Even if it is just in a mission-oriented sense! Honestly, this week has been just wonderful, despite the bad sacrament turnout (only 2 came; have to work hard to fix that this week. Oh, agency... haha).
Anyway, my new companion is Elder. Nembaware, from Zimbabwe. He's the only Member in his family, and he's the last-born of 9 kids! It's crazy. A friend of his invited him to Church one week, he came, met with the missionaries, and was baptized. When given the Book of Mormon by the missionaries, he read it in 3 days flat! He speaks some of the most sophisticated English I've heard in a long time; probably not since I was staying with Uncle Russel before I left; haha. Although its quite nice, we're working on 'dumbing it down' so he can communicate with the Ghanaians more properly. Unfortunately, Ghana English means nothing more than 3 syllables, and terrible grammar - which explains my rapid language degredation when writing these things. I really enjoy working with Elder Nembaware, he's incredibly humble, and always willing and eager to learn. He does his best to apply everything he learns to his life, and as such his teaching skills have improved drastically since coming out of the MTC not but 5 days ago. It's amazing how quickly he's learning and improving himself; he's getting to the point that he'll know all the basics and just need to start polishing them off. He's even had his first spiritual experience when teaching! He had a guy read a place in the Book of Mormon that neither of us really knew about, and it applied perfectly to the situation and will really help him come closer to Christ. When we were leaving, I asked him where he got that, and he said he had no idea; it just popped into his head, so he said it. It really helped him gain confidence in himself and recognize that the Lord truly is working through him, and that he is truly teaching by the Spirit.
I'm truly blessed to be able to be the one the Lord entrusted with teaching him what he needs to know in mission life, so that he can bring souls unto Christ and receive the Restored Gospel. I am truly happy that He gave me the charge and stewardship of "raising," or training such a wonderful son of God, and I'm so happy to see him progress so well. It's a wonderful blessing; I can see - although in an infinitely minuscle degree when compared to the real thing - the joys that come from fatherhood. I think that's why we call trainers here 'fathers' and why we call their trainees their 'sons.' You develop a very close bond with your son, and one of the greatest joys you can experience is seeing them learn and grow, and seeing the earnest desire to improve when they make a mistake, and seeing the joy in their lives when they get things right. It really is great to see that the things I'm teaching him - or rather, the things the Lord is teaching him, through me - are helping him have confidence in himself, and helping him to become a wonderful missionary. It's also wonderful to see him be obedient in all things, and to see his love for Christ and the people. It's been a wonderful experience already, and I pray it will only get better from here!
As for news in the mission, we baptized Louis Owusu last week, which was awesome. He finally knows for himself where he will stand at the Last Day, and is truly happy to have that Peace and Comfort from Christ that you can't get anywhere else. Ophelia isn't coming to Church, so we have to try to get a hold of her and find out why; when we asked last time, she said it was nothing more than a petty argument with a little girl at her compound, and she was afraid to leave in case the girl burned her things when she left (they do that here; go figure). March should be a good month, but I'm kinda worried after all the failures on Sunday. I've never been so disappointed with my Investigators in my entire time on mission. We had planned on 15; I have never planned that high, but I honestly felt like we could do it. And they just didn't come, most for very bad reasons. We'll have to find out the rest as we go on. I had to pray very hard for patience and long suffering; I really did not want to go out after Church on Sunday and face all the same excuses over again. I was really hurt by them. But, with some strong praying and a desire to be a good example to Elder Nembaware (that really helped; haha) I went out anyways, and am still going out, and will start back at square one with these people and try again this week. Diligence and Charity are sometimes very hard attributes to maintain. But we are, and all is going well, and I still love them very very much, even if I am very sad at their decisions. Hopefully, we can help inspire them and get them to Church this Sunday!
I'm fully aware that most of you already do, but could you maybe pray for them, and even fast for them this upcoming month? We're working with two families, and some amazing single people, and I really feel we can get them to commit and follow through, and come unto Christ, if they just have that extra help. So, I put in that request for this upcoming month. Thanks, and I love you all!
I know that these things are True, and I know that we will be blessed when we Read the Book of Mormon, Ponder in our hearts the message it contains, and then Ask God, the Eternal Father in the name of Christ if it is True. If we do these things, we will have the Truth of it manifested unto us by the power of the Holy Ghost. These things I know to be true, because I have done them, and God has answered me in that exact way. Look at your heart when you read, and look at your heart when you pray. You will know that God is telling you these things are True.
