We have had success in finding new people that are interested in the gospel but are very hard to schedule with. We have plenty of people that are on the verge of baptism literally probably 10 people that are almost ready to take the dunk but just feel like they have all the time in the world. I wish thy felt the same urgency to get baptized as we feel to baptize them haha. The good thing is that there are some kids in Sandhill that have been going to church every Sunday for months. So next week we are going to teach them 2 lessons 2 times and cover everything so they can be baptized that same week. They want to be baptized there is only the need to be taught by missionaries that is holding them back. Again we did a hecka ton of service this week. One of our investigators wants to be baptized but want her aunt to be there who won't be able to come down here until July so that is frustrating for us haha. Just working with people and teaching them what we believe. I thought i knew all about, The restoration, Faith, repentance and baptism, the sacrament and everything but I learn more and more about is every time I teach it. The spirit really does teach through us that is for sure, we have had some really good questions recently about certain things and we answered them very well. I am also coming out of my "greeny shell" and talking a lot more. I always let me companion take the lead and i just added testimony and further explanation when needed but now we are both teaching in unity I am glad that i know these things well enough now and feel confident about teaching other people about are beliefs.
Just so yall know Missionaries are a million times more effective when they teach people who are already friends with members instead of random people we tract into. So if anyone asks you about our church refer them to the missionaries because that is where conversion will happen even if they don't expect to be converted. People tell me all the time they have a friend who asks questions about our church but is just curious about it and is not looking to be converted. Well i want you to know that EVERYONE we talk to "is just curious about our church" and no one is looking to be converted. We walk into someones house who just wants to know about our church and within 45 min. after our message about the restoration we are supposed to always ask them to be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. Crazy huh? Within 45 minutes we ask people to be baptized!! Do you think they expected that when they called us or their friend sent us over? No sir. Many people will accept our message and we should not be the one to judge for them. Let them talk to the missionaries and decide for themselves. We can make it awkward and weird and as members just blame it on the missionaries and move on it will not effect your relationship if anything it would strengthen it because you were willing ti share your personal beliefs with them. Basically i am saying get involved with the missionaries. They would appreciate, you will feel the spirit and we will bring blessings to peoples lives that they never expected. Being sealed to their family for one!!
We have so much truth and so many blessings I wish I could have told more people about it before i was a missionary. How wonderful it is to be LDS! I just want everyone to be given an opportunity to feel the blessings that we as Latter-day Saints feel every day! I love this gospel, I love Jesus Christ and the wonderful and infinite atonement he did for us. What love he must have had for every individual to say "yes i will pay for everything for you. Even the things you did on purpose i will pay for it." I am so gratrful to have tasted a part of this atonement for myself and have seen the changes that can come. I love the scriptures how lucky are we to have honorable men and prophets of God write down and preserve records for us. They didn't benefit from them at all. The plan in simple and yet majestic and infinite! I love having the knowledge of there things for myself and would strongly encourage anyone who is struggling with these things to read the Book or Mormon and pray in faith to know of these things for yourself! What a wonderful blessing!!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
The week of "Golden Investigators"
Dear people,
I have had a very interesting week this week and i hope that i have the patience with myself to write it all down so the my readers can understand and enjoy what i am trying to say. First Monday, nothing exciting happened. Tuesday worked hard still nothing to report. Wednesday, We went a saw a less active and finally felt like we were making some progress with him, his son is 10 and hasn't been baptized yet because his dad won't come back to church. We think we are very very close to getting him to come back. Okay i am not going ot go by days, anyways we taught him and his son some things and had a great time with them that evening. We had to cut it short because their son had a baseball game that they invited us to and we went. I think that helped a lot for getting him to come back to church, we were still dressed like missionaries and I have never felt so out of place in my life!! I am used to getting funny looks sometimes in wal-mart or somethings but this was way worse. People were staring at us so hard core and some people we heard asking if we were spies or F.B.I. or something lets just say it was probably the most awkward moment of my mission so far i think. After that we got a call from a man who needed some financial help with his home, he had 2 days before he was going to be evicted. We told him we won't know what we can do but we would be happy to come over and visit with you. We then drove to his home and just talked with him. We asked him and his fiance about their religious background. That question started the most picture perfect lesson i have had in my like as a missionary. It was almost like it was setup like at the MTC when the "fake" investigators you teach know what questions to ask and help you through the lesson just so you know real people aren't like that. Except this couple. His fiance asked us about why we are different then others, our doctrine differences, what the Book of Mormon was, she asked if she could have one, she told us she wanted to read it, she asked about baptism, she asked about the sacrament, she asked when church was and if she could go next Sunday, she wanted to know who Joseph Smith was. She was essentially asking us if she could do everything that we try to get other people to do!! We try to get people to read and pray and come to church and she asked us is we would let her do those things!!!! Her husband was Mormon as a child and i think he really sparked her interest and he was just as excited about it but listened to the answers we gave. I don't think I will every have another perfect experience like that again but i wouldn't complain haha.
