Dear Family, Hey, How's everything going in the Onken household? I pray that everything is fantastic. Right now, we're all waiting for the Elders from Moron to arrive so we can go to Fortin, the castle on the hill (that I've already been to). This week we've done lots of work - added some awesome referral families, set 2 baptisimal dates, held a mock MTC for the members to help them know how to be missionaries. I'm really gaining a testimony on the effectiveness and efficiency of member referrals. The investigators already have a friend in the church, they've been well prepared, they can listen to the charlas with members present, they're more likely to attend church and other acitivites, etc. The MTC was a blast, being able to remind the members that even though they don't wear a plaque, they've received their mission calls, too - "Every member a missionary." We explained a program that we have as missionaries to help families start to be more active missionaries. 1st You pray and under direction of the spirit, set a date (a goal) by which you'll have someone ready to accept an invitation to listen to the discussions. 2d Make a list of your close friends and relatives (someone who you can prepare), and with this list in hand decide who you are going to prepare to listen to the discussions. You might ask yourselves these questions with every name: "How did I meet this person?" "Do they know I'm a member?" "Have I spoken with them about religion?" "Have they come to church or any church activities?" Choose whomever the Spirit invites you to. 3rd. Think of things that you can do to prepare them. Remember, the goal of preparing them is getting them to feel the Holy Ghost. Once they've felt this, they will be more and more receptive, more and more interested, more and more touched. But what to do? FHE (watch a movie, read Proclamation to The World, invite the Elders), give them something (Ensign, The Living Christ, Proclamation to the World, pamphlets, Book of Mormon), talk with them (simple yet special topics, families, prophets, morals, geneology - keep it simple), invite them to church activities, etc. If you can't figure out what or how to do it, speak with the missionaries. Invite them to listen to the discussions in your home when the Spirit indicates!
I have such a testimony of this. I know that it's not only our responsibility but our privilege to share these truths with others. Without these truths, it's impossible to worship God and Christ correctly; we'd be "driven about as chaff before the wind . . .", ". . . led about by Satan, even as chaff is driven before the wind, or as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her; and even as she is, so are [we]." Mormon 5:16, 18 I know that Christ is our rock, our road back to the Father - our Father.
Meanwhile life as a missionary is great. The Spanish is going well, as long as I say my personal prayers. Those days that I don't the difference is dramatic. I'm no longer scared to death of going on splits - only scared half to death :P~ My problem is I'm scared of failure and success, but it's something that I'm working on!
Yesterday we gave two priesthood blessings and the day before we gave another. It feels like the missionaries of the New Testament. In el Libro de Mormon, I'm in Mormon 8 - almost finished!
Well, I'm gonna bust dis joint but first I want to say that I love you!
Nick