6-2-14

Whew!

Yep, officially 6 months from today, I will be on an airplane headed home. I mean...to Japan. :P Which will be home, because that's where my family will be. But! Pretty darn bizzare to see time passing. At the same time, no big deal, because I'm content in knowing that this is where the Lord wants me to be right now, and when I'm in Japan, that's where he'll want me to be as well (and when I'm back at BYU, that's definitely where he will want me to be! :D...but that's another story. ;) )

So! Update time!

UPDATE:

Sister Steinacker and I continue to do well, though it's likely that we only have another 2 weeks together. And then...who knows where I will be? Here? Right next to Canada? On an Island somewhere? :D This area has been spectacular to work in though; such a mighty change from Clearview Ward. Incredible how no matter where you are though, you come to love the people you're working with (and for). The love I've developed for each of the ward families that I've been called to work with is pretty astounding, and a lot of fun. This week...can't think of too many unique things that happened. It's blurring people! It's blurring! But a few highlights: Awesome ward Dessert auction to generate money for summer youth camps. Some reasonably fun new investigators, annnnddd...Carla's doing awesome! We committed her last night to start preparing for the temple in a year, and she said YES. WOOT! Hope I'll be around to come up for that when it happens.

PROFILE:

Name: Johnathan (not John)

Sticker denoting likely political allegience stuck on his screen door: 'I support planned parenthood'

Attitude: Quite resistant to faith; says he's got a sister who pushes this stuff onto him all the time, and he says he's an Atheist...but! After a little bit of digging it's evident that he's got some deep unresolved questions ('Why all the suffering in this world? Why have I suffered so much? etc.) that I know we can help with.

Where he's learned about the Mormons from: From Brother Read, his overly cheerful and very proactive Mormon mail man.

Significant activity he's looking forward to in the fall: Attending the Book of Mormon Musical in Seattle!

What's keeping him from being a religious man: A lot of pain and suffering in his life, including two different types of Cancer. He says that if there is a God, then He doesn't like him very much.

Why we like him: I'm not sure! Maybe it's the feeling that I've been called to this place in part to talk to people of this variety, to open their mind to the fact that faith and God can still be an option for them. Or maybe...because he's really fun to talk to. Though he freaks Sister Steinacker out (he's sort of debate oriented. :) ).

Why he likes us: I really have no idea. The spirit! I hope? :) All I know is that he was angry when we first knocked on his door, and then 20 minutes later he was inviting us back. Pretty cool. :)

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

Here's something I stumbled on in the last couple weeks that I think may be an Eternal principle: Leave someone alone and see what they'll do. What does this mean, exactly?

Well, it came to mind when we ran into a woman who used to be active, but hasn't had much contact with the church in the last 3-4 years. She seems very nice, but never really gained a testimony or read much of the Book of Mormon; kind of a social conversion if anything (I would guess). At this point she considers herself Muslim, and covers when she goes outside. She also smokes, which leads me to believe that she's not that dedicated to that faith either...but it's kind of a big question mark. Mormon to Muslim is kind of a big transition, and I hadn't seen it on my mission before running into this lady. After leaving, Sister Steinacker and I kind of turned to each other and shrugged, and my above statement was kind of my response: Leave someone alone and see what they'll do, I guess.

In a big way, that's sort of the whole plan of Salvation though. Not that God has left us entirely alone, but for this time of mortal life, we are outside of his physical presence, left to our own devices, to 'see what we'll do'. In fact, Christ said in Abraham 3:25 as he's discussing creating the earth, "And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God will command them." So that's kind of the test. When we're all alone and free to do whatever we want without anyone catching us, what will we do? Do we have integrity? Will we do the right thing because it is right? Or won't we? Who are we when we're alone, when we don't have someone egging us on to do something good? What if we're left to our own devices for years at a time? Will we seek after God and try to do the right things? Will we find a way to get involved? Or will we slip into the easy, the placid, the comfortable? We're told in the scriptures that we will ultimately be judged according to our works and our desires, primarily because these are the best gauges of what we actually are. So who are we? And how do we show that through the choices we make, even when we're alone?

That's about it. It's been fun to think about these last 2 weeks though. :)

PICTURE:

This is what I do when I'm alone. EAT AT HEAVEN-SENT FRIED CHICKEN! :D (Except that I'm never alone, that's Sister Steinacker behind the camera there. :P)