Hey guys! Another week has come and gone. It is pretty crazy to
think that it is August already and half way through the second transfer. Time
is moving fast. No surprise, this week has been great! But before I tell you
about it I need to rewind, back to last Monday. I forgot to mention zone soccer
again! haha! It was pretty great. My highlight was a lefty goal from like
thirty feet out. I felt pretty good about myself. Not quite sure how I forgot
about that in my letter last week. Oh well..
So Monday night we decided to contact a media referral. Media
referrals are referrals from mormon.org where people go online and request
a missionary visit or a book of mormon. So this guy requested a
missionary visit and we decided to go meet him. Here in Maryland we
encounter some crazy pet people, but this guy was really over the top. He lived
in this tiny apartment house. As he invited us inside we quickly hit a wall of
such penetrating stench as I have never before seen, or in this case, smelled.
I was quick to remember to remember the lord's promise in the doctrine and
covenants that those who try to poison me shall fail, for I was quite sure the
odor was poisonous and I was quickly losing brain cells. As I tried to get my
wits about me I began to count cats... one, two, three.... six cats. Then I
noticed the dogs... this is a tiny apartment! No ventilation.... not
surprisingly this guy ended up being a little crazy. Normally, we love
talkative people but this guy really couldn’t seem to get his story straight.
It was like talking to a four year old, no offense to the cousins... anyway...
so he tells us his initial story and then we leave, promising to return again
on Wednesday. Aaron claimed he was interested in the church and wanted to learn
more and change his life a bit. He mentioned the word of wisdom and claimed to
have no issues with following that commandment. His pet collection has grown
considerably and as we left he swore us to secrecy because he isn’t allowed to
have that many pets... for good obvious reasons, I might add. As much as I
wanted to tell him that the best way to improve his life was to get rid of all
of his pets and move to a new house far away, that was not the message I
prepared for our return visit. I still wonder if I should have... haha as we
thought about where to go with this guy we noticed something odd on the ward
records... his name! Now we were a little intrigued. Who could possibly get
baptized and not remember? There must be a story behind this one. So Wednesday arrived
and although the smell would be nearly impossible to bear, we pressed on in
order to get to the bottom of the matter. We wasted no time at all. Within the
first few minutes we informed him that he is a member of the church. He looked
like a kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar. And we got the real story.
Well, we got the general idea. He has been living in such an unhealthy
situation for so long I think it has damaged his communication abilities beyond
repair. Very long story made short - he thought he was excommunicated for
something his dad did. In reality, his dad was offended and left. He was not
involved in the situation at all. Fortunately/unfortunately, he is out of
town for the next two weeks. We will see what ends up happening with him.
Thursday we had a zone conference. Pretty big deal. Meeting from
eight to twelve. Lunch break. Meetings from one to five. Eight hours. It was
good though, president and his wife were there and we had some recent converts
come and bear their testimonies. It was great. Well, we received some great
training about using online videos in the messages we share to help members
think about ways they can do missionary work. These online videos are pretty
great. They are on the hastening the work section, you guys should check
them out. We decided we should probably apply the inspired training and decided
to use it in our visit that night. We familiarized
ourselves with the website and selected the video we would share. When we got
there and started talking we discovered that they had seen all of the videos.
Very recently. Like the day before was when they had watched them. So we didn’t
show the video. But we still had a great discussion.
Friday we visited another guy. it was recently his birthday and so we
brought him a frosty. He proceeded to ask Elder Hansen his usual questions.
Elder Hansen was again uncomfortable. But we challenged him to come to
church. He told us that he was going to buy a white shirt and a clip on tie
before he came this weekend. Clip on tie? Yes, and Elder Hansen has zip ties..
haha He said that he would come but we wouldn’t see him. We assured him that we
would if he came over and said hello. So Sunday rolled around and we didn’t see him. We thought that he just didn’t keep the commitment. As we walked to
our car we saw a note in the windshield wiper. He was there. And now he thinks
he is so cool... ugh…I completely forgot about him trying to avoid us…Mostly
because I didn’t take him seriously. But we will get him next time.
Fast Sunday was great this week. During sacrament I found out
that I needed to prepare a back up lesson plan for Elders quorum in case the
guy who was supposed to teach didn’t show. I did so and so I did not take the
opportunity to bear my testimony. I hope some of you guys did. It is a great
opportunity to share what we know to be true. Fortunately the guy who was
supposed to teach did arrive. He taught a great lesson on fasting related to
testimony. We were in elders quorum with a Brother. He is not a member
but his wife is. Cool guy. The teacher asked if we would all go around and bear
our testimonies. We did so. When it was this Brother's turn he too bore his
testimony and in his words "this church is in the correct way" said
with some hesitancy. I think that’s a word, hesitancy? Anyway, it was neat and
when he finished, an older member of the quorum called him out saying
"that was pretty good, when are you getting baptized?" haha I took
the opportunity to bear my testimony as well and I would like to share it with
you guys as well.
I am here in Frederick, Maryland for a very specific reason. I
stand as a witness of Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
I know that He died for me and paid the price for all of my sins, allowing
me to learn and progress. I know that He did this for each and every one
of us. He is the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. Almost two thousand
years ago Jesus Christ died on the cross. I can testify that He
was resurrected. He lives! I know it.
He established His church on the earth when He was here and
after it was rejected and altered by men He has established His
church once again. That church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints, which was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that the
current President of the church, President Thomas S. Monson, is a prophet
of God leading and guiding us today under direction of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ lives to lead and guide us that we may grow greater
than we currently are. God and Jesus Christ know our divine potential
and work tirelessly to help us achieve it. I know that with their help all
things are possible.
Some people will question how anyone could ever come to know
these things. Only through the Spirit can we know the truth of spiritual
things. I can say, without doubt, that I have felt the Holy Ghost impress
upon me that these things are true. Personal revelation is real and is available
to every one of us. Ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened unto you.
I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I know these
things to be true. I say these things in His name, Amen.
I hope you guys are have a great week. I will talk to you guys next week.
I love you guys,
Elder
Hinkle
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