Last week on P-day, we ran into our solid investigator, Darlene - she's the one who walked into church one day, wanting to know more. The "miracle investigator" from last week. She and her son are both doing great! But anyway, we ran into her at the grocery store last P-day, and she said that she got a prompting from the Spirit to come find us there and pay for our groceries. We couldn't believe it. She wouldn't take "no" for an answer and INSISTED on paying for our food. We were beyond thankful and expressed that many times over, and she kept saying "don't worry about it!" She's incredible. I still can't believe she did that for us.
We also did a "deep clean" of our apartment last P-day, which took about 4 hours. We had a good time in the process, and our apartment looks SO much better. We passed our cleaning inspection, too! The whole mission has to do this twice a year, just before General Conference.
Speaking of General Conference...WOW. I got so many answers to questions and prayers that I have had. I am so grateful for personal revelation and for the guidance from the Holy Ghost in our lives. I want to do all I can to draw closer to the Lord and to become the missionary, man, husband, and father he needs me to be. I'm not those last two yet, but when the time comes, I want to be ready.
We attempted to watch the Saturday morning session (or should I say Saturday afternoon...the session times here are noon, 4:00, and 8:00 PM!!!) at the Revere chapel, but trying to fix it and 2 phone calls with Salt Lake City tech support couldn't fix it...so we missed most of the first session. The second session we watched at a member's home, and for priesthood session we watched it at the chapel. They got it fixed! We watched Sunday's first session there as well, and the second session on Sunday we watched at a different member's home with our investigator, Damari. I love conference, I can't wait to study the talks in the Ensign! =D
Tracting is really really REALLY hard, just for the record. But on the positive side, the negative experiences make for really great stories! We had this one lady who was pretty crazy...she kept asking us all these really weird questions, and said that it was "outrageous" that we were doing this, that we should be in school and working. She said that if her grandchildren were doing anything like that, she would be horrified. She tried to make us admit that we were Seventh-Day Adventists, and wouldn't listen to us. She was like "And how do your parents feel about this?!" and "Are you scared to be out here doing this? Our next door neighbor is a policeman...and my husband is the chief of police." At that point it was obvious that she was lying. She was an odd one. The strangest part is, after we walked away, she came out of her house and watched us. We couldn't get in our car at the end of the street...we just had to keep walking. We walked back later and got the car, but I was honestly worried for our well-being at that point. Oh well. We're all children of God!
Our ward did a family Pinewood Derby the other night, so we went to support everyone. It was a great time, and it made me think of my little brothers and how much they love doing that. =]
Our investigator Ed told us a really cool story of something that happened last week. He was at his parents' house, and his dad and his sisters were giving him a really hard time about talking to us and investigating the Church. They were pressuring him and asking him a bunch of questions and putting him down for it. He said he felt like he didn't know what to say, and then they asked him WHY he was doing this. Just then, a commercial from the Church about the Book of Mormon came on the TV. "THAT'S why." That was truly a miracle and an answer to a prayer, I think. I loved hearing that! Also, he hasn't smoked in TWO WEEKS!!!! We are so happy and excited for him.
I'll close with our most interesting experience of the week - we witnessed an attempted "grand theft auto" and resulting car accident! This guy tried to steal this lady's car, and as he pulled out from the side of the street by the corner store he got hit by a car that was driving down the street, so he got out and took off. It all happened so fast, we didn't even know what happened! We had to stay as witnesses, but the police ended up not needing us at that moment. We left our number with the woman whose car almost got stolen in case she needed us as witnesses - I'm just glad that no one got hurt. Hopefully repairs can be made to the cars and the police will catch the culprit.
Well anyway, this work is really difficult. I'm struggling with things and having a hard time, but nevertheless, I love being here. I can't seem to work up the courage to talk to people on the street, but I feel more supported by our Savior than ever before. This work is hard, but more fulfilling than I could have ever imagined. I have so much more to learn and a lot about myself that I need to change, but that's okay, because the Lord is here to help me, and His Atonement is real. I hope to become an effective and spiritually-sensitive instrument in the hands of God. Even though things can be really difficult and stressful, I love serving as a missionary.
Much love!
Elder DeLong
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