Tuesday 28 January 2014

As representatives of Jesus Christ, we knock and wait for people to open the door, just as He did.


Week 2, Transfer 6

Straight down to business. Dot point week:

Mon-Tues
- Went on exchange to York, it was great. The sisters there are fantastic!
- Our investigator Alex went to YSA FHE Monday night with Sister Pacis and Sister Shmidt (Sister Scott's companion) they're comps while we go on exchange.
Wed
- Had a lesson with Alex, a lesson with a potential investigator called Med. Both African. Med is great, he's married with kids who live in Germany but he lives in Hull and is doing his PhD in accounting I think. 
Thurs
-Had zone training all day. President and Sister Pilkington came. President instructed for an hour or 2 about FINDING. Apparently it's something that the missionaries in the mission don't like or struggle with the most. President has come up with so many techniques for finding and so many approaches we can use. He's very much about using our resources that we have ie our accents, family, home country, interests, sports, hobbies, talents etc. So we use them on the street. It's been a lot of fun actually, trying new approaches to get people to slow down (hopefully slow down enough to then stop and talk to us). He just wants us to be ourselves and not the robot missionaries everyone apparently thinks they have to be. I love finding (street contacting and knocking). It's good fun! 
- Had ward council in the evening at the chapel
Fri
- Had weekly planning 
- A lesson with Alex, we scheduled him for the 14 Feb but not sure if he's accountable or what so we're still thinking and praying about him
- Visited Hayley (a potential the zone leaders found while they were knocking in our area when we first got here). We had a brief chat. She has a gorgeous 4 year old called Joey and the dad's name is Sam. I asked her if there was a Tom around anywhere..that'd be half my family! We spoke to Sam for a bit, he had some funny things to say about how he believes in science. I told him 'Yep, so do we'. And he continues..'Yeah but I believe in things you can prove'. Now, keep in mind, he was a lovely lad, but..yeah..anyway, he's a son of God. I love talking to people about science and religion. So the conversation continued, it was all friendly by the way, it never gets unfriendly or disrespectful. I asked him what he believes and he says 'Evolution..the theory of evolution...theory of (blah blah blah)..big bang theory..' etc. every time he said 'theory' I said 'Yep, theory'..then when he was finished I said 'Well, they're all theories mate, haven't been proven'. Hayley started laughing. It was all in good fun though, he had a laugh and we bore our testimony about the Book of Mormon and how we have so much evidence that God is real and he is there and that he exists etc. It was just another seed planted and nourished with our testimonies and the Holy Ghost! :)

So, back on what President is saying about using different approaches. He tells us (some) that other missionaries are using and that he's come up with on his own, so for the past few weeks Sister Pacis and I have been trying these different approaches. Unfortunately, I don't think we picked our candidates well enough because we tried the 'I'm looking for someone, someone to listen to our unique and remarkable message..I think that someone is you' approach..and the guy said 'Nah it's not me guys'..and kept walking. We had a bit of a laugh to ourselves. We also tried the 'My friend is from the Philippines and is learning English (Sister Pacis is from the Philippines and is learning English) can you listen to 3 sentences and then tell us what you think?' Then she would say a short restoration spiel but that isn't too successful either haha we'll keep trying! It's a means to an end to get people to slow down enough for us to talk to them. This world is so hectic and crazy, we just need to slow them down so we can stop them and talk to them. We did, however, without even thinking about the approach (it was just natural), we spoke to a lady and walked with her for a bit, she didn't seem SUPER interested, and then after about 10 seconds of talking to her she says 'So are you from Utah?'..and I say 'Nope, Sister Pacis is from the Philippines and I'm from Australia'. She was walking quite fast and we were walking with her because she was on her way to uni (she was an older African lady who knew we were missionaries), and when we said where we were from in a casual conversation, she didn't only slow down, she STOPPED dead in her tracks and turned to us and said 'REALLY?'. We then had a brief conversation, started walking again to the end of the street, gave her our card and she hurried off to university. It was a pleasant surprise for someone to literally stop like she did. 

I've never had too much trouble with finding, I actually really enjoy finding. I LOVE knocking as well. Most other missionaries tell me that's unusual because a lot of them don't like knocking or street contacting. I like it, I don't know why, but I do. I get to be challenged. Especially at doorsteps, because you don't know who is on the other side and you get to have great conversations and teach and plant seeds. It's what missionary work is about isn't it? Being disciples of Jesus Christ? How different would missionary work be if we just waited around for referrals or for people to come to us. Christ never did that. He knocked and waited for people to open the door and even though a lot of people rejected Him, he still loved them unconditionally and set a perfect example. We are now doing that as His representatives, and I really enjoy it :)

Alex came to church on Sunday. We're not sure if he's accountable or not. He's just a bit strange..but he's a previous investigator and he passed his baptism interview apparently but then the baptism didn't go ahead because he txted or called off another number and said the church is just trying to control people and then said to leave him alone. I'm not sure if it was his family who pressured him but oh well. We'll keep praying about it. We have a few other potentials as well that we are trying to progress. The work is moving forward!
Gotta go! Love you all!
The month is almost over and I have no idea where it's gone!

Sister Kuhn xxxxxxx

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