yeah, that happened. Elder Casper is currently in the Olmstead Zone
and Elder Beardall is currently on a plane to Colorado. Guess who my
new companion is? Elder Tanner!!! ...again! "Double dipping" twice in
a row: Elder Beardall twice and Elder Tanner twice. He came straight
out of the Lincoln Square YSA Ward and has only had one companion
since I left him there. Go figure. Now we're running the mission
office together. He's awesome! This is going to be a great cycle!
We had a worldwide mission conference broadcast yesterday (thus moving
p-day to today for everyone). It was awesome! Elder Oaks threw down on
everything that missionary work is supposed to be. I realize now that
he basically threw down on every misconception I had when I first came
on a mission.
Today we were up at 3:30am to drive the returning missionaries to the
airport. We got home at 7 and had the least focused study session of
my mission. I'm soooooo tired. Today we don't get much of a p-day
because we had to drive the returning missionaries to the airport and
have to help out with something going on at the 87th Street Chapel in
Manhattan.
Good things are still going on. We manage to squeeze in a few hours in
our area in spite of the craziness of everything we do for transfers
to happen. We had a throw-down lesson with B*, who is kind of our
only investigator right now. We focused on the restoration and
receiving personal revelation about our message. We just testified so
powerfully and the spirit was with us. He was resisting it pretty
hard, but we know he felt it. And when he felt it, he immediately
started searching for a way out. I think he had a "dang, this all
might be true" kind of moment and he realized that means he has to do
something about it. So he tried to make a run for the door
(metaphorically speaking), tried to pull out some excuse. "Oh, but
what about this, what about that..." But we blocked all the exits
with scripture and testimony. So we all just sat there wallowing in
the spirit. I know that he knows he is accountable for what the spirit
showed him that day. Now we have to see if he's going to do something
about it (for example, read and pray like we've been inviting him to).
I think next time we need to teach him more about repentance and the
atonement. I think that's what's making him squeamish. He's afraid of
the changes he knows he's going to have to make.
So that was a pretty cool lesson. I kind of had a the realization
after that "Wow, I'm a missionary." ...I know, you'd think this would
have dawned on me 18 months ago. I just realized that now I really
know how to be a missionary. I'm by no means perfect at it and I've
got lots I can work on, but I'm farther than I ever thought I'd get. I
can teach clearly, I can testify, I can discern needs and concerns, I
can be a vessel my Lord can work with. And even though I've come so
far, I find I'm learning everyday. I feel like the gospel is at work
in my life more than ever, teaching me and changing me. There is no
"plateauing."
That's all for this week. Love you all!
-Elder Samuel Burton
Pictures:
Our whole Zone right before the transfer.
Elder Beardall and me before he went home.
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