As of this last Saturday, I have officially hit my 4 month mark! It's
crazy how fast these months go by! Not only that, but Saturday
are transfer calls so we'll see if I'm staying in Laurel for Christmas
(though I have a weird feeling that my days in Laurel are numbered...
Also Elder Carroll is afraid that at the rate his mission is going
(he's been out the same amount of time as me and has already had to
cover 3 areas and has had 4 different companions (it's a long story))
he thinks he might end up training this upcoming transfer, which will
mean either he white-wash trains or I get kicked out of Laurel. We'll
see how accurate either or both of our hunches are this week though).
On Tuesday, we went to Sister Mays's house for lunch, which meant that
Elder Carroll had to eat a scotch bonnet, as it was his first time
there. He handled it pretty well, but he wasn't exactly a happy camper
the rest of the day... Later that night, we had a lesson with Lucie
and Ismael that basically turned into us splitting up into me
answering Lucie's questions about various topics that went a bit
deeper than the level Ismael needed to be taught at currently (just at
a "baptized member" vs. "not-yet baptized person" perspective) and
Elder Carroll talking to Ismael about baptism. It was a super fun
lesson to teach! (Picture of Ismael, Elder Carroll, and I coming
separately).
Wednesday, our mission, once again, had the wonderful opportunity to
go to the temple! I love having the temple so close and within our
mission boundaries so that I have the opportunity to attend it as
often as I do! I've truly felt the blessings of the temple in my life
and the feeling of peace I get while there resonates into everything
else that I do!
On Thursday, we went to visit a potential that Elder Carroll had found
while on exchange with the AP's who basically Bible bashed with them
the whole time until Elder Carroll found common ground in our belief
in Christ and set up a return appointment so we could read the
Christmas story in Luke 2 with them. So we get to the appointment, not
only to find that the woman wasn't there, but also that she had sent
her nephew over to her house to Bible bash with us! Though, in
reality, it turned out to actually be a pretty pleasant discussion
about our beliefs. The Spirit was super strong and, in the end, he
even happily accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and agreed to read
it along with exchanging emails with the two of us! I learned three
important lessons from that experience:
1. The Spirit truly does have the power to soften the hearts of
those around us! We could tell that starting off, he fully intended to
Bible bash, but his attitude COMPLETELY changed by the end of the
visit!
2. Scripture Mastery is VERY IMPORTANT! I found that almost
every question he asked us could be answered by a scripture mastery
passage! It was quite amazing actually. Therefore, I am very grateful
to the seminary teachers I had who really stressed learning the SM
passages, because they probably saved our butts majorly.
3. The Spirit truly does bring things to our remembrance. I
have a pretty good memory, but most of the scriptures Elder Carroll
and I used to answer his questions, we probably haven't even looked at
in 2-3 years (I know I hadn't, at least...). So I'm pretty sure the
only way we could've remembered any of them was through the Holy Ghost
working through us.
In short, God is awesome, the church is true, amen and amen!!!
Friday, Elder Hill and I went on exchange for the day so he was back
up here in Laurel for the day. It was pretty fun to be able to work
together again.
Last night, Elder Carroll and I got to go to the Visitor's Center and
watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I really enjoyed
Elder Bednar's talk on putting ourselves in the footsteps of the
Nephites during the time of Christ.
Well, that's about all from me this week! Tune in next week to find
out if Elder Carroll, I, both, or neither of us are staying in Laurel!
I love you all! Have an amazing week!
Sincerely,
Elder Sam Williams
Washington DC North Mission
11700 Falls Road
Potomac, MD, 20854
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| Elder Carroll. Ismael, and Elder Williams |
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