This Gospel is True! The Work is Great! I love you all!
--Elder Collings
Anyway, my new companion is Elder. Nembaware, from Zimbabwe. He's the only Member in his family, and he's the last-born of 9 kids! It's crazy. A friend of his invited him to Church one week, he came, met with the missionaries, and was baptized. When given the Book of Mormon by the missionaries, he read it in 3 days flat! He speaks some of the most sophisticated English I've heard in a long time; probably not since I was staying with Uncle Russel before I left; haha. Although its quite nice, we're working on 'dumbing it down' so he can communicate with the Ghanaians more properly. Unfortunately, Ghana English means nothing more than 3 syllables, and terrible grammar - which explains my rapid language degredation when writing these things. I really enjoy working with Elder Nembaware, he's incredibly humble, and always willing and eager to learn. He does his best to apply everything he learns to his life, and as such his teaching skills have improved drastically since coming out of the MTC not but 5 days ago. It's amazing how quickly he's learning and improving himself; he's getting to the point that he'll know all the basics and just need to start polishing them off. He's even had his first spiritual experience when teaching! He had a guy read a place in the Book of Mormon that neither of us really knew about, and it applied perfectly to the situation and will really help him come closer to Christ. When we were leaving, I asked him where he got that, and he said he had no idea; it just popped into his head, so he said it. It really helped him gain confidence in himself and recognize that the Lord truly is working through him, and that he is truly teaching by the Spirit.
I'm truly blessed to be able to be the one the Lord entrusted with teaching him what he needs to know in mission life, so that he can bring souls unto Christ and receive the Restored Gospel. I am truly happy that He gave me the charge and stewardship of "raising," or training such a wonderful son of God, and I'm so happy to see him progress so well. It's a wonderful blessing; I can see - although in an infinitely minuscle degree when compared to the real thing - the joys that come from fatherhood. I think that's why we call trainers here 'fathers' and why we call their trainees their 'sons.' You develop a very close bond with your son, and one of the greatest joys you can experience is seeing them learn and grow, and seeing the earnest desire to improve when they make a mistake, and seeing the joy in their lives when they get things right. It really is great to see that the things I'm teaching him - or rather, the things the Lord is teaching him, through me - are helping him have confidence in himself, and helping him to become a wonderful missionary. It's also wonderful to see him be obedient in all things, and to see his love for Christ and the people. It's been a wonderful experience already, and I pray it will only get better from here!
As for news in the mission, we baptized Louis Owusu last week, which was awesome. He finally knows for himself where he will stand at the Last Day, and is truly happy to have that Peace and Comfort from Christ that you can't get anywhere else. Ophelia isn't coming to Church, so we have to try to get a hold of her and find out why; when we asked last time, she said it was nothing more than a petty argument with a little girl at her compound, and she was afraid to leave in case the girl burned her things when she left (they do that here; go figure). March should be a good month, but I'm kinda worried after all the failures on Sunday. I've never been so disappointed with my Investigators in my entire time on mission. We had planned on 15; I have never planned that high, but I honestly felt like we could do it. And they just didn't come, most for very bad reasons. We'll have to find out the rest as we go on. I had to pray very hard for patience and long suffering; I really did not want to go out after Church on Sunday and face all the same excuses over again. I was really hurt by them. But, with some strong praying and a desire to be a good example to Elder Nembaware (that really helped; haha) I went out anyways, and am still going out, and will start back at square one with these people and try again this week. Diligence and Charity are sometimes very hard attributes to maintain. But we are, and all is going well, and I still love them very very much, even if I am very sad at their decisions. Hopefully, we can help inspire them and get them to Church this Sunday!
I'm fully aware that most of you already do, but could you maybe pray for them, and even fast for them this upcoming month? We're working with two families, and some amazing single people, and I really feel we can get them to commit and follow through, and come unto Christ, if they just have that extra help. So, I put in that request for this upcoming month. Thanks, and I love you all!
I know that these things are True, and I know that we will be blessed when we Read the Book of Mormon, Ponder in our hearts the message it contains, and then Ask God, the Eternal Father in the name of Christ if it is True. If we do these things, we will have the Truth of it manifested unto us by the power of the Holy Ghost. These things I know to be true, because I have done them, and God has answered me in that exact way. Look at your heart when you read, and look at your heart when you pray. You will know that God is telling you these things are True.
This Gospel is True! The Work is Great! I love you all!
--Elder Collings
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