Greetings from the Great OCM!!!
So, sorry that I have a lack of pictures of Elder Jones and the new
area, I accidentally left my camera in Xenia! I should be getting it
back in the next couple of weeks but in the meantime I do not have one.
Maybe I will use Elder Jones' pictures until then!
This was a great week, with one miracle that really stands out in my mind:
We pulled up to contact a former investigator and he did not
answer, but as we were approaching his door we noticed that at one of
his neighbor's house a large argument had ensued between a husband and
wife. The husband was yelling some very profane language and it was
apparent the wife was crying. I cringed at how poorly this man seemed to
be treating his wife. We both got into the car, the man we had intended
to see having not answered, and we sat for a minute pondering on what
we had just seen. It was very sobering, and I thought to myself, "surely
there is something we can do." Echoing the words of the spirit, Elder
Jones then said, "Maybe we should go see them." At first I dismissed the
thought, knowing that it would probably not be a pleasant experience,
but then I thought about it and we both felt like we should. I held my
breath as we went up to the door, not knowing what to expect. We
knocked. A man answered, the husband, and he had tattoos all over his
arms and neck. He was apparently not in a good mood by his first
response. I opened my mouth and spoke and I remember the words I said
very clearly, "We are representatives of Jesus Christ and we have a
message that is here to bless families." The man was did not say anything
for a while then said, "Come back, but I need to get my thoughts
together."
The next day we came back, and his wife answered and immediately
began to tell us how grateful she was that we had stopped by. She told
us that after their argument on the porch they had come in the house and
watched us. They saw us get into our car for a couple minutes, then get
out again and come to their home. She told us she knew we were sent by
God, and that they need to get back into church. Her husband then came
out on the porch and we began teaching principles of the restoration of
the gospel, that God had called a prophet again in our day to guide our
families and that they can know the truth of that by reading the Book of
Mormon. They were amazed that God had called a prophet again and were
eager to learn more about it. We will be returning this week to teach
their family. Just another day Livin' the dream.
We are promised as missionaries that if we are obedient and doing
what we should, we will find them, or they will find us. I am so
grateful for the opportunity the Lord gave us to find this awesome
family and am also grateful for Elder Jones, who had the courage to do
what was right, in a situation where it was easy to fear man, rather
than God.
We had another experience this week where we had the opportunity to
declare repentance. There is a woman in our area who was on date to be
baptized on March 21st, however, as we taught her we realized that
were some things that she has not fully repented of. So we encouraged
her to postpone her baptism until she felt like she had truly repented
of her sins. She now knows what she needs to do to make her baptism
true. It would be so easy as a missionary to baptize someone in this situation but she is simply not ready to fully accept the covenant. It
means a lot more to me to convert people, and help people repent than to
simply put a tally mark in my planner at the end of the week,
representing a baptism.
The temple was wonderful this week as usual. I was able to view a
presentation I had never seen before and it really made the whole
session alive. And, another awesome thing was that Bro. Troyer and Sis.
Troyer (one of the Amish families) came to the temple at the same time!
And I was able to do the work for one of their ancestors, which made it
a lot more meaningful to me (I was not able to print off one of my
ancestors in time). It was so great to be in the celestial room with
people I love.
I love you all so much!
Elder Beutler
