Alright, alright, alright... another week come and gone. This transfer has passed so fast. My companion continues to count the days till he will be home, but he also continues to push the work as far as he can. This week at church we had four complete families at church. Yeah, that's right... four! BAM! Take that, Satan! ha ha ha! No, but seriously, we were blessed to have so many people at church this week and it is really paying off. The only problem is the ward is convinced that the missionaries are the only people that help the numbers grow in the branch. That is far from true. Half the time it's references and friendly reminders, activities and an invite to church by a member that get's the job done. It was really cool, though.
By the way, seeing you all at the temple really made me jealous. I really wanted to be there and was thinking about it all week. Rachel and the girls look absolutely amazing and it's not because I say so alone. It's also because I have 5 other missionaries drooling over my shoulder. It was good to see a picture of everyone. I especially enjoyed the picture of you guys (Dad and Mom) and the one of the whole family. I thought to myself for a second that that's how it's going to look in the celestial kingdom when we all get there. By the way, Dad's lookin' slick in the suite. Very nice ;) and mom, just as classy as ever. It's good to know I have the best looking parents on the whole mission.
Anyway, this week was really good in the way of statistics and just what we could find as far as lessons and finding people. But aside from all that, we had a lot of help from the Spirit this week particularly in one lesson.
So, this guy named Gilberto is an inactive branch president who hasn't been to church for 7 months. Basically since I started my mission this guy has been AWOL. Just a little background on culture here... people don't like being released. They think it's bad. We have explained that it's just a fact of life and it gives them an opportunity to grow in the Gospel by having another calling, but they still retain the same mentality even if they know.
Anyway, this guy has been inactive and we went over to visit him. We sat down and talked about his work and how his life was going. Then, out of nowhere, he started talking about the church and the problems it has and how we would continue to loose new converts if we didn't change these things. These things being member problems or just behavior in the church by the members and he blamed those things as being the cause of the Spirit being driven away. He didn't have one or two things, he had a lot of things. About most of the things he was right... there really could be greater reverence and respect for the building and a more inviting atmosphere to the Spirit. He asked me, "Is it like this in the states where you come from, I bet it's not" I told him, "Actually, it's roughly the same. It's just a little different, but you have to teach each other what needs to be done. You can't do that if you're sitting at home all the time." So, as we listened to him speak, I was thinking in my head, "I don't want to get this guy excited about what's wrong with the church because the members aren't perfect, but the gospel is. What can I say to this guy? Then it hit me, what's something you both know has no error and you agree on? The Book of Mormon! So I stopped him a little bit and said, "I am glad that you recognize these things and you're right. There is room for improvement. You have lot of experience in this area being a branch president, but I am going to ask you a question that has nothing to do with this. How is your reading in the book of Mormon?" He stopped, looked a little puzzled and added "It's good. It's not perfect, but I read frequently" Then my companion added, "I have a scripture for you." He then related the story about Moroni and Pahoran. When Moroni was in need of troops and he thought Pahoran had turned on him and wrote him a less than pleasant letter to Pahoran. It was really cool because Gilberto to the sance and applied the scripture to his life without hesitation. It was beautiful to see and at that moment the Spirit entered the room. My companion then added, "Sometimes we feel like we are unjustly punished in one sense or another and we want to give up and let everyone else burn because of the misunderstanding. The mark of a true disciple and a man worthy of his word is willing to give just that extra bit more to make ends meet and show people where their allegiance lies." I was like, whoa !!!! Where did that come from? I could tell that Gilberto was touched by the Spirit and his will to return to church had been rekindled. He then promised to us that he would not miss another day at church from that day on. He said, "You don't climb a mountain all in one shot, but little by little and step by step." He said it will take some time, but he wants to get back and better than he was before he left and that's all I could have asked for.
I know the scriptures are true. They are our greatest source of power and if we fail to use them, we fail to give people the opportunity to be heard and to feel the Spirit. There is power in the scriptures.
As for your questions... the call on Skype will be on Saturday. I will call ahead of time to arrange everything. I don't know if it will be afternoon or morning yet.
Right now we are in the winter months (it's not that cold, at all).
For your question on what was the scariest thing right now for me? It is the fear of noth having any investigators at church. Oh, and by the way, thanks for the prayers and fasting. It's working.
Love you all,
Elder Proksch
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