Missionary Monday - 9th Week in Michigan
I'm about out of ideas for empty salutations so I'll just get into it.
Wednesday I went on a trade off to Harrison, which is about an hour north of Alma. It's a really small town and all the houses were back in the woods. So it was my kind of place. We were knocking doors and we met this one guy who talked our ear off with stories of how the Holy Ghost has guided him. So we let him do his thing and then after like 45 minutes we say our piece and ask if we can bring a Book of Mormon by later and he agrees. We weren't totally sure how accountable he was because his stories were a little crazy. But then before we were about to leave he said that he had one more thing to tell us. He said that he was busy doing something and the Holy Ghost told him to sit down because he had an appointment. So he sat down in his lazy boy, not knowing what appointment he had, and then 10 minutes later we knocked on his door. So that was pretty neat. And if that guy is half as in tune with spirit as he says he is he will be baptized.
Then out of the blue the Elder I was with felt inspired to go see these two ladies named Jamie and Nicole, who he hadn't seen for a few months. So we go across town to see them and we get there and Jamie started bawling. She says we need to get the devil out of her home and that us coming was a miracle and she had been praying that morning for God to help her. So we dedicate the home and talk to her about how God loves her for like 45 minutes and she bawled through the whole thing. She was definitely plastered, but don't let that take too much away from the story because she agreed to a baptismal date and came to church this Sunday.
Speaking of being plastered, being sheltered like a was in Utah I could never tell when someone was drunk or high, or anything like that. It took me a little while, but I've picked up a feel for it since I've been here. The things you learn on a mission...
Also while I was in Harrison a member named brother Ford took us to Subway and that guy is a huge conspiracy theorist! He talked my ear off about buried and sunken Book of Mormon cities in South America when he found out I was going to Brazil. He had me take his email so I can let him know if I find anything out while I'm down there. Ha ha. But he claims to have pictures of the buried city of Moroni and some other thing down there. So he should be emailing me those soon and we'll see how that goes.
My discourse on prophets went pretty well. We finally got Duane to come to church. I'm not sure if I've told you about him, but he has committed to come the last 5 weeks and then doesn't and tells us he doesn't want to meet any more when we see him on Tuesdays. He only stayed for sacrament meeting and he said he was glad he came, but I'm not sure how much of my talk got through to him. We have this eternigator named Bernie though and he loved the talk. He is like a million years old and married one of the members five years ago and comes to church every Sunday and pretty much knows the church is true, but is too stubborn and prideful to get baptized. But anyways, I've never seen him so excited about anything. He told me to make sure my mom knows about how good that talk was.
Alright, so there was a missionary conference last night and if I could I will speak to you all quite frankly about it. I was excited to hear from Pres. Monson and the twelve about how I could be a better missionary. Elder Perry spoke first, but he spoke about member missionary work. Then Elder Anderson spoke. About member missionary work. Elder Nelson, member missionary work. President Monson, MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK!! Knocking on doors does not work. Trust me. Elder Oler has 8 baptisms and all of them came from the members. The missionary broadcast should be on the internet. I would invite you all to watch it. If you bring someone into the church after your mission and they get baptized it still counts the same in heaven. Its not a black name tag thing. Don't make excuses. Open your mouth. Make new friends. You don't need to preach, just invite. Romans 1:16
Thanks for everything. Have a nice week.
Elder Beck
Pictures - We went golfing this morning. It was awesome.
