No Letter - Week 60
(non-blog) Lessons in Following the Promptings of the Spirit - Blessings and Baptisms.
Hello family from Adelanto,CA after a long week of people cancelling we had some really good lessons with some of the people that we have been working with, right now we are teaching a 'lost former area book investigator' and she has some really good examples of what being lds can really be to her family and doesn't have any misconceptions. Also one of the recent converts in the ward named Michael is doing missionary work already after being baptized 3 weeks ago. Tonight actually we are teaching his friend with him and I can't wait to do that actually. Its going to be awesome.
I am starting to get a grip on this ward and the people and its starting to pay off now but things are just moving slowly. This weeks email is no where near last weeks but next weeks should be a lot better progress. Sorry for the lameness but it rained up here and snowed in the mountains too!
Elder Bolliger
Well I am still in Adelanto, CA. - Week 63
The work here seems to take a step forward and a step backward at the same time, it changes often as in missionary work this is not uncommon, but is the life of being a missionary. Its not the most consistent thing in the world, and honestly I am amazed I can be so flexible when it comes to missionary work, because every time you think its going to be set in stone, people cancel, different people are there than you were wanting and other events happen that throw a lot of wrenches into everyone's plans. But over the course of the mission I have learned to trust in the spirit and to follow what its saying and what we should be doing. Its weird to think that I was more stingy about being flexible before as now its common to expect being flexible and I am grateful that I could learn such a skill.
Also this past week on Wednesday we had a really, really good day. We met with one of our main investigators and taught her the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, she is someone that has very good LDS friends that are good examples to her and a good example of what the Church can really do. It was really good and in the lesson me and my companion got the same prompting to give her a blessing of comfort and counsel. We weren't expecting to do this at all and in my mind the spirit said again 'she needs a blessing of comfort' but to myself I thought that this was crazy and giving a blessing on the first lesson. I was hesitating saying it and then suddenly my companion said it and I was like, yup that was a prompting and he said it before I could, we both got it at the same time. And after the blessing her demeanor completely changed from one of a sullen, depressed to a joyful happy one, and that's what the gospel does for people, it makes them genuinely happy and feels good in their life when they are following the gospel.
That day was not over yet, it turned into a very different one than we were expecting and than what we had originally planned. It was a good day though and the spirit was helping to guide me along through out the day on who to go see as we had nothing planned for dinner, but the spirit said 'go and see [these people] and they are going to get need priesthood blessings'. And the spirit was right once again, as we went over there and didn't saying anything other than being there supportively and talking and having a good time with them and then it wasn't until the husband said ' thank you for coming over' then I knew that the spirit was right. And they both asked for priesthood blessings and one thing that I have noticed as I have been giving them, every times is a learning experience, every time I give a blessing I learn something new myself. Whether it be how to give one, how the blessings are manifested, how sometimes the spirit gives more direction than others, and you can pronounce blessings without sometimes being specific as its what they feel sometimes rather than what you are actually saying. Its just a learning experience and like following promptings its a precept upon precept learning curve.
Then over time you can really start to see how far you have come.
But since then its been a little slow in terms of missionary work as this week wasn't the fastest one.
But I am curious to see how transfers will go now, and if I stay, my companion stays or one of us goes.
Elder Bolliger
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