RATS

January 30, 2011 Sunday

Friday Orson had his first district meeting. The ZL’s decided to be there for it. We all introduced ourselves. It was interesting to hear the different expressions concerning their missions and plans for the future. We talked about “You become what you are on your mission,” but emphasized that leadership in the mission doesn’t necessarily mean leadership once you get back home. They were surprised that Orson hadn’t been a DL on his mission but had been a bishop and in two stake presidencies. He emphasized that continuing to study the gospel was key to the future of their lives. He also taught that integrity is probably the most important trait that God has and how important it is to develop it in their lives. We served orange juice and donuts and that really made them happy. It was a good experience. One elder who is going home in 6 weeks told Orson, “That was just what I needed to hear.”
We taught YingPing on Saturday morning. She asked that we stop coming for the next 2 weeks while she prepares for her Immigration exam. She did say we could call her once in a while and was very excited when we said we would pray for her success. In the afternoon we visited Bishop White. What a good man! He’s from New Zealand and this is his 2nd time around as bishop. He’s very concerned about missionary work being successful in his ward. We were able to get some good information from him about people who are “on the radar screen” as far as activation goes. It clouded up and dumped rain just as we were leaving his home.
Church here is at 1 pm. So this morning we went to see a couple of people we were told needed visits. The first ones are recent converts but we were told they have been struggling. We knocked; the door was opened just wide enough for a woman to say, “We’re not interested,” and then it was shut rather forcefully. The ward mission leader said he’d go over there tomorrow night. We are just hoping they thought we were J-dubs because they are used to young elders coming.
Next we went to see Michelle. We’d been told she wanted to come back to church. She had us come in and, bless her heart, she pretty much poured her heart out to us. She’s from a very active family and was raised in the church. But then she decided to try a different lifestyle and has been there for 20 years. She has two kids who are starting to give her some problems as they approach teenage years. She’s tried to change before and knows that it’s going to be difficult. As soon as she’d come to church 3 weeks ago, two different guys she’s had relationships with turned up again. We counseled her to give herself some time to sort things out instead of try to hook up again with one of them. She’s just been through a tough break up. She said we could come back on an almost daily basis to help her through this. She seems so sharp. We want to help her so much.
Then we went to church. It’s a good ward. Lots of folks introduced themselves to us. We met two Americans. We had to introduce ourselves in Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting. The talks in Sacrament Meeting were good. One sister shared about how she finally gained a testimony at age 27 after being active in the church her whole life. It was very touching. It looks like there will be lots to do in the ward. We are excited to be here.
You’re wondering why it says, “Rats” at the top? Because as we sat here in the front room this evening, we watched a rat run back and forth across the top of the fence separating our house from the neighbors. At least we hope it was just one rat. It could have been a whole gang of them running relay races!


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