Week 37 - "And at last I see the light, and it's like the fog is lifted..."

Hello, everyone!

This week's quote is from Tangled. I'm using it because--and I know I've said this in a previous email, and I'll probably keep saying it until the end of my mission, but--I think I'm kind of getting the hang of this mission thing. I also thought it was appropriate because it reminds me of a video from Elder David A. Bednar about "Patterns of Light." He says sometimes revelation comes like a light turning on, and sometimes it comes like a sunrise. He also said sometimes the light we receive is like the light on a foggy day: It's just enough to be able to see a few steps ahead. One of the toughest things for me as a missionary has been talking with everyone, and I've had a few successful days where I've been able to really make things work. It's taken me a long time, and it's taken a lot of advice from a lot of different missionaries and a lot of experience and discoveries from myself, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. I think I need to take some time and write down all the ideas, thoughts and experiences that have helped me change and improve. Sometimes I wonder how the Lord feels trying to make me into the person he wants me to be. I think the attached GIF is pretty accurate.

Anyway, what that translates into is that this week has been pretty good. There have been rough patches and great moments. One of the things I've realized and started saying to myself is that a mission is a "first-person game." That term is usually used to refer to the perspective the player has in a video game, wherein you see out of the character's eyes (see the scenes in the video game "Hero's Duty" in Wreck-it Ralph for an example and rough explanation). But I've started using it differently. Basically what it is is that I have to talk with the first person I see when I get out the door, and it makes my day go so much better. I'm able to nip that nervousness I feel in the bud by just getting a "talking with everyone" experience out of the way, and talking with people from that point after becomes way easier.

This week we got to go on training visits with the zone leaders in Scioto, Elder Klinkowski and Elder Lowry. It went pretty well. I was talking with Elder Lowry about some of the things I've been thinking about and using to help myself change and improve as far as talking with everyone goes, one of which is the phrase, "No stone unturned," which helps me remember that there's potential in every person you see, and trying to at least talk to every person, trying to initiate a conversation, whatever the outcome, isn't the hardest thing to do. When I was talking to him about that, we had been going through a neighborhood in Grove City (I think), and we saw this guy pull up in his truck just as we were walking by. We hadn't had much success talking to people that evening, but I made an assumption about that guy pulling up, which was that he probably wasn't interested in hearing the message anyway. Elder Lowry didn't fall prey to those assumptions, and as we were walking away, he kept looking back to see if the guy was getting out of his car, and when he did, he turned around and was like, "We need to go talk to that guy." He ended up becoming a new person being taught, and I think he will really benefit from the gospel if they're able to catch him (he has kind of a crazy work schedule). So that was just one more moment that confirmed the importance of talking with every person. It also confirmed to me that the Lord lets us see and experience the blessings just when we're right at the end of our rope. I've sometimes thought about that phenomenon, how we have to stretch as far as we can before we see the blessings. It's a tough reality, but the blessings become so much more rewarding and important when we're able to receive them.

What else happened this week? Oh, I had the privilege of giving a blessing to one of the sister training leaders in my zone (they're in our district). It seems like there's been a pattern in the mission of people feeling assailed by Satan recently. I guess he doesn't like what's been happening in the work in this part of the vineyard and he's shifting his priorities. But the priesthood is real, and the power that it brings to those blessed by and those privileged to hold it and administer in the ordinances thereof is also real. I wasn't having a great day before that blessing, and after it I felt much less burdened and much more capable. It kind of reminds me of the counsel given to Joseph Smith, "When you are depressed, prophesy." Bringing the power of God to bear in our lives in that way really does make a difference. Doing what we can do, what we are able to do in our sphere of influence, changes our experience.

On that topic, we experienced a cool miracle. We've been really struggling to find people to teach, and today on our way back from the grocery store there was a woman on the side of the road with a sign asking for help. She asked us if we knew of a place we could pump up our bike tires with air. She said someone had just given her a good bike to use, but the tires were flat. We let her know we had a bike pump and would be back from our apartment in about 30 minutes to help. We came back and talked with her and got to know her a little better and pumped up the tires, and while we did a guy came up to talk to us and watched us finish helping her, and then he asked us questions about our faith. He was like, "Is Mormon Muslim?" We were like, "No," and the girl who we were helping was like, "It's a sect of Christianity, just like Catholicism, Baptist..." The guy was like, "Do you have a book?" We were like, "Yeah," and he was like, "I want one." So we let him know we didn't have a copy on us right then, but we could come by and bring him a copy later. We taught him a little bit more about what The Book of Mormon is and got his address and number, and we're probably going to end up referring him to the Worthington elders, because it sounds like he lives in their area. The girl we were helping might as well, but that's OK. As we walked away from those encounters, the thought, "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven," was bouncing around in my head, and while I was working in the kitchen earlier today, I thought about why he just straight up asked us about our faith and wanted a copy of the book. I have to think it was because of what we were doing--because we were taking the time to help that woman with her bike. It made me think of that Joseph Smith quote, "A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation," or something along those lines. I talked about this a little with Elder Lowry on our exchange, too. (short story: We were in the apartment in Scioto when a Jehovah's Witness and his son knocked on our door to share the last scripture of Isaiah 33 with us, and he told us they're not handing out a lot of literature anymore because of printing costs). We talked about how the members of the church voluntarily give 10 percent of their income. Why? What's driving that? In addition, what drives us to do things like help people on the street? What drives us to live our lives the way we do, especially when no one is around to see? Could it be that the gospel of Jesus Christ is real? Could it be that the church we are a part of is true? Could it be that we really do have a testimony of everything we do and teach?

I love you all. Keep studying the scriptures and living by them. When you are struggling, ask the Lord for help, and then move forward. He will intervene. Dan Jones was once with the president of the church when some scouts came to him to tell him that the area that had been asked to survey was uninhabitable, but that the Lord had provided a miraculous blessing when they needed it: He had given them rain when they were perishing from thirst. Brother Jones was asked what he would have done in that situation. He said, "I would have kept going and prayed again," or something to that effect. We see the Lord's power in our lives when we ask for his help and then push on that edge with the knowledge that beyond it is a place the Lord wants us to be.

Sorry this email is so short. It's been a busy day. Love you!

Elder Davis