We had one really amazing experience this past week. We went up to Chudleigh, as we don't often get to work out there, and talked to a ton of people. The buses run every hour up there, so when we missed the bus by maybe five minutes, we were kind of disappointed. Elder Schorzman jokingly suggested we get haircuts at the barbershop near the bus stop (as we really need them) and teach the barber at the same time, but we decided not to as the white handbook specifically designates that as a P-Day activity. So, we decided to try to reach a less-active member nearby. She wasn't home, but in her neighborhood we found a really cool potential investigator. He's going to try to make it to church, but we're going to be visiting with him soon, hopefully. We gave him a DVD full of Mormon Messages.
We headed back up to the bus station, and there was the barber sitting on the bench. We talked to him for a little while, and taught him about the Restoration and Plan of Salvation. He said we're welcome to come back for haircuts and another teaching appointment. We gave him our number, but then the bus arrived, and so we forgot to ask his. Usually, that means you won't hear from them again, but five minutes later, on the bus, we got a text saying (essentially), "Hey this is Danny, the barber. Thanks for talking with me, it was really uplifting. Just the fact that you guys are so happy is inspiring." The Lord really blesses us when we follow his standards, so rationalizing them is really quite useless.
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| A church (above) and pub (below) in Chudleigh. For any of you that have read the Flavia de Luce novels...I am sure Chudleigh is "Bishop's Lacey" and that this church is "St. Tancred's." The pub across the street is even called Bishop Lacy. |
It's funny you wrote about my stubbornness, mom, because that's one of the things that has really been giving me a hard time lately... I think it really was what caused such a hard time between me and Elder Schorzman in the beginning. Don't get me wrong, I must be making it sound like we've not gotten on well. It's interesting, because it's really been kind of like me and Taylor were. We used to not get along much at all, merely because of how different we were. But as I've dropped my pride, Elder Schorzman and I have gotten along much better, and now we're really quite good friends. It really helped this last week--I was getting frustrated with myself over a lot of things, and so I asked Elder Schorzman if he'd give me a blessing (I'd been feeling like I should ask him for a whole day at that point, but kept rationalizing that it wasn't the right time for some reason). It was amazing, because in the blessing, one of the things that was said was that I needed to let the Lord have sway in my heart.
This morning I was wondering just how to do that, and decided to dedicate my study to it. Elder Schorzman had given me an extra copy of this little discourse given by a mission president (Lawrence E. Corbridge) entitled "The Fourth Missionary". You can find it online, if you'd like to read it. It basically talks about four different types of missionaries: the first is disobedient, and because of that goes home; the second is disobedient, but he strives to never get caught and stays for the two years; the third is a very obedient missionary, and willingly sacrifices his time, but never lets go of all of the things that he wishes he could be doing instead; the fourth gives his will completely to the Lord, putting away everything from back home and dedicating his might, mind, strength and heart to the Lord. It goes through the individual attributes of each, and basically talks about how the third and fourth both perform a lot of good for those in the area, and reap much, but only the fourth changes himself, and thereby benefits immensely from his mission.
I've learned a lot from Elder Schorzman, but the thing I've learned most is just how necessary it is to rid yourself of pride and to do what the Lord asks willingly. If we don't, we're not going to be able to help others, nor are we going to be able to benefit ourselves. I'm glad I learned that in these last six weeks, because now Elder Schorzman's moving on. He just got called as our Zone Leader, and so I'll be having another missionary come in to finish my last six weeks of training. I'm really glad we were put together as companions, and am glad I'll be seeing him on a regular basis.
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| Here is a picture of our Newton Abbot District. Elder Schorzman and Sister Clark will be transferred this week. |
Love you all,
Elder Green
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