Well this week has been a blast. Since we got dropped by one of our friends, two of our other friends have moved away :( (they were only in Bristol for university). But it's okay, because we have had a lot of time to go out inviting.
We are starting to have more dinner appointments with members now that we have been in the ward for 5 weeks. It seems that they are warming up to us. Previously, they had Sister missionaries in the ward for about a year, then they finally got Elders, so I feel that they probably just needed time to adjust and get to know us a little better. But overall, this ward is great and the people are great. There is a ward BBQ coming up this Friday and we have been inviting people on the streets out to it. Hopefully a lot of people can come.
Since we have lost a lot of our friends, we have had to go out inviting to find some more! It has been very, very sunny while doing so, and my companion looks like a tomato! I on the other hand, I'm just a little red on the cheeks and that's it. Honestly, the weather here is no different from Canada. It rains maybe a bit more from what I've seen so far.
We have given out quite a few books of Mormon, so hopefully the people that we gave them to will really take Moroni's promise to heart.
On Thursday, my companion and I were walking in the park, and I felt prompted to walk a certain way. While we were walking, I saw someone on a bench in my peripheral vision. I felt prompted to turn back and go talk to him. I was going to pass him by, but then I told my companion that I felt that we should go talk to the guy on the bench. Turns out the chap on the bench is named Mario, and from Romania. He is an atheist and doesn't understand that if there was a God, how and why could He could let all these bad things happen to the world. I find that most people who are atheist have these sort of questions, and it's because they don't know and understand God's plan of happiness. Well, we told him that bad things happen in this world because we have our freedom to choose, and the whole point of this earth life is to learn and grow from the experience and choices that we make. Unfortunately, some of the decisions we make are bad and can affect others negatively. But God wants us to learn and grow and that's why he doesn't force us to do good. If he forced us to do good, then we wouldn't have that freedom to choose and we wouldn't learn and progress the same. The whole reason we are here is to learn from our choices. We also told Mario that we know this world is unjust, but God will make it right in the next one. All the things that are unfair in this life won't happen in the next. After we told him that, he seemed more open and relaxed. He told us that no one was ever able to answer that question clearly before, including all of the other religious groups he's talked to. We invited him to pray, to ask God sincerely if He really is there, and we testified that God will answer him just as we have received that answer for ourselves. We ended up setting up a return appointment with Mario and saw him yesterday. Although he hasn't received his answer yet, we invited him to read the book of Mormon to help him find it.
To everyone reading this, I know life can be unfair at times, that there are a lot of unjust things that can happen. But I also know, that part of this life is to experience those kinds of pains. It helps us to grow in faith through our trials. I know that there will be another life, and that is when God will make everything fair for everyone. All wrongs and injustices will be made right. These things are only made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Love you all!
Cheers,
Elder Jakob
We are starting to have more dinner appointments with members now that we have been in the ward for 5 weeks. It seems that they are warming up to us. Previously, they had Sister missionaries in the ward for about a year, then they finally got Elders, so I feel that they probably just needed time to adjust and get to know us a little better. But overall, this ward is great and the people are great. There is a ward BBQ coming up this Friday and we have been inviting people on the streets out to it. Hopefully a lot of people can come.
Elders know how to pose for a picture... ;)
Since we have lost a lot of our friends, we have had to go out inviting to find some more! It has been very, very sunny while doing so, and my companion looks like a tomato! I on the other hand, I'm just a little red on the cheeks and that's it. Honestly, the weather here is no different from Canada. It rains maybe a bit more from what I've seen so far.
We have given out quite a few books of Mormon, so hopefully the people that we gave them to will really take Moroni's promise to heart.
Bristol has some great architecture!
On Thursday, my companion and I were walking in the park, and I felt prompted to walk a certain way. While we were walking, I saw someone on a bench in my peripheral vision. I felt prompted to turn back and go talk to him. I was going to pass him by, but then I told my companion that I felt that we should go talk to the guy on the bench. Turns out the chap on the bench is named Mario, and from Romania. He is an atheist and doesn't understand that if there was a God, how and why could He could let all these bad things happen to the world. I find that most people who are atheist have these sort of questions, and it's because they don't know and understand God's plan of happiness. Well, we told him that bad things happen in this world because we have our freedom to choose, and the whole point of this earth life is to learn and grow from the experience and choices that we make. Unfortunately, some of the decisions we make are bad and can affect others negatively. But God wants us to learn and grow and that's why he doesn't force us to do good. If he forced us to do good, then we wouldn't have that freedom to choose and we wouldn't learn and progress the same. The whole reason we are here is to learn from our choices. We also told Mario that we know this world is unjust, but God will make it right in the next one. All the things that are unfair in this life won't happen in the next. After we told him that, he seemed more open and relaxed. He told us that no one was ever able to answer that question clearly before, including all of the other religious groups he's talked to. We invited him to pray, to ask God sincerely if He really is there, and we testified that God will answer him just as we have received that answer for ourselves. We ended up setting up a return appointment with Mario and saw him yesterday. Although he hasn't received his answer yet, we invited him to read the book of Mormon to help him find it.
To everyone reading this, I know life can be unfair at times, that there are a lot of unjust things that can happen. But I also know, that part of this life is to experience those kinds of pains. It helps us to grow in faith through our trials. I know that there will be another life, and that is when God will make everything fair for everyone. All wrongs and injustices will be made right. These things are only made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Love you all!
Cheers,
Elder Jakob
wow amazing testimony
ReplyDelete