Hey y'all, hands down this has been the greatest week and a half of my mission. I've never had such a spiritual connection with a companion. The Lord has blessed us so much, there's not enough room to receive it all. Where do I even begin!
I guess I'll start with the spiritual "AH HA" moments. Elder Tuft from Casper Wyoming, and I have gained such a greater understanding of pride and how it kills our faith. There is seriously so much I could say but I'll try to keep it short and then leave it up to y'all to study it more and apply it in your life. Pride is our greatest enemy, it is the natural man in us. Naturally we want to get gain, do things for our own good and bask in our glory. Wow, I am just amazing right now, there's nothing that can stop me! As soon as we have that thought cross our mind, things slowly start to slip. It is because the Lord then tries to humble us. God created the universe and everything within it. He creates us out of his own image. It is completely, utterly, impossible to repay him. We own him everything, including all the success we have. When life seems great and we easily overcome trials, we owe it strictly to the Lord because it was Him that gave us the strength and courage to overcome. When we don't recognize that, and forget to thank The Lord, those blessings start to disappear and our burden becomes heavier.
Elder Tuft and I have given it all to the Lord this work. We easily rode 20-30 miles on our bikes each day, and worked non stop, always being greeted with a miracle around the corner. These Christlike attributes are nothing new: faith, hope, charity, diligence, humility, gratitude, and patience. We have gained such greater understanding of them in these past few weeks from being in Gainesville. My life has been changed forever. The Lord has blessed us with 11 new investigators this week. I'll try to focus on just a few.
First, we started to tract in the Ghetto and we came across Yaziria. She is a single mother of two, who questions what the purpose of her life is, and how she can find peace and lasting happiness. She has struggled with drugs, alcohol, and with keeping her home nice and clean. During our second visit with her, we invited to her to be baptized! After a long pause, she said she would like to have us in her home but it has been a mess for weeks now and has never has time to clean. We immediately offered to clean her house. She stepped outside and watched us wash her dishes, fold her clothes, organize, sweep and mop her floors to where it was almost spotless. The entire time she was blasting praise music and telling all her neighbors what we were doing! They all loved us and afterwards it felt like a home and not so much like the ghetto anymore. She then repaid us with crackers and coke, and we were on our way.
Second, we tracked into a part member family that we had no idea about. The wife Makita was raised in Sandy Utah! She moved to Lake City, Florida and married Deon and became less active. Deon was raised in the hood, but has shaken the ghetto out of him. He found Jesus as a college student and only wants to raise his two children up in a church. He told us that he had never seen such dedicated young men before and as we watched us ride our bikes down the street, he thought to himself, I could see our family being a part of their church. So praise The Lord! We are hoping to have the first discussion with the entire family in a members home this week.
Third, we had the most awful lesson of our entire missions with a woman named Becky. Afterwards, we felt a strong confirmation that she was going to be baptized. She is supposedly atheist, and when we went over to her home, she was drinking a beer the entire time, cussing like a sailor. Her home was filled with lizards, snakes, and large spiders. We asked her what was most important to her in her life and she said her kids. She is divorced and the kids stay with the father. The entire time we were there, she was yelling, "I'm so happy! I will tell the world how happy I am!" We immediately realized that she was depressed, miserable, and in total denial that her life has gone to the pits. After struggling to have a lesson with no sense of direction, she whipped out the board game Candyland and we were forced to play....... After driving all the way home and never planning on going back, I stepped out of the car and realized I had left my iPad on her couch.... We were then late for curfew, BUT Becky then invites us back to tell her why each of us are serving a mission. So everything happens for a reason. We went back yesterday and found out that she had read the Book of Mormon. She's crazy but has a true desire to learn and become happier.
The stories go on and on this week. I had the chance to go on two trade offs with missionaries back into the 2nd ward, my first area. I was able to visit many of our old investigators and members that I loved. It felt like a family reunion it was great! At the same time, I came to find out that those people I had taught, were falling back into their old habits. One woman we came in contact with had a boy who was going through chemo for his brain cancer. She looked us straight in the eyes, while being drunk, or high, or something, and said he's going to die. I got the impression that she has lost her faith and desire to live. It was very sad, and the worst part of it all is I felt like there was nothing I could do. She had received a Priesthood blessing, but it seemed hopeless... Many others have fallen back into their addictions of smoking. I felt some Godly sorrow that day.
We also were invited to the church Spirit of Faith by one of our investigators. It was TERRIBLE! I felt like I was at a concert. They disgraced the name of Jesus the entire time. They had a full band blasting worship music and repetitious chants. Theh service was filled with adrenaline and NOT the spirit of God. And ohhhhh the Pastor. He and his wife, who looked just like Beyoncé, got up and told the congregation to take their phones out and take photos of them posing and kissing on the cheek. They bragged about how great their love is and told the congregation to invite all their friends to come to the church to become as amazing as them! Most prideful man I had ever met. Half of his sermon was convincing the congregation, just like a skilled business man, to have faith in God and give him their Tithes and Offerings. He said, don't worry about where your money is going (as if he was being accused). Look at this band, look at these huge speakers, this is where your money is going! To build the church! 20 minutes earlier he had publicly thanked the crew members for setting up the tents and said he was taking them all out to lunch. Their tithing was also going towards lunch!! Hahaha wow it was an experience I'll tell ya.
So are you bored yet? This is very long I know, but there's more I wish I could share.
Remember the church is true, it is pure sacrifice. No one gets paid. The Lord has restored all the Priesthood keys and saving ordinances necessary to return to His presence and enjoy eternal life. I bare witness this is true along with Joseph Smith as a true prophet of God. Through the gift and power of God the Book of Mormon has been translated to be another testament of Jesus Christ, and we are able to receive personal revelation from our divine Creator. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
With Love,
Elder Greenlaw
Elder Greenlaw and Elder Tuft emailing from their iPads
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