5/27/14
Everybody's working for the Holidays!
Happy Memorial Day! I hope you all had some solid time off and
enjoyed some R&R time with family! We had some of that, with many of my
black familia out here! It was great! But yes, Tuesday Pday, kind of strange,
but we'll make due! Let me tackle the week and I'll see how y'alls panned out!
Monday, we ended up playing some sports (if you could call it
that) with the other Elders in the Zone. It was a game called Chuck
Norris Tennis Balls of Death. I'm not sure the etymology of the name nor
the origin. Except one thing I do know, Chuck Norris touched MC Hammer. And
that's enough for me. There's two people on the stage chucking tennis balls, to
hit people and get them out. The other people are sneaking around trying to get
the flag, and take it to the other side of the gym. We set up tables as
barricades, and to make things interesting, we had the lights out. It was kind
of fun, reminded me of Paintballing. I miss that for sure. We talked with some
people towards the close of the night.
Tuesday was District Meeting Day again, and that went well. I am
becoming more apt to getting less sleep, which might be a bonus. We met some
interesting people as usual. People's beliefs about God just astound me! And
that is why we need the Priesthood, to govern the Body of Christ. Without it,
ideas have crept in. We met with our investigator, Patience, and read an Isaiah
Chapter with her out of the Book of Mormon. We totally had the Spirit of
Revelation, and it was amazing. Our thoughts must have truly been the Savior's
thoughts. Elder Skouson actually read that chapter that morning, and got
nothing out of it. We also met with the Smejkal family the Atheist/Agnostic
Part Member Family, and we invited them to read and pray. Alma 32 and to pray
about it. The Spirit has been working with them too! He related the Telestial
Kingdom to the "Downtown Holiday Inn with all the Crack Whores."
Yeah, something like that! That became the joke of the night. We're so thrilled
for them, to see their faith growing, little by little.
Wednesday we were on the hunt for a Less Active, named Jose, and
we found ourselves in a white neighborhood. And by virtue, no one wanted to
hear from us. When we left, the first non-Caucasian we found, wanted to have us
back over in a few days. She must have been the real reason we needed to be
there. We had Gospel Study as usual, and afterwards I got to do 3 Baptismal
Interviews. I do really enjoy doing them! My faith grows so much. It was for
the Children of the Wynn family, whom I interviewed a few weeks back. I got
clever, and I called it, Wynn-terviews. Their kids are amazing, like
absolutely. I wish I had as much faith as them when I was their age. It was a
good time, and I am so blessed that I can connect with younger people. That is
a spiritual gift! Karlee must have it too with all of the BabySitting she has
done.
Thursday was a long day, but we made 91 calls! And contacted a
few referrals. One of them is rock solid, from Germany, and looking for a
church home. We had a 30 minute conversation with Alicia, and are pumped to see
her soon! Like on Wednesday! She's also a professional singer, so maybe I can
get some voice coaching as well! I could make lion's purr with my voice, with
her help!
Friday was spent moving one family out, the Ludlow's. It was an
amazing thing we showed up, because we were just about the only help they got.
And let me first just say, I cannot stand when people stand around. To make
things worse, people that stand in the way while standing around. I was a
little frustrated, but just kept my mind focused. It was in the 90's and 95%
humidity, so we were sweating it up! We got it all taken care of in 3 hours, up
and down 3 flights of stairs countless times, but we did it. We had dinner at
the Embley's home, and they are just so amazing! I cannot get over them, and to
make our day even better, we made it up to the Atkins to teach Patience again!
Members are the best! I wish they could be more involved.
Saturday we helped with another move, the Hoyt family.
Thankfully there was a much better turnout for that one. We were at it for an
hour and a half, and off we went. The best part of the day was the Baptism of
the Wynn Kids, and a girl named Abby. The Father received the priesthood and
got to baptize his kids! All I could think, is that is what it is all about.
Families. Finding and binding them. They are quite the addition to the ward!
Ronnie Jr, the 9 year old, sought me out to say," Just the man I was
looking for. I really want you to confirm me tomorrow." It was pretty
touching actually, that I could have a 30 minute interview with him, and that
me of all people, he wanted to confirm him. God is so good, and he works
through us to make sure our needs are met. We met some more crazies, a guy was
convinced that the 2nd Coming was a space ship we will all fly around the
Universe in. He also told us (he is black, by the way)," If heaven is full
of black people, I don't want to be there." Too much of a good thing is
bad, I guess. We also taught a lesbian couple, that was neato! I am not ashamed
of the Gospel!
Sunday was super long, but
amazing. I have been really quite sick lately, and am not sure if it is
allergies or what, but it was so hard getting up, not to mention we get up
earlier on Sunday. But I made due, and just did what I was supposed to. I was
blessed accordingly, because God always delivers. I got to confirm Ronnie, and
I had the chills and was shaking a bit. Through Ordinances, Godliness is most
certainly manifest. We had an investigator come, Adrian, that is pretty legit.
We have called him almost every other day, and he appreciates that. Patience
made it as well. I had no reason to complain. We later sat down with the
Stowell family, who are about as legit as they come, and discussed the work
here, and how it can be better. They just get it! We talked to Nieta at church
for a little (such a miracle she made it, and she gets to go to the temple
today too!), and on the phone later for about 40 minutes. She's about as legit
as they come too!
We were a little disappointed as we went to the city square of Decatur on Memorial Day. It was almost like a ghost town. It was the indicator that we needed to get to people's homes! So we did just that. We visited with a few Less Actives, and found around their homes. But it wasn't until it really started raining that we found those that the Lord had prepared. We were lead to go see a lady we found the day before, and there was also a Less Active that needed to be found. That area was calling us there! It was a little ways out of the way with MARTA, but we felt inspired. We even had our dinner appointment cancel on us (which usually is the least bit a miracle), but it allowed us more time to find, teach, testify, and bless! We were able to find 10 New Investigators, a good chunk of them families. We blessed 11 People with the 4 hours we spent, in the down pour. It was truly amazing! And to put a cap on the day, we were challenged by a Reverend of another Church. This is the truth! That kind of opposition only would come because this is truth.
And that is about that, we will be going to Stone Mountain with
the Partridge Family today for Pday, so that should be a blast!
That's that! Thanks for another weekly check in! Thanks for all
that y'all do! Please let me know what I can do for anyone of y'all! Have an
amazingly blessed up week! Love you all so much!
Love,
Elder Dallan Barnes
What does a watermelon and a sweet pea have in common? 20
minutes.
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