Hi hi hi!
Yeah Elder Dickson doesn't eat sweets or
anything like that, but the members here have been feeding me dessert
anyway (yes!) which by the way in England they don't call it desert -
they call it pudding. Also Elder Dickson has some other quirky elements
to him, which I wont talk about, but one thing that's pretty funny is
that he is like freezing cold all the time, so I'm walking around in a
suit and rain jacket, and he's got like a thick winter coat and a hat
and scarf and mitts and everything, which is funny.
And okay -
this week. Well let me start a bit earlier. When I first got to this
area, Elder McBride and I had 2 investigators - Lindsay(who got
baptized!) and Sarah who stopped answering her phone and door. So we
were left in our second week of the transfer with 0 investigators. So
all transfer, Elder McBride and I knocked on doors and doors and doors,
numbering probably in the thousands of people talked to, and we now,
with Elder Dickson, have a grand total of...... 0
investigators.
The Wharfedale valley is a hard area for
missionary work. People here are rich and very well off. People just do
not want to talk to religious missionaries. Nevertheless, we are
teaching a few people occasionally, but none who are interested in
keeping commitments. So work here is slow and hard. But it's going and
we're working hard every day. I keep on thinking that if I can get home
at night and when my head hits the pillow, if I can say that I have done
my best - the most possible I could have done at all - if I've done
that, then I can sleep peacefully. And for that reason I have had a
perfectly sound sleep each and every night.
But even though
it's hard, I know that there is a reason for me being here in this area.
Everywhere that I go on my mission - I am there for a reason. So
whether that reason is that there are people here I need to find and
teach - or whether it's to teach me a personally applicable lesson
(patience for example) it doesn't matter. All that matters is that I am
doing my absolute best. And I am doing it. And I know it, and President
Pilkington knows it, and God knows it - so that's all that need to
know.
But I'm at that point again - where the majority of
people we come into contact with try to explain to me that there is no
God, that religion is all lies, and all it is doing is strengthening my
testimony that GOD is real. He is actually there. I know it because I
pray to Him and He answers me. I feel His presence and impact in my life
- and that's why I am knocking on doors trying to help them to learn
how to recognize and feel His presence and influence in their lives too.
Oh,
and another thing. Go onto YouTube and look up ''Eric Thomas - You're
My Why''. This guy is a motivational speaker and this audio recording is
basically about him talking about what is our motivation to do things.
And he asks over and over again: ''What's Your Why? Why do you do what
you do? And it's caused me to think every day. Why am I here? Why am I
knocking on doors? And the answer to that question motivates me to keep
doing it. To keep moving forward. To keep knocking on doors even when
somebody opens there door and say ''f*** off''... 3 doors in a row.
(That happened this week).
My why is that the message that I
am called to teach people, the message of the Restoration of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ is true and can help people. The Gospel of Jesus Christ
is the good news of his glorious atonement and resurrection, that he is
able to bear our burdens and cleanse us from the weight of our sins.
That knowledge when people understand it, can change their lives. It can
and will uplift and edify you if you let it.
So we're trying to share that message with people. We are trying our hardest.
Love you guys.
Elder Thompson
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