Object lessons work great!
This week we met the B family this week.
They are one of my favourite member families here in the fourth ward.
There kids are 11 and 5. Sister B is the member that carries gospel
pamphlets in her purse. They have been gone for a lot of the summer
with vacation at the beach, but they are home now. We went over to
visit them, and brought a can of beans. (Editors Note: This is an object lesson with the Book of Mormon and a can, where the can gets squished and it is to illustrate the strength found in the Book of Mormon.)
The rest is history, but they loved it. We have developed a pretty good relationship with them. They
have a huge desire to do missionary work. As most Albanian families
they both have non-member brothers and sisters that they would love to
join the church. We invited them to keep praying for good
opportunities to share the gospel. We gave them a few good ideas. He
is the ward clerk, and she is the primary president. They are really
strong.
Sister Shehu is 72 years old, and has more energy than anyone I have
ever seen. We asked her about less actives, and let me tell you she
knows less actives. She goes out and helps us. She is willing to walk
around for hours with us, and visit people. She shows us where they
live. This week we went with her a few times. She is packed with
information, and loves the members a ton. She has a plan drawn up to
get 10 less actives in church next week. We are going to try it out.
This week she went with us to an old investigator as well. She rode
all of the busses with us. We went way out in the middle of nowhere.
The family that we met was so happy to see us. Apparently they have
quite a long history, but we are going to try and teach them and see
where we end up. Sister Shehus son is the man that was never
confirmed. We are still trying to work with him. She really wants to
help him, but he is just not interested yet.
We got a flat on the way back from Macedonia this week. It was really
a small miracle. We were driving down windy mountain roads, but the
tire went flat right by a gas station, and we had a place to pull in.
I never had to change a tire before my mission, but I have changed my
fair share while being out here. Maybe I will become a mechanic?? :)
We have been teaching lessons periodically over skype. They have gone
pretty well. There are some people in Germany and France that are
learning. The man in Germany was supposed to be baptised today, but
something happened and it got postponed. We have some pretty good
friends in France. He said he would teach me how to cook traditional
Albanian food if I am ever in France. Apparently he is quite the cook.
D came to church this week. He is a really nice guy. He is
scheduled to be baptised on the 22 of August. Right now statistics
show that almost 100% of investigators that come to church after
accepting baptism here in our mission will be baptised. He accepted
baptism and came to church so we are really hoping for him. He knows
the Gospel great. The ward seems to accept him as well so we are happy
for him.
We helped Brother Skuka move this week. He used to be the Elders
Quorum President. He moved into a different ward though now so he
won't be with us anymore. He speaks 6 languages. It amazes me how
humble people live here. They moved the great majority of their house
and belongings in a Dodge Sprinter. He is a seemingly well off guy
too, but just very humble. People live in pretty small appartments
here. They are very homy feeling. I like it.
The Bishop pulled me in yesterday before church, and talked to me
about the situation that we had last week with the father and his
kids. I had a really good talk with him I am super impressed with
Bishop Beleshi. He is a very young member when you compare him to
bishops around the world, but he is giving it everything he has. He
doesn't have a whole lot of the know-how, but he sure has the desire.
He is exactly what our ward needs right now. He talked with Brother
G a little while later. Brother G is a great guy, and I
think he will come around. His family is still at the beach, but when
they come back I hope we can work together to help him.
I bore my testimony yesterday about eternal families. We have such a
light in our lives because of it. People here need that so badly, and
the families that come to church are always so happy.
Elder Greener and I are having a great time. We cleaned our house up
quite a bit because President came and did interview with us there.
The interviews went good. He was really concerned about Dad. I told
him that Dad is doing good now. He cares a lot. President Weidmann is
a really good guy. He usually has a theme type thing that he takes
around the mission and does in each of his interviews. This time it
was on being Loyal. I had a really good interview.
We met President Weidmann another day this week. While talking about a
lot of different administative things he took a second and showed us a
few things in the scriptures. One of my favourites was where much is
given much is required. I had heard that a lot before, but he related
it to sucess of a missionary. He said that where God gives a lot he
expects a lot, and we will be judged for the work that we put in
following the sucess he gives us. He had a lot of different
scriptures. In the end I was super impressed. I did a terrible job of
explaining that, but I will get the scriptures together and send them
to you next week.
Take Buddy on a lot of good walks. Thank you for looking out for him!
Good luck with your checkup Dad! Tear it up in Thompsen Matt! Good
luck at EFY Sara. You be careful! ;) Hannah and Mom I love you both
and thanks for all that you do!
Have a great week!
Love Elder P Stewart
No comments:
Post a Comment