This has been the single longest week of my life. Not the toughest, becuase Advanced Higher maths will ruin your life, but it just feels like this week has been longer than expected. I woke up on Thursday and thought it was Saturday. Oh well. This week has been good if I remember right, but let's find out
Not much happened these first two days. We went to Chic-Fil-A for lunch on Monday and it was great. We also went to the Ensign Symphony again, and that was even better. It was a Christmas themed one, and our friends really enjoyed it. Nothing much happens on Mondays, because we usually go shopping, get lunch, then hang out at one of the church buildings with people in our zone. It's great, and I love hanging out with other missionaries.
We had a friend coming to pickleball on Tuesday, but he didn't show up, and it didn't look like pickleball was on either. It gave us time to prepare for what was coming tomorrow. I got a really nice smash burger, although expensive. Very good though
BLITZKREIG BOP
Wednesday might be one of the best days I've had on the mission so far. President Sherman wants all the new missionaries to go street contacting in Seattle to kind of break them in, so we had to plan what was going to happen. The other zone leader got called to be an Assistant to the President, so we were a zone leader down. My companion is the other zone leader, and so because i was his companion I was there for all the planning. I was basically an Acting Zone Leader for two days until the new one came. But the New Missionary Blitz worked really well. I went out with Elder Hawkins, who is the other Assistant to the President (AP), and Elder Fitzgerald, who was a new missionary. He did really well for his first day, probably better than i did at finding in my first few weeks. We made a whole bunch of new friends and it was a great time in general. We had a really good lesson with our friend Miguel after. He's beginning to progress spiritually now, and not ask a million questions about stuff that happened in the early days of the church. Yay!
Thursday, on the other hand, was a long day. Weekly planning took ages, as usual, and stuff kept coming up. Elder Hammond and Nelson left. I'll miss them, but Elder Hammond is the new AP, so I'll see him a bunch, and Elder Nelson just moved up the road a wee bit.
We almost put our friend on date. We gave him 2 Nephi 31 to read, and we called him after he read it. He really liked it, and understood most of what it talked about.
After that, the conversation was basically:
"Josiah, we think you're ready for baptism"
"Yeah i think I am to"
"Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptised by someone with proper authority on January 12th?"
"Nahhhhh I don't wanna commit to a religion, and I'm still looking for the truth"
Like, COME ON! I really hope he comes to know the truth, but until then, we'll keep working with him.
Elder Durrant is playing a musical number for the upcoming Christmas Zone Conference, where a bunch of missionaires gather together to hear from our mission leaders. Anyway it sounds really nice, and some of the missionaires in our area were asking him about stuff like how he wrote it, and since theres no sheet music, if he learnt it by ear, and if he can learn any song. This wad a really funny moment, becuase I'M usually the one being asked those questions, and giving the exact same responses. It was interesting to see the interaction from a spectator's point of view. But I'm really looking forward to the performance.
We did a Hot Chocolate stand downtown in Seattle, and it was great. We had a few fiascos getting it organised, but it was a success, hopefully. Anything to boost public opinion of our church works, so yay! I got some nice photos as well, and it was overall a great experience. There was also a guy absolutely shredding it on the piano nearby, so that was fun to listen to. I'd never heard the Simpsons theme like that before, but i liked it. I was tempted to ask him for a shot, but there's a lot of crazy people downtown, and he was killing it, so probably not the best idea.
We met this guy on the New Missionary Blitz who is really elect, and loves coming to church. We felt prompted to extend a baptismal invite, and we did, but he was like "hang on guys, I wanna know some more before i get baptised." He's got a point, but usually we give people a date to work towards when we extend an invitation, but looking back I do feel it was a bit hasty. Elder Durrant started talking about the holt Ghost, then started reading out of 2 Nephi 31, and we had a total companion connection, cos i knew what he was gonna do as soon as he started reading.
I went to the Mandarin church on Sunday for exchnages. It was the Christmas musical service, and it was really nice, becuase i wasn't confused all the time, listening to talks in mandarin. We helped pass the sacrament, and when we looked at the programme it said "O Holy Night - Missionaires." So, naturally, we went into full panic mode. My companion hadn't been told about it, and i thought it was going to be in Mandarin, and that would not be a pretty sight. When the time came, we stood up, full of confidence, ready to give it our best shot, but when we got to the mic, there was only a Sister missionary up on the stand, and an Elder on the keys. It was a freaking SOLO, and we'd just walked up on her. We pretended like we were giving words of encouragement, then went back down after the number ended. It was really nice, and I'm looking back fondly on the experience, so that means I've gotten over it already.
We also taught a lesson while we were there, and the member participating in the lesson had to translate everything for me. We extended a baptismal invite, but apparently my comp was cut off mid invite and told no.
So that's 0/3 for Elder Black, but I've still got time, and I need to keep in mind that our missionary purpose is to INVITE other to come unto Christ. It's totally up to them, and no matter how good you think you are as a missionary, it's up to the other person if they get baptised.
Well, it's been A Hard Day's Night, and In My Life, I've never felt the spirit Here, There and Everywhere I go until I came out here, but God Loves You, and you know you should be glad. Don't Hide Your Love Away, and don't be afraid to cry to God "Help!" Becuase, he will help you. I've seen miracles out here, and it's only Getting Better all the time. I get by With A Little Help From My Friends, and having to Carry That Weight of missionary standards is getting easier and easier. It's really starting to Come Together, and in The End, the love you take, is equal to the love you make, so show love!
I am the Walrus
Goo-Goo-g'joob
Elder Black
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