Dear Mom,
I am always impressed with people's faith. Especially youth. We often seem to have investigators who seem good and may progress well at first, but shortly after begin to fall away and decrease. It seems so hard to try to get investigators to 'stick'. It is something that we have been working on for so long and it looks like we still haven't figured it out. Therefore, I am exceptionally impressed with those people who do stick, who progress, and you can see they have a lot of faith. I can say that one of our strongest progressors right now is a Sister Wiew. She is only 17 and so innocent, but seems to have a ton of faith and a great desire to follow and know God. Ever since day one, she has read and prayed. Her biggest obstacle was coming to church on Sunday, but yesterday, she came. We've taught her some commandments, and she's willing to keep them all. We asked her 'What do vision to you have for your future in terms of career?'. She answered with wanted to be a psychologist so she can use her understand of Heavenly Father to help others. Way cool. She has only met with us four times over the span of the past two weeks.
A great experience that happened this week was the opportunity we've had to try to work closer with some members. We took two solid, long time members out to visit a less active member. We had visited her numerous times before, but never had gone with other members. When we went it was a good visit, we got to talk about many things together, but I didn't realize the actual impact of the visit until theSunday after - fast Sunday. Both members stood up and bore testimony of the importance of missionary work and showed gratitude for the opportunity to go out and visit that member with the missionaries. I felt that it was so cool that both of these members were to excited and grateful. This was an additional testiment to me of the importance of good member missionary work. More than just how great it is to have the opportunity to visit with members, but how much more powerful a visit is when friends, brothers and sisters, take time to visit each other. When that LA member had the chance to have a good conversation with friendly faces, I feel like that had almost a greater influence than any message we could have shared ourselves.
Similarly to this, the investigator I spoke of before has almost a similar story. Challenges and concerns are sure to come up with everyone, as did with Sister View, but because she had 1)strong faith and 2)other strong friends, she will be alright. In several lessons this week, one super powerful and strong source of support has come from members. Members have been able to answer questions better than we could, share personal experiences that we've never had before, and bear specific testimony that is more relevant for her. Members who understand their role in missionary work and are excited about it are so, so, so essential and just flat out powerful.
This past week I've studied much about how we can help people progress. What is it that makes some people continue to learn and others drop. What makes Sister Wiew different from others. The message we give to everyone is the same - it is the Atonement, reading the scriptures, prayer, faith, and we talk about the Love of God with everyone. I've started to feel that it lies with giving honest, sincere service. We do what we do not to simply increase the size of the ward, or increase the growth of the stake. Increasing attendance at church or finding new investigators is not our sole purpose or goal. Our vision is the salvation of the children of God and love is the motivation. That, and only that, is what will enable us to do the Lord's work in the Lord's way. The key is the Spirit. Preach My Gospel highlights the need to understand what a missionary, investigator, and also a member needs to feel. It is the Spirit, it is genuine, sincere love for them. All three (member, missionary, investigator) must work in unity. With love, and with the Spirit. "The power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men." "When conversion takes place, it is through the power of the Spirit." This Spirit will "follow naturally when a person is willing to experiment upon the word" and they will "come to feel the gospel is true". The Spirit will follow as we do the things we need to, but it is entirely up to us on how we present and bring that message. People will be more willing to act when they know and more importantly feel of our love and God's love. All of Sister Wiew's concerns have been resolved by Heavenly Father through prayer, reading, and revelation through peers. I think that is the one of the single most powerful factors in one's progress and ability to feel the Spirit. We need to pray and read regularly to build up our own ability to stand strong, and support/love/serve each other. Surround ourselves with strong influences.
I am also very excited for General Conference!
ขอแสดงความนับถือ, Sincerely,
เอ็ลเดอร์ ซัน Elder Sun
ผู้สอนศาสนา Missionary
ศาสนจักรของพระเยซูคริสต์แห่งวิสุทธิชนยุคสุดท้าย The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
คณะเผยแผ่ กรุงเทพฯ, ประเทศไทย Bangkok, Thailand Mission
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