We don't know if they will get their finances worked out or not but we hope that they do so that we can continue guiding them to the restored gospel. really I am just supposed to help people gain a testimony of the gospel but compel them or drag them into a testimony. This was the first "perfect lesson" I have taught. We used scripture to help her understand, we prayed at the end, and all we did was have a gospel discussion about what we believe. She was shocked to find out that we were very similar to other religions, the only major differences are the Book of Mormon and our restored authority. I didn't even want to go talk to these people assuming they were just going to use us for our welfare program and get the money they need and leave but I am glad my companion decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and trust that these were good people. She knew her scriptures better then me. She knew the bible and when we showed her how the Bible and the Book or Mormon work together in order to prove gospel truths. She loved that! Also our other Golden Investigator lives literally right behind this couple! we stopped be to see her and she was so sorry she missed church but said she was going to be there no matter what next week and is still reading the Book of Mormon. We are seeing some real success here in Petal and the best part is that I shouldn't be leaving here until August or September :)
Other than those two things this week was very much the same as all the others, but that one experience I have yesterday with that couple makes my whole mission worth it :) I mean the blessings that i can bring to help that family, the joy they will be able to share because i was willing to go out and bring the gospel to them. It makes everything i do worth it. Well today is my p-day as are all the days when i write these updates so I want to go do something fun while i have a chance!
Remember this D&C 62:3 "Nevertheless, ye are ablessed, for the btestimony which ye have borne is crecorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you."
When you are talking to a friend or a stranger they might become that golden investigator and love what the church has to offer but they don't know it. The couple above was forced to become humble and call us but through it found the gospel. If we initiate conversation of religion and bear testimony of what we believe that the angels in heaven rejoice! You are blessed and so is the hearer. Testimony is so much more standing up one Sunday a month and sharing it with people who don't really NEED to hear, it the ones who need to hear it aren't sitting in the congregation.
I have had a very interesting week this week and i hope that i have the patience with myself to write it all down so the my readers can understand and enjoy what i am trying to say. First Monday, nothing exciting happened. Tuesday worked hard still nothing to report. Wednesday, We went a saw a less active and finally felt like we were making some progress with him, his son is 10 and hasn't been baptized yet because his dad won't come back to church. We think we are very very close to getting him to come back. Okay i am not going ot go by days, anyways we taught him and his son some things and had a great time with them that evening. We had to cut it short because their son had a baseball game that they invited us to and we went. I think that helped a lot for getting him to come back to church, we were still dressed like missionaries and I have never felt so out of place in my life!! I am used to getting funny looks sometimes in wal-mart or somethings but this was way worse. People were staring at us so hard core and some people we heard asking if we were spies or F.B.I. or something lets just say it was probably the most awkward moment of my mission so far i think. After that we got a call from a man who needed some financial help with his home, he had 2 days before he was going to be evicted. We told him we won't know what we can do but we would be happy to come over and visit with you. We then drove to his home and just talked with him. We asked him and his fiance about their religious background. That question started the most picture perfect lesson i have had in my like as a missionary. It was almost like it was setup like at the MTC when the "fake" investigators you teach know what questions to ask and help you through the lesson just so you know real people aren't like that. Except this couple. His fiance asked us about why we are different then others, our doctrine differences, what the Book of Mormon was, she asked if she could have one, she told us she wanted to read it, she asked about baptism, she asked about the sacrament, she asked when church was and if she could go next Sunday, she wanted to know who Joseph Smith was. She was essentially asking us if she could do everything that we try to get other people to do!! We try to get people to read and pray and come to church and she asked us is we would let her do those things!!!! Her husband was Mormon as a child and i think he really sparked her interest and he was just as excited about it but listened to the answers we gave. I don't think I will every have another perfect experience like that again but i wouldn't complain haha.
