I didn't have much time to email last week, nor do I have much time this week, but I thought it best to read through the earlier emails that I haven't replied to yet so I could be up to date. The meeting house search is very slow with little hope. The properties that we have found are municipal which is pretty much not going to work because municipal takes so dang long--probably until about 2015. Times are hard; double recession. I haven't taught in church for a while now. Maybe it'll stay that way. I doubt it though. I don't mind teaching in church because we usually have investigators there, so it turns into an opportunity for me to teach my investigators at church, which I like doing.
Charity is truly the best quality to have out of them all. One of my zone leaders spoke to us about how he's noticed that every single missionary can teach by the Spirit, but what makes a missionary stand out is the ability to love his companion and love the people. With people here, they are taught to pay attention to spiritual matters, therefore, they are very much in tune to the Spirit. They can feel when missionaries love them or not. It cannot be faked, nor do you have to tell them that you love them. Charity is what makes a mission mean so much. Without charity, one is just going through the motions, but with charity, missionary work takes on a whole new meaning. I've been studying a lot from Alma chapters 17-26 for the last few weeks. I love the approach that Ammon takes in earning King Lamoni's trust. He serves faithfully first, then he teaches, and because he served first and built the bridge of trust between them, King Lamoni believes everything that Ammon teaches with no questions asked. That's the missionary that I'm trying to become. Love the people, serve the people, then convert the people. There can be some missionaries that baptize people like crazy. As you look at the kind of missionaries that some of them are, you notice that they are disobedient and sometimes apostate. When those missionaries are transferred, the people they baptized go less-active almost immediately. I would be perfectly happy if I baptized 5 people my entire mission if those 5 people all went on to be married in the temple and remained strong for the rest of their lives. Those 5 people will be able to build the Kingdom of God in South Africa much longer than I will be able to, so why not turn them into member-missionaries? That's my idea about a mission. We will be having a baptism this sunday. I'm glad to say that I think she will be one of those people who will build the Kingdom when I'm gone. She will be the first person that I can say I found her, taught her, and baptized her. She is incredible, and the church will be such a blessing in her life.
I love you all so much! I hope that shool has started well and that Jessica is loving both high shools that she's attending.
Elder Steed
Charity is truly the best quality to have out of them all. One of my zone leaders spoke to us about how he's noticed that every single missionary can teach by the Spirit, but what makes a missionary stand out is the ability to love his companion and love the people. With people here, they are taught to pay attention to spiritual matters, therefore, they are very much in tune to the Spirit. They can feel when missionaries love them or not. It cannot be faked, nor do you have to tell them that you love them. Charity is what makes a mission mean so much. Without charity, one is just going through the motions, but with charity, missionary work takes on a whole new meaning. I've been studying a lot from Alma chapters 17-26 for the last few weeks. I love the approach that Ammon takes in earning King Lamoni's trust. He serves faithfully first, then he teaches, and because he served first and built the bridge of trust between them, King Lamoni believes everything that Ammon teaches with no questions asked. That's the missionary that I'm trying to become. Love the people, serve the people, then convert the people. There can be some missionaries that baptize people like crazy. As you look at the kind of missionaries that some of them are, you notice that they are disobedient and sometimes apostate. When those missionaries are transferred, the people they baptized go less-active almost immediately. I would be perfectly happy if I baptized 5 people my entire mission if those 5 people all went on to be married in the temple and remained strong for the rest of their lives. Those 5 people will be able to build the Kingdom of God in South Africa much longer than I will be able to, so why not turn them into member-missionaries? That's my idea about a mission. We will be having a baptism this sunday. I'm glad to say that I think she will be one of those people who will build the Kingdom when I'm gone. She will be the first person that I can say I found her, taught her, and baptized her. She is incredible, and the church will be such a blessing in her life.
I love you all so much! I hope that shool has started well and that Jessica is loving both high shools that she's attending.
Elder Steed
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