Week 67 - "Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles!"

Hey, everyone!

This week seems like it has just flown by. That seems to be happening more and more. Elder Henshaw keeps saying things like, "Tomorrow is P-Day! And then the transfer's going to be over! And then I'm going home!" (He goes home in 10 weeks). Every week seems like it's over super fast. I think part of it is that I look forward to preparation day every week, and then when it's over I start thinking about the next preparation day. There are a lot of things I want to do and not enough time to do them. I guess that's a sign I'm getting adjusted--that's a feature of normal life for me, back at home.

The quote is from Fiddler on the Roof, and is sung by Mottle (sp?). I think I had several quotes run through my head this week, and I should have written them down, because one of them may have worked better, but whatever. I used this one because of what I'm going to talk about next.

One of the things I wanted to mention this week was an initiative we started in the mission near the beginning of this transfer. So during a mission-wide conference call (if I remember correctly) we were told about something some missionaries in other areas and some other missions had been trying out: Every night they send a text to their ward's leadership informing them of a miracle that happened that day. They said that the work quickly accelerated when they began doing that, so President wanted to start it in our mission. I think we officially started two weeks ago. Sometimes the definition of "miracle" is treated relatively loosely--that's something that bugs Elder Henshaw. We'll see people in the mission post videos like, "Hey, we had this awesome miracle happen," and after listening to their experience he'll be like, "That's not a miracle! That's just a cool experience." So initially the two of us were a little intimidated by it. How do we experience a miracle every single day? Because that becomes the expectation. If we don't have anything cool to report back to the branch leadership at the end of the night, we're kind of culpable. Well, I think I've come home more wiped out this week than I have at any other time in my mission. Initially I felt stress from the initiative that I think was excessive, but we've found that, especially as we change our perspective and look back through the day for miracles, we find them. We've started pulling lessons and principles from them to share with the branch leadership, too. Here are the ones we've experienced this week:

"We apologize for not sending a text yesterday--it was our preparation day, and it entirely slipped our minds. Today we had zone conference in Reynoldsburg. The Spirit was extremely strong, especially during the final testimony of departing missionaries, and principles were taught that, if practiced, are going to change this mission. We're more motivated now than ever to push ourselves past our limits and accomplish the Lord's will in our sphere of influence."

"We had three AWESOME experiences today that put us back on track:

1. We met with and helped some members of the genealogical society, and they told us they could put together and advertise and publicize a family history event for us to be able to teach people in the area about FamilySearch!

2. [Person we're teaching] is back on date! His kids already know a ton about the gospel, too, and it seems like it has a familiar ring to them. We just need his wife to get on board.

3. We met a less-active member tonight who has been sharing the gospel like crazy and just ran out of materials to share with friends, so we resupplied her. She also has a friend who may be interested!

The Lord is hastening his work!"

"Today we met with [less-active members people haven't had a lot of hope for], and it was AMAZING. --- said she has a desire to come back to church and attend the temple and bore powerful testimony that this is the true church, that The Book of Mormon is true, that the temple is a place where the Spirit dwells and miracles happen, and that God is aware of her and her needs. We don't know if we'll see them at church on Sunday, but we wouldn't be surprised."

"Today we met with [person we're teaching] and were able to discuss her journey into the church, and she once again bore testimony that this is the church for her! We also saw [less-active member], and she has been praying and had a light about her we hadn't seen before. The Spirit of God is real and is tangible."

"Miracle for the day: We visited with [less-active member] today, and she testified to us that since she simply came to church, she has seen miracles take place in her life. She's seeing relationships of hers start to heal, and she's discovering answers to questions she has had. She also said that a scripture she once memorized just keeps sticking in her mind, 'I am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.' Brothers and Sisters, the blessings we experience from the gospel are real."

"Miracle for the day: Elder Henshaw felt we should visit one more family this evening, so we visited a member. They have a relative who is struggling with addiction, and we introduced them to some details about the church's addiction recovery program. Later they told us, 'I think this is why you visited us tonight, to tell us about this.' The Lord works through us when we try to go the extra mile and bless his children."

So that's been kind of neat. When we change our perspective, we can see a lot of good things happening in our lives. There was a member in Delaware who visited hospitals and gave speeches with different groups of people, and he saw a lot of people going through a lot of difficult things--his motto was, "I don't have a tumor." He said that keeps him going through life--whenever he thinks things are hard he just says that too himself, and then he has license and reason to be as happy as he wants. So Elder Henshaw and I have been saying that recently. "I'm not Moroni," is another popular one.

