Week 15: i killed a man

You are born (when you arrive).

You have a father/mother (your trainers).

You have children (those you train) (and therfore also relatives in a wacky family tree).

You die (and are killed by your final companion).

And this week, I "killed" my 2nd companion, Elder Villaseñor, and he returned home to Mexico. So now, it's just me and Elder Dickens (or "Chickens" as everyone amazingly pronounces it).

Don't Ever Discount a Lesson -- The week before this one, we taught a bit of an odd lesson. It was in an incredibly over-decorated apartment that transported me to New York in the 1940s, including what was probably asbestos in the air making it difficult to breath. And, the two adults present really just weren't paying attention to our explanation of the Book of Mormon. We left the book with them and left the apartment as quickly as possible.

But then, the very next day, we received an online reference, Helen. She told us she had learned about the book from her uncle and would like a copy as well. We connected the dots and realized she was the teenage girl that happened to be present during our lesson the day before. We hadn't paid much attention to her and she hadn't said anything to us either. But now, she was asking for a Book of Mormon, saying she was very interested.

So, we visited her and her mother in their (luckily) different home. And, they were incredibly interested. We left the book with them, inviting them to read it, and amazing, we received a message from Helen the next day, saying she had read the chapter and thanking us again for the book. We often talk of "elected" people, those who were prepared by the Lord for us to meet. She very likely is one of them, and this week, we are planning on inviting them to baptism!

Making it to Church is Hard -- We had hoped for 4 investigators to join us District Conference on Sunday. Sadly and frustratingly, none of them did.

Francisco, whom we had spoken to a couple days before, seemed incredibly interested in coming. But, he was worried about what to wear, so the next day, we found and cleaned a full outfit sitting in our apartment for him to wear. I even made sure to iron the shirt for him. Then, come Sunday, he says he can't come to church because his mom has the salon and because the shirt is wrinkled anyway and he doesn't wanna have to iron it. 😭😭

Then, Helen and her family, made an attempt to come. But, church this week was out of town with a bus taking us there. And despite telling them to arrive 30min before the real departure time, they still missed the bus. It's a sucky situation because we want them to come so bad, but every minute we wait the whole dang branch is waiting as well, sitting in the bus. So, we had to leave without them. Next week!

Favorite Hymn -- #2 The Spirit of God / Tal Como um Facho "Like a Torch"

I would like to thank Sister Whittington for her piano lessons, because this week, for the first time, I was asked to play on the mission. At District Conference (like Stake Conference but smaller), I was asked on the spot to play the prelude music, then surprisingly, the first hymn as well! And this was the hymn.

It was a blessing, because this hymn is probably the hardest in the hymnbook to play but also is the only one that actually I learned to play all the way through. I still only played the right hand and butchered it anyway, but like my awful conducting last week, I was glad I was able to play and contribute to the music shared.

And now, one small scripture from my study this week, Alma 37:6.

The hymn this week was a little blessing, and I always have many little blessings each day. This scripture reminds me that the love of God can be broken into small, significant pieces every day, and that we can feel the Atonement of Christ as well through small acts of repentance every day. I know this is true.

And that's it for this week!

Till next time,

Elder Haroldsen

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