People are being so...spontaneous, it's ridiculous. One moment we have a fantastic lesson with an investigator or a less-active, and another moment we get yelled at, rejected, or those cool investigators don't keep commitments. The missionary world is out of whack. So I'll talk about some cool people for a sec.
Annie and her 12-year-old son, Luke. She was hurt by the last church she joined, and is kinda timid to think about attending ours, but she's a wonderful person and mother. Her husband works on the river, so he's never really around. Luke is a cool cat that likes basketball. We're trying to get him hooked up with the other young men in the branch because they'd totally hit it off.
When we teach her, the Spirit in that home is so strong, and it brings her the greatest comfort in her life. She loves our being there so much, and we love her as well. We keep on trying to get her to church. At that point, she'll know it's home for her.
The Kerns are a young family found a couple years ago by my follow-up trainer, Elder Warren. They didn't like missionaries before since they felt like they were being pulled to baptism, but Elder Whetten and I are taking it slowly and by the Spirit. The Kerns are now eager to ask questions and read what we ask them to. Again, they just gotta enter our little branch building, and we'd be set.
We have a few baptisms scheduled for this week, but at this point, they ain't lookin' like they're happenin'. We need to convert a teen to Jesus Christ and help a couple of parents put down the Marlboros.
We're bringing an awesome less-active family back into activity. We've got a lot in common, so it's a blast to be with them, but they drink up the gospel like reliving their childhoods. They love being reminded of what they once knew. We're very happy for them.
Good things are happening in Pocahontas. We just need prayers that people will act on their faith and DO things -- particularly, go to church.
Gospel's still true, even if a guy with a beer in his hand cursing at us says it isn't and that we're wasting our time as young men (which happened the day we got back from seeing Elder Bednar). Just servin' a mission! Preaching the word and loving everyone. Yeah... Love is truly the word I've learned here. How to love, how love invites the Spirit and what power love has to bring happiness and eagerness into learning about the gospel. Love is great. Everyone, love more.
And with that, I love y'all! Elder Whetten and I get along well. We might push buttons, but we've learned to really support each other. His parents are having him apply for a scholarship, so I've offered to proofread his essay.
-Elder Staib
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