COMPANION: ELDER COLLETT
Truths, The Taming of the Floridians, and Much Ado About Eternity. But
this one fit best because...
We had a miracle yesterday!! This week we worked HARD. Very hard.
Finding and street contacting for hours made endless by heat and
humidity, and there was just no one to talk to! It took us both aback.
We worked desperately to find new investigators to replenish our teaching pool, and Sunday morning came with the prospect of one person who MIGHT come to church. Sigh. So we walked over to church and who
should walk in but the Bailey family, who no one had ever seen before.
It turns out Brother and Sister Bailey were baptized more than 10
years ago in Ohio, went less-active under the burden of enormous
trials, but have recently moved to Starke, have decided to once again
become active in the church, and want us to teach the gospel to two of
their unbaptized sons. As we taught, a thunderstorm of unprecedented
power tore through the little town we were in, and lightening filled
the sky. The rain came down so thick looking out the door was like
looking through a pond. Sister Bailey commented that it seemed almost
as if something did not want us to be there, which gave us the
opportunity to bear testimony of Jesus Christ, the Master of storm and
sky, and communicate our confidence in His power.
Hehehehee the poor Baileys. We met them at church, then ate dinner
with them that night and taught the first lesson, the sister
missionaries are going there tonight, on Tuesday they will play
basketball with us, on Wednesday they will be going to young men's,
and on Thursday we will be going back out to their house for another
lesson. Give the missionaries an inch and they will take MILES. Sweet
Brother Bailey went to the bishop and requested a tithing slip, trying
to pay right there so a debit card, the first time at church in a
decade. That is what faith looks like.
I would like to tell a story on a similar subject. Years ago I was an
aaronic priesthood holder collecting fast-offerings from a new
addition to our ward. The first time I was there, I said hello and was
invited in, I announced that I was there to pick up his fast offering
and he IMMEDIATELY pulled out his wallet and began writing in the
slip. He brought out his children and encouraged them to contribute as
well, testifying to their simple ears of the importance of obedience.
After closing up the slip and handing it to me, he asked, "By the way,
what is fast offerings?" He had either learned the phrase long ago or
not at all, and had no idea why this was being asked of him or what
purpose he served. He knew only that Jesus Christ had spoken, and he
was anxious to obey. This man is one of my heroes and I am thrilled
that he now serves in the bishopric of my home ward. That is faith.
When you have faith, you act, and the entire universe is there to be
acted upon. No paper or coin was master of the human spirit that day.
If only it were always so.
Oh! Also this week, I tried something new on Pday! My darling mother
sent me CDs with the most absolutely gorgeous classical music on them,
and I was anxious to give them the attention they deserve. So I pulled
the car into the garage (so that I would still be technically in the
house and my companion wouldn't have to be within sight and sound. He
does not have as much of a taste for this particular brand of music as
I do) and sat in the car and played the CDs for hours. It was about 90
degrees with a similar humidity percentage, and I was HOT, but it was
worth it. Like having my own sauna! Anyway, I got out, as wet as if I
had just been in a pool, showered, and we went out to work. However,
when we got in the car, we became aware of an exceedingly distinct
odor that I had left behind. It was... significant. I, of course,
absolutely panicked. So we bout three air fresheners, fabric cleaner,
and some other scented things, and turned that car into the greatest
cacophony of scent you can imagine. Luckily it is all clean and faded
by now, but for a while there it was so potent that I was hesitant to
roll down the window as we drove for fear it would knock birds out of
the sky or incapacitate the casual passerby. Adventures adventures.
I got a ridiculous amount of things done this week, but still have
more to do today than I did a week ago! One night I accidentally
consumed an enormous amount of caffeine (those little MiO water
flavoring things? No idea they had caffeine. I had a whole one right
before bed) and was up all night long. Missionaries are plenty
exhausted as it is, I did NOT need that in my life. But I made the
most of it and it turned out to be the best night ever! I cleaned the
entire house, and the car, and organized everything we own, and
rearranged all the furniture, and created huge whiteboards to record
our goals, investigators, to-do lists and other things (it sounds odd
but it is very impressive) and in he copies of the Book of Mormon that
we give away I wrote out our testimonies, contact information, and the
15 "questions of the soul" listed in Preach my Gospel with where to
find the answers to them in the Book of Mormon. I also exercised
(which I needed for sure. Freshmen 15? Try the missionary million.),
wrote in my journal, cooked breakfast for my companion, and got to
have some alone time with Father. Definitely worth the bags under my
eyes.
There is wildlife everywhere here in the thriving metropolis of
Starke. I usually see more squirrels in a day than I do people. We see
one poor morbidly obese beagle being walked every Sunday. That is the
fat dog. We also saw what we call the bear dog recently. This dog is
about my size and weight and will leap in the air barking as loud as
he can, straining at the fence and leach as we walk by. It takes some
faith to go finding on THAT street! Probably the best wildlife story
of the week, though, happened as we were walking down the street and
saw (STOP! This story is not for the faint of heart. I told it in
Sunday School and the members did NOT appreciate it. The sensitive
spirit may wish to skip to the next paragraph) a baby bird trying to
learn how to fly in the middle of the road! It was chirping and
hopping about adorably, fluttering off the ground a couple inches at a
time. We, of course, stopped to bathe in the cuteness. After a couple
moments, as we were commenting on how sweet this experience was, a
hawk swooped down with a screech, snatched up the baby bird in its
claws, and flew away. Our faces were of absolute horror, and we were
left breathless and wide-eyed for several seconds, until suddenly we
burst out laughing hysterically, and got ourselves the heck out of
there before a hawk came and swooped US away. Just a taste of the
adventures had on a daily basis in Starke.
Okay, emotionally traumatizing segment over. I still love the Book of
Mormon. I am still enthralled by its teachings and precepts. The
parallels and wisdom of 2 Nephi 2 and Alma 42 alone deserve half a
lifetime of study at least. But today, I want to highlight this verse:
And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are
righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called
paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest
from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.
This is what my sleep-deprived body and restless human soul is
starving for. Elsewhere in the sermon of which this verse is a part,
the next life is referred to a place where we can enter in (poignant
to a missionary who sees so many slammed doors), sit down (a welcome
phrase to the legs held up by shoes beginning to show their wear) and
experience BLISS. I cannot imagine what it will be like. I catch
glimpses within the walls of the temple, the pages of the scriptures,
or the embrace of sincere prayer, but I am ignorant of the true scope
and meaning of that destiny awaiting us. I am just fine with that. For
now, my hope is enough. My hope is in Jesus Christ and His Atonement,
and I know that soon, so soon, there will be a rest for us all, if
only we endure, and partake.
But not yet! The very next verse after this particular segment, it is
said of the author that "[he], himself, could not rest, and he also
went forth ("to declare the word unto them")". There is work to do!
There are miracles to happen! There are miles to walk and bike and
doors begging to be knocked. Most of all, there are souls to save.
Restless souls. Souls so much like mine.
I hope you had an amazing week! I hope the storms were impotent and
the days were full of rest. And happy Memorial Day! I love you.
~Elder Jorgensen