Week #15 The "Why of Missionary Work"

October 27, 2017

Week #15 The "Why of Missionary Work"

Wow, what a week. Let's just get started.

First of all, Facebook. Apology to all those I suprised with a facebook request. I promise I am still here and trust me when I say I would to talk with you guys and see what you are doing over Facebook. However, that is not the case. We'll keep it to email, okay?

Facebook is such a blessing but I am finding that we, as missionaries, have to choose to make it a blessing. We have been able to reach out to more people and there is a lot of potential to spread the good news. There are so many creative ways to testify, teach, and inspire. It is quite an exciting time to be a missionary.

Also, I just have to take a moment to honor my great-grandpa Nielsen. I posted about it yesterday. He was a funny, awesome grandpa and I am going to miss him. I don't know what life would be like without the knowledge of the Gospel. The Gospel clarifies so much and gives us more peace than we realize. I will be grateful that I got to know my great-grandpa this long. It was such a blessing.

This week we had a simple competition as a zone. We were supposed to get selfies with potentials holding Books of Mormon. At first, I will admit, I did not enjoy this challenge. I did not want to compete my way through missionary work. However, the idea of using the Book of Mormon more in finding is changing my mission. We could be some other church with an ordinary message but we aren't! We are the Church of Jesus Christ with saving ordinances and modern revelation and the Book of Mormon testifies of all of it. Everything from the Restoration and in our church is supported by the Book of Mormon. By using that powerful book more, we were able to reach more people and I felt more confident in finding. It was another lesson how things can turn out differently than you expected.

Book of Mormon Selfies

We also had a surprise visit from the APs this week. They called us while we were working on the Area Book and we went out to do some power finding. Wow, I learned so much from them. Finding can be fun and enjoyable; we just have to do it properly. I didn't realize it at first but I love having one-on-one conversations with people. It is so much fun!

Break from finding with the AP's

We also had two meetings with Elder Ballard, Elder Clayton, Sister Clayton, Elder Sabine, and Sister Sabine. The first meeting was in Munich with the whole mission. It was quite inspiring to hear from some of our General Authorities. I felt inspired to be a better missionary and to change my perspective on the mission. There were a few suggestions from the meeting that had an impact on me. They were:

1. Talk to 10 people outside of finding- This suggestion was a struggle at first. Elder Clayton talked about how we need to be constantly involved in the work and that includes traveling time. I was nervous about this one because normally people do not want to talk on the train. However, on the way home from the meeting, I couldn't shake the impression to just turn outward. I decided to just start talking and it was so much fun! It was a two hour train ride but it was so much fun!

2. The Prayer- Elder Ballard made a big suggestion saying that we should say a prayer that very night telling the Lord how we are simply missionaries in His hands and how this is His time. I don't know when I am ever going to be a full-time servant of the Lord so now is my time. I followed Elder Ballard's suggestion and now I feel so good. I realized how much the success comes from divine sources and how my faith combined with works makes me love missionary work.

There was also a Sunday meeting with all of the members in Stuttgart stake. Elder Ballard talked about mainly WHY we share the gospel. It was inspiring because Elder Ballard understood that we are in a hurry to get ready for the Second Coming. He also knew that there are so many people in this area that suffer so much and have absolutely no knowledge about the Gospel. It is our privilege as members to share those truths with those around us. Even if it is hard (trust me, I know it is), we will be grateful that we decided to give that light to someone else.

Elder Ballard meeting with the missionaries (Mason's cute mission president wife with thumbs up)

Sorry everyone for such the long email. Again, it has been a fantastic week. The work as a missionary is satisfying and there is nothing else I would want to do right now. I hope you are all doing well. I love you guys and we will talk again soon.

Elder Evans