Good news: I'm saved!
I got saved by an Anti-Mormon yesterday. Well, ast least she tried to save me. It's a lot scarier talking to an Anti-Mormon in real life compared to on the phone especially since you can't make faces at them in real life. This one anti was disguised as a visitor too. My companion and I went to talk to this girl and her husband. We shmeh shmeh small talked some and asked if she was familiar with the Church. She said something about innacuracies that the Book of Mormon had with the Bible. I didn't quite catch what she said you I asked for clarification. Bad move. I didn't want her to specifically tell me why I'm the spawn of Satan, I just didn't understand right away what she was trying to say. Then she started preachin'. I'm guessing there's one specific Anti-Mormon website that they all get their information from because it's all the same. She just whipped out like a million Bible references to prove that the Book of Mormon is satanic. Shoot. She did however, mention that mormons are the nicest people. Weird, the two just don't make sense toegther. And she just went on and on and we couldn't get two words in to even try to book it out of the conversation. Obvi I wasn't going to Bible bash and prove her theories wrong but I just wanted to show her that I wasn't afraid of her. I listened to what she had to say. That may have been a mistake because I think she thought that she was getting through to me. My super quiet companion finally got a word in and tried to read a verse from the Book of Mormon. Obvi the anti wasn't listening. Instead she whipped out a peice of paper and starting writing. I knew she was writing a message to me. So clearly the conversation was going nowhere on both ends so I say alright cool, well we'll leave you to look around the place but I don't want to leave the conversation without letting you know that I persoanlly know that the Book of Mormon is from God and brings me closer to Christ each time I read it. Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God and Thomas Monson is the true prophet today. I congratulated her on her knowledge of the Bible and her faith and said that I was thankful that she respected mormons as people (even though she was super rude and called us foolish). So then she gave my companion an Anti-Mormon pamphlet [since mormons give out pamphlets as well] and then she handed me the peice of paper that she wrote one. We walked away and I threw the paper directly in the trash without looking at it. I wish she could have seen me throw it away for dramatic effect but I don't think she did. I'm pretty sure I aged 5 years because of that conversation. I mostly just wanted Jospeh to know that I got his back. I like being on the offensive team by teaching people about the gospel but sometimes I guess I need to be a defender. Also in our convo with the anti, she talked about the difference between Christians and mormons. I interupted, "Mormons are Christian too." She rolled her eyes. Walk upstairs, grilfriend. Who do you think that huge marble statue is of? Now tell me I'm not a Christian. Okay, the end. I'm just baffled that poeple pretend to be Christlike and then try to kill the faith of others. I wouldn't go visit the vatican and whip out my Book of Mormon to preach to everyone there about how foolish they are. C'mon now. Let's be nice people. Anti's are going to be my new best friends on this misison, I can already tell.
I answered an inbound call from a man named Doug from North Carolina on Monday. He told me that he just wants a place to go to find out what mormons really believe. Awesome. then he told me that he had just met with two elders and that he was really unimpressed with them. Shoot. He was confused as to why they were called elders when they didn't seem to know very much. He said he had no idea whether they were even going to come back and visit him. I think Doug just really intimidated them with his questions. He is a teen counsellor and has two Master's degrees. Perfect, that's what I want to be so I feel like I can relate a bit. He kept talking about how all the missionaries said was that you had to decide with your feelings if the Church is true or not. Doug had big issues with this because as a counsellor, he knows that feelings lead to bad things. Agreed. However... Then the phone cut off and I was ticked. I couldn't call him back for a few minutes and I was so antsy to try to explain what the elders were trying to teach him. I finally got to call him back but the phone eventually got disconnected again. Dangit! I realize my competitive nature is still alive and well even as a missionary. I was so glad when Doug answered the phone the next day. We talked a lot about how he is searching for the truth. He likes to talk a lot and make analogies to go with everything that he says. He said that if he wanted to buy a car, he would find out all the information that he could about the car. He would ask owners, previous owners, and critics. The missionaries told him not to read anything aganist the Church but to read the Book of Mormon and trust his feelings. True, but hard to believe. So I explained about studying the scriptures and asking in faith. He seems to think that I'm competant so I feel blessed that he wants to talk again. He's definately my kind of investigator. I know it's good to have question. I can't wait to teach him further about the gospel. I just came up with an analogy that hopefully explains how we shouldn't read the bad criticism bout the Church. He thinks that finding a religion is like buying a car. I'm going to tell him that instead, he should lease a car. The only way to really know if you like the car and if it's right for you is if you drive it for a while. People can tell him not to buy it or buy it but by leasing it, he can know for himself. Sister Castañeda and I will teach him how to drive. Deep, I know. And hopefully at the end of the lease, he'll decide to buy! Yeeeah.
I love my job. The Church is true. Last week, we talked to a semi long time investigator from good 'old Sault Ste Marie. We had a really good conversation about what he knows and believes. I love being straight up with people, I feel like I finally know what I'm doing on Temple Square. I asked him if he has faith in Christ. "Yes." And how can you develop your faith further? We talked for a while... so do you want to do all you can to follow Jesus Christ? "Yes." So, Pierino, will you be baptized into His Church? "Yes!" Man, it felt to good! We told him to call up his local missionaries and make them visit him. His reply, For you, anything." ya... he also wants to find a wife at Church. I feel like on Temple Square, we teach a lot of people that have fallen through the cracks. It feels so good when you find them and they progress.
Well I best be off. Thanks everyone for writing! I hope that baby comes today!!!
Love, Sister Kyle
No comments:
Post a Comment