My Family,
This week has been fun! They've launched a new website- mormon.org.uk and there's a big hype about it around here. Each of us in the mission were required to make a mormon profile on it and we got brand new pass along cards/proselyting material that has this new website on everything. It's exciting stuff. We've been exploring it with everyone we're teaching. Also, there's a big UK media initiative that they are doing with the Book of Mormon play going on in London. They have us focusing on the play in our finding approaches. So this week and onwards we're focusing on asking everyone we talk to if they have heard of the Book of Mormon play going on in London and how they heard about it. We have to send in a weekly report of where people have heard of it so they can know where to spend their money in their advertising. For the most part, it seems like people have heard about it on the tele. But that could just be the case for us. But it's really great because it turns out to be a perfect conversation starter when we stop people on the streets/are at their door. It's kind of a fun, fresh approach to finding!
Thursday morning was pretty funny for us- we had a knock at the door during our companionship study. Jehovah's Witnesses were standing on the other side. :) Haha. It was priceless to see their expressions on their faces when they realized they had chapped into Mormon missionaries. We ended up having a nice, friendly conversation with them though. They were curious about how long we are over here/why it was that we came to Scotland/how old we are when we come out as missionaries- stuff like that. They really are nice, good, dedicated people to the gospel- they are just missing the full truth. I wish they could see it!
Jon is doing well- he's still set for his baptism on the 5th of May. His baptismal interview is this Sunday. He's amazing. When we taught him the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity, he told us at the end of the lessons that he already knew about those commandments because he had studied about them online and he thinks they're great. He used to smoke and drink socially but a few years back he said he felt he should quit smoking and going out for drinks with his friends. I feel like I'm starting to see the meaning of someone being considered 'prepared'. We can see how the Lord has been preparing Jon for the past several years for this time when he would be introduced to the church. I'm so happy we ran into him again in town that one day!!!!
Eric is also doing well and is scheduled to be baptized on the 12th of May. We had to move his date back a bit because he's been having a little bit of a puppy face with the idea of having to give up his five cups of tea a day. But yesterday we had a great lesson with him about obedience and sacrifice and we committed him to sacrifice his tea in order to be prepared for his baptism and he said 'Well, based on what you have told me today and how I felt while you were explaining these things to me, I feel it's something I will need to do. So yes, I will.' YAY! We are so happy. It's something he's been struggling with so I'm so glad the spirit was working on him during that lesson. Eric, like Jon, decided some years ago to gvie up smoking and drinking. I'm grateful the spirit worked on them years before we would meet them.
One of our other investigators, Amanda Donnelly, came to church for the first time yesterday! Her dad is a less active member in the ward and so we've been teaching the two of them together. Brother Donnelly came out to church yesterday for the first time in ages so they were both really nervous but they enjoyed it! Amanda is a recovering heroine addict and she is absolutely incredible. She is completely changing her life around. She had a baby but she hasn't had custody because of her addiction but in the past several months she has made so much progress in recovering that today she gets her baby Christopher back-full custody! It's an amazing experience to be able to teach someone like Amanda, about the atonement of Christ and seeing it work actively in her life. She's amazing.
A couple of neat experiences from this week -
Last week we had a dinner appointment with the Wildes in our ward. We were waiting on the bus when Bishop Broadfoot and Sister Broadfoot drove by and saw us so they picked us up and gave us a lift to the Wilde's home. We ended up being 20 minutes early since we didn't have to take the bus, so we pulled out a list of less active member's names that lived in the Wilde's neighborhood. There was a lady on the list named Lily Dinnen that we decided to try by really quick before dinner. We found her home and she let us in right away. Turns out she hasn't been in contact with anyone in the church for about 15 years. We had a quick, 15 minute lesson with her and set a return appointment with her. Saturday was our return appointment with her where we taught her the Restoration and committed her to come back to church. She said she is ready to come back and that she had been praying for help a week before we showed up on her doorstep. I'm grateful the Lord had orchestrated a situation where we could get to the Wilde's area early enough to find Lily. Because otherwise we would've just showed up for dinner right at 5:30.
Last night, Sister Passey and I both felt we should go and visit a less active lady named Ina. But we had JUST taught her the night before so we were hesitant to go since we had just barely seen her, but the thought kept coming to us! So we decided we would pop by and see how she was doing and tell her we missed her at church. When we went to her home, another lady answered her door and told us to come in. Ina had visitors in- her friend Helen, who answered the door and her husband Gordon. Ina introduced us to them and we chatted for a bit and Ina told them what we do as missionaries and told them they should listen to us. So we ended up teaching the Restoration to Helen and Gordon. It went SO well!! They committed to come to church on Sunday and to read the Book of Mormon! We are meeting with them again on Wednesday. Members are seriously so important in this work. Now, Helen and Gordon have a friend in the church and this will help Ina to come back to church as she helps her friends to come into it. It was one of those moments of understanding of 'Oh okay, that's why we needed to go see Ina'
I love this. I love being a missionary! The church is true and there's nothing like experiencing and helping people to feel that themselves.
Love you all,
Sister Knab
P.S. - Here's the link to my little profile that I made online:
http://mormon.org.uk/me/C494/
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