Hey Everyone!
So yeah, this week has been a little better in terms of the heat. I bought a hat, sorry I didn't get a picture of it. I need to stop being so lazy with taking pictures.
But yeah, we've had a fairly successful week. We were able to find several new investigators, and I had several opportunities to share my testimony of the restored gospel. It really makes so much sense, all one has to do is look at how God has acted with His children. He gives them the Gospel, later on, they reject it, and he must restore it again. He gave it to Adam, it began to be corrupted by the children of men, and so God had to restore it to Enoch, then Enoch and his city were taken up, and the world had to be cleansed of iniquity, here comes the Flood, and God calls Noah to restore the Gospel. Later on, after it is perverted again, Abraham had to restore it, and later Moses when he took the Israelite people out of Egypt. God's always worked like this.
(Can you tell, I've been studying dispensations a lot)
And yeah, we were also able to set baptismal dates with four of the new investigators we found, and they seem really excited. The only problem is that we went by early Sunday morning to bring them to church, and they didn't answer the door, and we haven't seen them since. We have an appointment with them tomorrow. But, the thing is that I think I've finally found the balance I've always been looking for as a missionary.
Because there are basically two schools of thought in la Obra missional when it comes to a successful missionary. There is the missionary who gets many baptisms, and the missionary that doesn't get many baptisms, but has at least helped others. The problems enter when you get a missionary who baptizes people who aren't ready just because he wants another baptism, and the missionary who justifies his disobedience to certain mission rules cuz he isn't getting success and needs to do something to not be discouraged cuz of his lack of success.
But, there must needs be a balance, and I've been searching for this my entire mission. Maybe it's just a symptom of being a middle child, and my need to find a compromise. I've come to the conclusion that there is no reason to get discouraged in the mission, even if our numbers are 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0, so long as we maintain a high level of obedience and diligence. What do I mean by this?
Well, for example, with these investigators, they didn't come to Church, so the numbers come up Zero. But, I STILL feel like a successful missionary. Why? Because I've been trying to be more obedient, and we went 45 minutes out of our way in order to stop by their house and bring them to church. In other words, I was doing all that I could to help them come unto Christ, all that was left was their free agency, over which I have no control. So, if we don't want to get discouraged in the mission, then we need to elevate our level of diligence and obedience to the point that even on a day where we do not enter into any house and have taught no lessons and have found no new investigators, even on that day, we are able to say that "I did a good job today, Lord."
I feel quite strongly about this. And I am very excited, because this Thursday, we are having a Zone Conference, and the Assistants have asked me to share a spiritual thought/lecture type thing based on the first two pages of the Missionary Handbook, with the goal of encouraging the zone. I am not sure why they thought of this for this particular time. All I can say is that the Lord has prepared me, and I am extremely grateful for his help.
I love all of you, and I want you to know that the mission's going great for me now,
Elder Blaylock
PS They're pics of some service we did Saturday morning, painting a member's house.
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