Good news and bad news:
Bad news first...I have recently discovered that some letters that have been sent to me over the past few months never arrived. Unfortunately, letters get sent to our homes. So when a missionary changes homes, the missionaries who lived there before him are supposed to give the letter to zone leaders and they are supposed to pass the letters on. But, it probably doesn't come as a shock that missionaries aren't exactly dilligent about that. If you have sent a letter and haven't received a response it means one of three things:
1. The missionaries in my old house lost it
2. I don't love you enough to respond
3. I just forgot to respond and put the letter in my box
In the Spirit of Christmas, I think we should all just go with reason number one and forgive little old me if it was my fault. How about it?
Anyways...
This past I was able to get to know Lynette much better (the one I mentioned in my letter last week)...
She's freshmen in college here in Utah and had a few Mormon friends in High School. Growing up she had a strong belief in God but came from a less-than-ideal family situation. She grew up fairly independent and makes most of her decisions on her own, but still tells her parents about most things and listens to (not necessarily follows) their advice. (Sounds like every college student on the planet...sorry Mom and Dad :) It's true)
When her friend, Ari, first talked with her about meeting with the missionaries, she agreed mostly out of curiosity. Let's face it: most people know some Mormon people but don't really know too much about the actually beliefs. (I guess now is a good time to clear up one little fact: No, we don't have a seven wives!). But as missionaries, we don't just teach people about our Church. We help people increase their belief in God, change their lives so they follow his commandments, and them promise to follow him for the rest of their lives (which is what baptism symbolizes).
Lynette realized that she wanted to do just that. Obviously she still doesn't know too much about our Church. She still has a whole lot of questions. But she's felt in her heart (through the Holy Spirit) that this is right. She wants to promise God that she will follow Him by being baptized.
One of her best friends leaves home for his mission on December 19th for some far away country (sigh...). So she decided to get baptized right before he leaves, which means that on Saturday at 1:00, she is going to be baptized. (Picture to come next week).
Her friend who introduced her to the church, Ari, is freaking out a little bit (to say the least). But it's been a cool experience. All it took was one friend loving her friend enough to talk about God with her, plus the other friend being curious enough and having a sincere enough heart to accept it.
Love ya'll,
-Elder Colton
ps. Chances are that Lynette or Ari will stumble upon this blog at some point or another. If you do, I hope I explained this all well enough. And let's face it Ari, you are totally freaking out.
No comments:
Post a Comment