We
tried something new this week. We were trying to help the members of
our Branch recognize the blessings of the Restoration. We had 2 member
appointments this week. The first one was super good! The member is
named Ana Maria. She was baptized by Elder Porritt, one of my companions
in Waterbury, but moved to Worcester from Lynn, MA. She has an awesome
conversion story. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be baptized and had
lots of doubts but then had a dream where she knew the church was true
and 4 days later, was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. She got so excited about it that we invited her to
share the blessings of the Gospel with others. She has a friend at work
who is struggling and she said that she would share her testimony with
her. We role played her sharing her testimony to help her feel
comfortable!
The
second appointment didn't go so hot. We were visiting a family where
the wife Is completely active, but the husband only comes to Sacrament
Meeting.
They
shared the stories of them finding the church. He shared about his
mission experience and how he found the church at the age of 18. Hermana
shared about the church she used to attend and how through a family she
was living with, found the Church of Jesus Christ .
We
invited them to think of a name that they could share the Gospel with.
She told us about a friend she has at work who she has already tried to
share the Gospel with but didn't accept her invitation. She said that
she couldn't think of another person to share the gospel. We asked if we
could role play with her to help her feel comfortable. Hermano did not
like that.
He
shared how members of the church stay within their inner circle of
friends and don't branch out. He shared how the responsibility of
missionary work is on the missionaries. He expressed how activities can
help but missionaries should do it.
He
shared how he hasn't read from the Book of Mormon since his mission and
that he is considered active as long as he comes to Sacrament Meeting.
He shared how he loves to pray and does it everyday. He shared how every
missionary comes through and does the same routine of asking for
referrals. We concluded with an invitation for him the read the Book of
Mormon and he said he would not commit to doing it.
Hermana
shared how she reads, prays, attends the temple, holds a calling,
watches conference, and does what she needs to do to gain Salvation.
We
offered service but he wouldn't accept because of past experiences with
missionaries missing the service event. So we hurry and concluded with
a prayer and left! So that was a sad experience. We'll keep trying though!
We
had an appointment with a guy named A but when we went over he
wasn't home. His brother, M, was however! We asked if A had a
phone and aid, "who is A?? I have a brother named M?
Guys, he was probably drunk when he told you his name!" haha well,
M wasn't there!! We had a good lesson with M though!
The Sisters had a baptism of a guy named F this week! They called him months ago and he said," call me on October 10th." so they did and he got baptized on Saturday! So exciting news for them!
We
met a guy named Y and he told us to come by his house. We knocked
on his door, but a guy named A answered the door and asked us to
come in because it was super cold outside. S, his wife, was
there and we asked them about their beliefs. They believe in Christ and
God but have attend so many churches and are tired of criticism coming
from them.
We
explained how Joseph Smith also had this question. Which church is
true? They asked questions about the name of the Church, who Mormon was,
if we believe in Christ or God, if we can marry outside of the church
etc.
They
accepted Invitations to read and pray. They've seen many missionaries
in Puerto Rico and asked if the Church was an American Church because
all the missionaries there are Americans! Haha:) they don't work Sundays
and have a car so we are looking forward to meeting again with them. At
they end, we asked if they knew Y and they have never heard of
him! Haha:) fun times!
Nobody came to church again so we will have to consider stopping the teaching of some people.
Not much else happened this week!
Love you all
Elder Bushman
No comments:
Post a Comment