Week 56 - "That's my secret, Cap: I'm always angry."

Hey, everyone.

This week's quote is from Bruce Banner in The Avengers, shortly before he transforms into the Hulk. I've felt somewhat frustrated this week for a number of reasons, but hopefully things will be looking up in a few weeks.

The first interesting thing that's happened is that a friend of mine, who in the past 12 months has gone from being a less-active member of the church to a full-fledged anti-er, emailed me about what she says is a $100 Billion secret bank account the church has and how the church is under investigation for tax fraud or something. I keep telling missionaries I meet in the field, "Do you have any friends who have left the church yet? Don't worry--you will." It's fascinating how quickly it can happen.

The other thing that frustrated me this week was tracting. I have to be honest: I hate it. I think I've figured out why--it's the same reason I began to hate working at Ray's in Rexburg: People don't treat you like you're a human being. It's one thing for someone to say, "No thank you, I'm not interested," and it's entirely another thing for a person to cut you off mid-sentence, say "I'm not interested" and shut the door in your face. Elder Sears (and it seems like almost every other missionary) is somehow more resilient to it. But it ticks me off. 

It's also frustrating to try to share something with people that you know will improve their life and have them make a snap judgment about you and decide they don't want it. It makes me pretty angry. I think those are the two biggest reasons I hate tracting and street contacting. It's also the reason my approaches tend to be softer than other missionaries'. But I often feel like that makes me a bad missionary, and it's difficult to think otherwise when our key indicators are 0s (like they were this week) and when it feels like things are sort of collapsing around our ears. 

It's also frustrating to be seeing so much anti-church sentiment, especially in the public eye and in my private inbox.

This week has been... you guessed it: Interesting. So after losing a missionary at the conclusion of his mission (Elder Blake), Worthington has become a trio area once again. Elders Blake, Meyers and Bond were all together in Worthington, and then it was just the two of them, but now they have a new elder, Elder Cruz, so they're a trio area once again! So that's neat. Also, we had a training visit with them on Tuesday (before the new elder came in), and we were going to meet them at a midpoint between our areas, and when we got there, we turned off the cars, exchanged luggage and companions, and were about to return to our separate areas, when we found out the Rav4 (our car) wouldn't start. It was, like, 10 p.m., and we tried a few people for help, but we didn't get an answer from anyone, so we just doubled down to Worthington's area to sleep, and then the next morning asked a set of elders to come and jump the car. We all drove to the midway point, they jumped the car, and then we realized when we got there that neither of the elders who would have taken the Rav had their driver ID cards (the devices are called Tiwis, so we call them Tiwi cards), so then I had to drive the Rav back to Worthington with everyone so they could get their cards and so it wouldn't get stolen and die on us, and then we returned to the midway point, Elder Bond and I jumped into the car, and we went back to Worthington to work for the day. But the day was already halfway over, so we didn't get a lot done. We were able to visit a few people, including the Alstons, and that was a very uplifting visit. Brother Alston told me that he saw some changes in me--that I was more confident than I was 9 months before. It felt good to get that perspective from someone who knew me that long ago. They're some quality people. The next morning Elder Bond and I went to district council, where I saw Elder Sears, my companion. The new handbook says that we can gather as missionaries again, and so we actually all went to lunch at Steak 'n' Shake after the council, and the sisters left, and then as we, the elders, were leaving (there were 6 of us), we found out someone had paid for all of our food! We went outside and met the member who had done it and thanked her--she probably paid $60 so all of us could eat. It was super nice of her. 

Then I went with Elder Pearce to the Lewis Center area. One of the other things the new handbook says is that exchanges (or training visits, as we call them), usually involve bringing the elder you're training (if you're a missionary leader, like a district leader or zone leader) into your area. And that means, considering that I'm the companion to the district leader, that if we're doing a split (meaning each set of elder takes an area for the day) and not a double in (meaning both sets of elders go into one area and work there for day), I get a change of scenery. So I'm probably going to be spending a fair amount of time in Worthington and Lewis Center this transfer. 

Elder Pearce and I went around a shopping center parking lot and offered people a candy cane and a Christmas card (the Light the World pass-along cards), and it was an interesting learning experience. So we did that First Friday thing a few weeks ago, and we offered people hot chocolate, hand warmers and candy, and I was surprised at how many people turned us down. Anyway, we were offering people free candy canes and a piece of paper, and there were people who just didn't want them. There was one guy who was like, "Who are you with?" and we were like, "Just our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," and he was like, "You guys are good," meaning "No," (which is the least "no" version of "no" I've ever heard), and I was so confused. Like, "It's a candy cane. What does it matter where it's from? If you don't want the card, you can throw it away." I just don't understand people. But that and a few other experiences helped me realize that to some extent, it's really not personal when people turn us down. We were offering free stuff, stuff that just about everyone should like, and they said no. So that was a helpful learning experience.

The next day I returned to Delaware, and we had coordination and tracted, which was when I got really ticked off at a person's nonchalant, you're-not-a-human-being, door-in-the-face response, and then on Friday we visited a few people we needed to get caught up with--one of our recent converts was dealing with some health problems, and we were worried about him, so we were able to go and see him and a few other people. We also learned about the new trio in Worthington, and we decided it would be best if we doubled down there. So that's where we were on Saturday. 

Elder Meyers, Elder Cruz and I were together in a trio, and we visited Nancy! We were able to leave a blessing on her home and share a little bit of the plan of salvation with her. Her life is crazy as usual, but it seemed to me like she was really getting things together again. We also get to see some of the recent converts I used to teach at a meeting at bishop's house, and then we went to see the Portises, and that was an amazing visit. I shared a very personal and sacred spiritual experience I had in high school (Grant, if you're reading this, I think you know what I'm talking about), and I think we were able to get through to one of the Portis girls, a little bit. The room was very quiet, and the Spirit was very, very strong. I'm hoping that feeling sticks with that family. I testified about the real, tangible and personal influence God can have in our lives, and I hope they're able to take that to heart. We may see them tonight at the Dublin building, actually--on Friday night we also came to the Dublin building to interview a candidate for baptism who was taught by the Dublin sisters, and we'll be at his baptism today at 6:30. That will be a good experience. 

On Sunday we were going to take some time to try to find new people to teach, but it seems like whenever that happens there are just a ton of administrative tasks and so forth that get in the way. For instance, one of the people we're teaching is out of town this week, and we've known them for a little while, and earlier in the month they asked us if we could call or come and check in on their father-in-law while they were away, because they're the only person that takes care of him. It was just supposed to be a visit a day for about a week, and we felt like we could handle it. But just before he left, he asked us if we could bring meals that a friend of his was cooking. So that kind of threw a wrench in our plans, but we've been doing it. We just really hope this guy isn't taking advantage of us. He also asked if we could put lights and ornaments on the Christmas tree. I have a tendency not to say no, so we went ahead and did it. It was fun and felt good, but eventually it felt a little like we were wasting time. I just hope it's all worth it.

I don't have time to write much else. It's been a crazy week. Keep praying for me. I love you all.

Elder Davis

P.S. I learned that one of the people I taught in Warren, Bruce, just got baptized! I'll let you know more if I find out anything.

Me in Lewis Center.

"Should I get balloons?" "YEEESS!"

Family! I met someone from the Ritchie family! He's in my ward!

Mom: We made Chili cheese cubes because Elder Sears liked the sound of them. They were pretty good. I appreciate that recipe more now.

Because I was at the Portises Saturday, and because they knew I was coming, I got another Christmas package from them! I have all the OSU gear I could ever want now. :)