Hey family.
This week was fabulous. Especially yesterday. We
saw miracles in the work.
We tried out some radical new ideas for finding new
investigators this week. Really radical. We used our fancy signs to
their fullest potential. We tried 3 new ideas: Soapboxing, Chair sitting,
and Book of Mormon selling.
Soapboxing: We stood on a stool and proclaimed
gospel truths for all to hear. We did it for district meeting. We
took a field trip to the market and split into two groups. Each group was
equipped with a sign and a stool. We each stood on the stool for 5-10 minutes
declaring repentance while the others walked around trying to get contact info.
It was way fun. The best part: We did it with a mini
megaphone. Yeah. For real. We got to the market and I saw
this lady standing by a transport van calling prices out over this mini megaphone.
I thought, "We need that." So I went and asked if we
could borrow it. She said something that I took for no, so I gave her an
English card and went back to wait with my group. I spent a few minutes
watching for the other group's bus and then turned around to find E. Thomas
standing there with a megaphone in his hand. He said the lady just came
and gave it to him! So we proclaimed the gospel of repentance via
megaphone. True story.
Chair sitting: Worst idea ever. The plan
was to have 3 chairs and a sign. We sat in two of the chairs and left of
the third one open. The sign said, "Do you have problems or things
you wonder about in your life? Come chat with us." So there we
sat with our sign trying as hard as possible to not look scary. No one
came and sat down. Not one person. Nope. Fail.
Book of Mormon selling: Oh Baby. We got up way
early (5:15). We got showered and dressed and went out to the bus stop
with a table, a box of scriptures and our sweet sign. We set up a modest
display of books and began passing out baptism cards while asking people if
they were spiritually thirsty. We sold one. For 30฿.
Now that man has a baptismal date. I asked this other man if he was
spiritually thirsty. He said yes. I told him about the Book of
Mormon, gave him one and made a return appointment. Now he is an
investigator. I am amazed how effective it was. I was half asleep
but yet we found 2 stellar people and talked to loads more about Jesus Christ.
It was money. In the bank.
Lesson learned: If you wait for people to come to you,
you will be waiting a long time. If you go to them, you succeed in
finding those prepared.
Our whole focus this week was to achieve balanced key
indicators ( 2 daters, 2 investies at church, combined 10 lessons and 2 new
investies). We wanted it. Bad. On Friday, we thought we would
make it. We were excited. Then Sunday came and we only had one
person at church when the meeting started. I was devastated. We
worked so hard and we were about to fail. Then in the middle of the
meeting a member came and told me investigators were outside the door.
YES. I opened the door and in walks a family of three who we had
forgot to contact all week long. Apparently God wasn't going to let us
mess this one up. I helped them find a seat, made sure a member was
sitting by them, and returned to my seat to say a prayer of thanks for this
miracle. Hope was rekindled. We could still make it! But the
fight was far from over. We still needed to teach 4 lessons to reach our
goal. We taught one right after church was over and made plans to visit 3
less actives. Visiting less actives is always a gamble, especially when
you don't know their houses. We found the first one fairly easy and had a
good visit with him. The second one was not as easy. We were
basically wondering around this neighborhood in the scorching heat. I
remember thinking how hot it was and how miserable I was. Then a thought
crossed my mind that changed the game. I thought of how hot it was in Jerusalem
when Christ was crucified. When He struggled under the weight of the
cross on His way to Calvary. My misery suddenly seemed a lot smaller.
We pressed on and found the man's house. We visited with him and
shared some verses in the Book of Mormon. He looked lifted. We
needed one more lesson to meet our goal. We were out of people. We
resorted to our back up plans. They were shaky. First back up plan?
No go. Second? Nope. Third? No bueno. It
was getting time to go home. Last ditch effort: We made a call to a
potential that didn't make his earlier appointment. He said we could see
him in 15 minutes. We were in the area of our branch mission leader's
house, so we dropped by and asked him to take us to this potential's house.
He was happy to and we set off on our bikes to find the guy's house.
We had a great lesson and our branch mission leader played a major role
in it. Miracle? Definitely.
This week I have learned the importance of key indicators.
They are not just numbers. There are souls behind the numbers.
When we focus on meeting our goals we help bring people closer to Christ.
Well I love you all. Zone Conference is Thursday.
I'll be looking like one fly cat in my new suit (I'm picking it up
today...pictures next week)
Elder M. Riley Creer
The Only
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