We've visited a lot of less-active members this week, and people in Ohio can talk. Usually, though, when we sit and listen to them and show them we really do care about them and their lives, after a while they eventually open up without us even asking and share with us the reason they're not attending church. We just have to approach them without judgment and with love and support, and then be patient. Sometimes it takes a long time, but Elder Henshaw and I have both had the experience where we want to leave or conclude the conversation, but we feel like the Spirit is telling us to keep listening and to stay, and it always ends with the person telling us why they're no longer active. Then we know how to help them, or at least how to get started. It's crazy how many less-active members here just need a friendly face, a warm smile, kind words, love, and an invitation. There are so many people who it seems like are so ready to come back, they just need to know that they're cared about and wanted first. I've found that when we meet people on their doorstep with a smile (which has become easy for me to do--it's like a defense mechanism for me now: It's my experience that people aren't quite as harsh to you when you're a ray of sunshine), express real interest in them and their lives, and speak and behave with love, they will talk to us about why they're not coming and the struggles they're dealing with. If you're having a tough time reaching someone, and it feels right, I'd challenge you to try that.

I mean, that's really basically all that's gone on this week, in brief. I can give you more detail about a few things that have happened: We met a member who has a full-fledged wood and metal shop in his basement, and he said we could make something there on a preparation day. At first I wasn't sure what I would want to make, and then I thought it might be cool to make (or have him make) a miniature version of the rocket nozzle from October Sky. He has the steel and the equipment for it, so I thought that would be cool. We'll see if it works out. If any of you have any cool ideas you want to share about something wooden or metal I could make as a souvenir from Ohio, feel free to let me know. My idea might be kind of lame. He also told us about his daughter, who's a singer whose stage name is Chayla Hope and played some of her music for us. 

Yesterday we met a less-active member who has relatives who she says practice witchcraft, so that was interesting. We blessed her home, in hopes that whatever influence that's there or that has been there won't be in the future. She has also had a lot of experiences where whenever she tries to come back to church she gets injured or something else happens that influences her not to come. I shared Bapa's tape about Wilford Woodruff's experience with her and my belief that when we show Satan we're determined to do something regardless of how he tries to stop us, he tends to move on to other tactics to try to hurt us. She seems like she'll come back this week. I'm hoping we just absolutely flood the building with people and show the branch how much they could be doing to bring members back.

I guess that makes me want to muse about a few things: I've noticed that as I've dedicated as much of my focus as I can to the work, I feel buoyed up and supported, and as I allow myself to be influenced by the world, I feel less consecrated, almost like I'm back at home. It's made me do a lot of thinking: I've wondered, what do I need to do to hang on to this, at least a part of it, when I come back? I think daily gospel study is a big part of it, and I think sincere prayer is a big part of it, too, and seeking to do the Lord's will and follow the Spirit is a part of it, but on a mission it's as though he's my employer, and I'm sort of just told everything I need to do. I get the impression that it won't necessarily be that way when I get home: I'll no longer be officially engaged in missionary work, and I'll be left to make a lot of decisions for myself. Today we walked into a Gamestop and looked around during our preparation day, and I sort of felt how that would feel. I've felt it when I've slipped up on social media and started scrolling through my feed, too. I felt less capable and less purposeful, like I was back at home, just killing time or something. It's not a great feeling. I'd prefer to feel what I feel as a missionary, where I have direction and purpose and also the influence of the Spirit guiding and uplifting me. Anyhow, the reason I brought this up is that I get frustrated with some members of the church sometimes when I see they're not really doing their jobs to bless and support those in their ward and branch, let alone the people they know who aren't members of the church. It's different for me, where I'm a full-time missionary and this is all I do all day, but I think based on what I experienced today, I've realized that there was a lot of room in my life in the past to help and bless and uplift other people, and I was spending time on things that weren't important. I think I did it because I thought that those things would fill up my tank and give me strength to do the other things I needed to do, and I think I didn't do as much for other people in part because I was worried that I would expend the energy that I needed for the other tasks it was necessary for me to do. But I've learned as a missionary that if the Lord wants you to accomplish something, he'll give you what you need to accomplish it, including the energy. If you spend what you have doing what he wants, he'll give you what you need to take care of the other things. It's like the story of the Widow of Zarephath: She prioritized the prophet Elijah and what he needed, and then her barrel of meal and cruse of oil did not fail until the famine ended. The Lord will do the same thing for us as we do what he asks us to do. When we put him first, we'll have enough that we can do the other things that are necessary. 

The questions become,

1. Do I want to do what I want and barely be able to do what I need and still feel unsatisfied at the end of the day, or do I want to do what the Lord wants and be able to do what I need and feel fulfilled at the end of the day?

2. What is it the Lord wants me to do?

It's easier to answer those questions when you're spending all your time on them, like when you're on a mission (and I still get them wrong sometimes), but it's possible to do when you're not. I would challenge you to ask yourself those questions and answer them honestly and act on the answers. See how your life changes as a result.

Love you all!

Elder Davis

P.S. I'm super stoked about the new Book of Mormon movies coming out. One of the guys I went to high school with is playing Ammon. If any of you are in touch with Dave and want to tell him to reach out, please do.

We met a sugar bear (or sugar glider) at a member's house. It was neat.