's all we have here. This town is super hippie. They won't let any franchises come into town, which is super annoying because everything costs loads of money. They only let McDonalds in because they promised they wouldn't put up their arches. The arches would have ruined the city scape. Haha! The funny thing is they have this huge, super stinky (like rotten animal stinky) paper mill in town, and it billows huge plumes of stench into the air. Apparently that doesn't ruin the city scape or the air quality. Anyways, I hope everything is going well for you. Have a great week.
Oh, are you saving my letters home? I would like you to if you could because they would be a nice addition to my journal.
Thanks.
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