Lots and lots of cool stuff this week. It is fun to be a missionary!!
I had an AWESOME experience on Tuesday this week. I found out two days before that I would be in a trio for about a day until we would get our new companion. Our mission president now has the new missionaries come on Tuesday and spend the day with him before he introduces them to their trainers the next day. So on Tuesday I was with Elder Torres and Elder Winter in the evening. I met them not much sooner than we went to dinner and shared a lesson. WOW. That was one of the best lessons I have ever been a part of. We taught in unity together the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a husband&wife with their 2 friends (both widows) that are members. I felt the Spirit so strong testifying in the truth of the Gospel message. It was amazing. Working together to teach a message was amazing. I still can't believe how powerful it was to me when we had never practiced what we were going to say! *sigh. Being a missionary with other experienced missionaries is awesome!
Then the next day I met my companion!
Elder Harper from Scottsdale, Arizona who just turned 18 and graduated from High School in May. I didn't think he was that young when meeting him because he gives off the vibe of maturity and competency that I don't think is typical of an new High School graduate. It is pretty exciting to train. I forgot how much I learned in the last 6 months and how he is pretty new to essentially all of this stuff. Fortunately we are about the same size, into sports, and positive/optimistic people. It has been going quite well thus far. I'm trying to REALLY communicate as much as possible because I need him on the same page as me! I think it was easier for me to be working together quickly with my trainer because we were both new to the area and I had been in a YSA ward in a missionary capacity for the months previous. Elder Harper has not done missionary like things much and I know pretty much the entire congregation since I have been here for 3 months now. Moral of the story, I'm really excited and it has been great thus far. I'm so blessed that he is similar to me and that we are able to work together pretty well. I've definitely been talking more to the investigators and etc that we work with because I have an established relationship, but I'm hopeful that soon we will be pulling the same weight.
We had a GREAT experience this Friday night. A month ago I was out visiting members of the church who don't come very much anymore with our ward mission leader. The Turley family was home and the agreed to have us for dinner. That was on Friday. Only the mom is a member of the church; her two children are over 8 and her husband isn't baptized. It was an extremely positive experience. We heard that for the past number of years, they haven't been very friendly or welcoming to people from the church. However, dinner was awesome and I shared a message from Moroni 7 about love. I didn't have anything really planned and didn't have any follow up questions or anything. Ultimately I felt prompted to bear a testimony about how people can really tell when you care about them or when they just have good people skills. I testified of the importance of really loving those you work with. Sister Turley opened up about how the missionaries who taught her the Gospel genuinely cared about her and how she is teaching her daughter (entering the 8th grade) about the importance of choosing the right friends. It was so awesome to have that type of meaningful conversation. We even got to schedule dinner-like thing with them for 2 weeks later. I'm very excited.
Also, Vince (the son of Gabe who came to church last week) came to church on Sunday. He is awesome. It definitely feels good when people you are working with are making progress! He told us earlier in the week that his mom cried about the prospect of me leaving the area. It definitely makes me feel good that the family really cares about me as I really care about them. A few days earlier I testified to her with Elder Torres and Winter that building your foundation in missionaries or any person is dangerous. Our message is about Jesus Christ and how HE is the sure foundation we are to build on. I'm not that reliable. No one is truly that reliable. Only in Jesus Christ can we find the true security and love that we desire. This is described VERY well in a scripture from the Book of Mormon:
Helaman 5:12: "remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."
Lastly, I am SURE happy that I made this decision to serve a full time mission. I LOVE that all my responsibilities are to go out to find, teach, and serve. I those are really my favorite things to do, going out and helping people. I feel so privileged all the time that I don't have to work or worry about bills. I am so glad all I have to worry about is the people we are working with. I have really grown to love the people out here. I do miss not being able to see family and some friends, but I know that they will all essentially be there when I'm back. So I'm glad.
Hope you have an amazing week!
Elder Jeff Campbell :)
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