We don't know if they will get their finances worked out or not but we hope that they do so that we can continue guiding them to the restored gospel. really I am just supposed to help people gain a testimony of the gospel but compel them or drag them into a testimony. This was the first "perfect lesson" I have taught. We used scripture to help her understand, we prayed at the end, and all we did was have a gospel discussion about what we believe. She was shocked to find out that we were very similar to other religions, the only major differences are the Book of Mormon and our restored authority. I didn't even want to go talk to these people assuming they were just going to use us for our welfare program and get the money they need and leave but I am glad my companion decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and trust that these were good people. She knew her scriptures better then me. She knew the bible and when we showed her how the Bible and the Book or Mormon work together in order to prove gospel truths. She loved that! Also our other Golden Investigator lives literally right behind this couple! we stopped be to see her and she was so sorry she missed church but said she was going to be there no matter what next week and is still reading the Book of Mormon. We are seeing some real success here in Petal and the best part is that I shouldn't be leaving here until August or September :)
Other than those two things this week was very much the same as all the others, but that one experience I have yesterday with that couple makes my whole mission worth it :) I mean the blessings that i can bring to help that family, the joy they will be able to share because i was willing to go out and bring the gospel to them. It makes everything i do worth it. Well today is my p-day as are all the days when i write these updates so I want to go do something fun while i have a chance!
Remember this D&C 62:3 "Nevertheless, ye are ablessed, for the btestimony which ye have borne is crecorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you."
When you are talking to a friend or a stranger they might become that golden investigator and love what the church has to offer but they don't know it. The couple above was forced to become humble and call us but through it found the gospel. If we initiate conversation of religion and bear testimony of what we believe that the angels in heaven rejoice! You are blessed and so is the hearer. Testimony is so much more standing up one Sunday a month and sharing it with people who don't really NEED to hear, it the ones who need to hear it aren't sitting in the congregation.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Service and Mothers Day Phone Call
This past week was full of service! All the missionaries in my zone got together on Saturday and worked for 10 hours straight to build a barn for a scout camp. It was very tiring work and the sun was hot and we didn't get even close to what we wanted done that day. We had a lady find us last Sunday at church and say she grew up Mormon but was never baptized she got into drugs but now that she is older she wants to find her way back and wanted to know if we could help her with that haha. We were thrilled to have such an opportunity fall into our laps like that! We are still working on some people and just trying to find people that we can preach the restored gospel to. I wish people would just give it a chance because that is all it would take and the joy that they would find would be amazing. I wish i could open there eyes so they could see all the blessings the our church would bring to them and their families. We are going to continue working hard and try to find someone that we can share these blessings with.
-Elder Blomquist
*side note*
Joshua forgot to mention that he was able to skype with his family on sunday afternoon (may 8, 2010) for mothers day. He was all smiles and VERY excited to see and talk to everyone! Pictures are on facebook :)
-Elder Blomquist
*side note*
Joshua forgot to mention that he was able to skype with his family on sunday afternoon (may 8, 2010) for mothers day. He was all smiles and VERY excited to see and talk to everyone! Pictures are on facebook :)
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Share The Gospel
The storms haven't been that bad at all here in Petal, but I think the worst of it happens at night and I sleep through everything. Our ward is going to Alabama to help clean up some of the devastation there and me and my companion wanted to go help them but its out of our mission boundaries so i don't think they will let us. I was really hoping to be able to go and help, it would have been a once in a lifetime opportunity I am sure. We are waiting for a call from our mission president to let us know it we can go or not. Transfers are today and me and Elder Eldredge are staying in Petal together so we are stoked about that and so are the members haha. I am not sure about what happened this week.... Oh we had a golden gator (Golden Investigator) find us on sunday!! She said she was raised Mormon and for some reason was never baptized she later fell away and found us on Sunday asking for a book of Mormon and if we could help her find her way back!!! I thought wow this couldn't have been easier, we were truly blessed because after baptizing Tim we were had one less person to teach but another one came to us directly after. It is amazing to see how the Lord will bless us if we do the right things. I am excited about mothers day and being able to talk to me family :) even if it has only been 3 months! I am really enjoying being down in the south being able to share the gospel full time! It makes me wonder why i was ever worried about sharing it in the first place. I mean what is there to lose? Hey friend i have a religion that can do nothing but improve the quality of your life and bring you closer to your family forever!! Now think about it who would say i don't care if they were a friend? I mean people tell me to leave all of the time but that is only because they know its my job to share this. They think i am doing it because i have to not because I have a sincere desire to share this wonderful message with them because I love them. The love you feel for people as a missionary is crazy! I love people, just in general is weird because before i didn't love people in fact people really bothered me haha! If anyone wants to share the gospel with a friend but doesn't know how feel free to ask any missionary or e-mail me about it! I know the members of this church themselves will have much more success at missionary work then the missionaries will. Seems like an odd statement? Well it is the truth!!
Well I love ya'll
Elder Blomquist
Well I love ya'll
Elder Blomquist
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