Alright, alright, I will be the first to admit that I do not have the best attitude about missionary work. My idea of a perfect congregation is not necessarily a chapel full of the most elite gospel scholars, but a room full of people who
want to be there, who
want to hear God's word, feel his spirit and draw closer to him. People who
want to continue down the path of righteousness, and who consistently at least have the desire to repent, and move forward. Unfortunately that is not the plan, nor the purpose of the church. The purpose of the church, and organizations of wards is to bear one another's burdens, and to lift the down trodden, and be a refuge for those in need. Crushing my ideal congregations are those people who simply don't know where they stand, and those who joined the church for the social aspect, or because a friend did, and now they are lost, and might have even fallen away from the church. My main thought is that we cannot FORCE these lost sheep to come back to the fold. Some do not want to be a part of the fold anymore, and some just need time, and they will come back when they are ready. ANYWAY that being said I have a hard time especially with reactivation. If people don't want to come to church who am I to force them? If they aren't going to come for the right reasons (IE faith, a testimony, ect), then do they really need to come at all? Like I said, BAD attitude, definitely not super Christ-like.
I have been working on that, and thanks to Elder Ballard's talk on missionary work once again was my final breaking point. I prayed for something I have been afraid to pray for...missionary experiences. Now I did not just vaguely pray for an experience, I put a lot of thought into this, and I prayed specifically to be led to someone who is seeking the gospel. I am not about to be a pusher, I want to help someone who is lost, and seeking. I know there are tons of people out there that God has prepared to hear his message.
Small tangent before I delve deeper into my experience, we had the digital missionaries speak to us on Sunday (some of you might be very confused by this new term, I totally was! Basically it's people spreading the gospel through social media). The meeting was amazing! One girl talked about how her grandma had grown up with a close Mormon friend (we'll call the grandma Judy, and the friend Sally because I can't remember their real names...) The Sally quietly lived her religion; declining trips to the beach on Sunday, and wearing modest clothing. Judy later reflected that she often thought that Sally had something figured out that none of the other girls in the group did, the Judy just didn't know what it was. Once the girls had grown, married and moved away Judy was having a particularly trying day trying to figure out life, and handle her kids and the house, and life in general. While her husband was at work when the missionaries knocked on the door. Because of the example of Sally, Judy was super excited to talk to the missionaries, she just knew that she was finally ready to figure out what Sally had known all of those years ago that had made her so happy. Of course the story ends with Judy and her family getting baptized, and now thanks to Sally and her example the granddaughter giving the talk was born into the gospel, all because Sally lived her religion. AMAZING! I loved that simple lesson. People are looking to us to be the example. Do we practice what we preach?
Okay, so time for my prayed for missionary experience:
So I was talking to one of my clients while I cut his hair, and just the usual: how have you been? What have you been up to? Then randomly he asked me if I went to General Conference. I told him I watched it at home, and asked if he had ever seen it. A religious conversation ensued from there, I explained to him the purpose of conference, and that the most amazing part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is that we receive revelation through our living prophet from God. We hear thing that we need to work on, and usually come away with resolve to do better. After talking about different aspects of the gospel, and answering a few questions, I asked if he was religious, he is Catholic...Christmas Catholic. haha. Suddenly I felt prompted to ask him to come to church with me. Inside I started FREAKING OUT! He is my client! I don't want to lose him as a client, and I don't want to make our relationship weird, or awkward, then I remembered my prayer about being led to someone who needs to hear the gospel. I sucked it up, and prayed for help in A. not sounding pushy, B. not sounding scared, and C. courage to go through with it. I told him we should do a church swap! Easter is coming up, so I can go to Easter Mass with him, one week, and he can come to church with me another.
WHEW! I did it! He actually sounded pretty interested until he realized it was three hours! haha I told him, he could just come to sacrament meeting which was an hour, making it a fair trade. I gave him my number and told him to let me know if he really wanted to because I really do want to go to a Mass. We shall see what happens. Even if it is nothing I was able to plant a seed, defend my religion, be an example, and also be courageous enough to share the gospel. It was a great experience!
I am so grateful I do not have a silent God. I have a God who is very involved in the details of my life. He guides me, and helps me when I need his grace, and light. I am so grateful for the miracles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints, and I am so grateful for great parents who brought me up in the gospel, and led me down the path of righteousness and obedience.
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