pizza hut, repentance, and prophets

Dear Family,

We were blessed to have two baptisms this Saturday, and the proceedings went well. An investigator we had been teaching since November finally got baptized; he's an elderly man, but he hasn't missed a day of church in three months, and he has read the whole Book of Mormon already. The other was a cousin of a member who recently came to live with their family; it was delightful to see that sort of member-missionary work. We always have much more success when the members invite their friends and relatives to come to church and to listen to the missionaries. I would send pictures, but the rules were just recently changed and we can't send pictures by internet anymore. ("For thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey. Amen." - see the last verse of the book of 2 Nephi)

Saturday morning, my companion had District Leader Training with our Zone Leaders, so I got to come along and benefit from all the ideas being shared. Afterward, we went downtown to the recently-constructed mall and ate at Pizza Hut. My companion and I split a large Hawaiian Pizza. It was wonderful: I hadn't eaten anything like it in several months. Nevertheless, with the meeting in the morning, the baptism in the afternoon, and the worldwide leadership training meeting in the evening, we were left with one hour at the end of the day to visit people. But it was a very inspiring day. I especially liked Elder Oaks' straightforward remarks about the family with regards to the rest of the world's fluctuating ideas of what a family is.

Saturday night, about 10 minutes prior to bedtime, the 1st Counselor in the Bishopric came by our house and told us we were speaking in Sacrament Meeting the next day. I think that might have caused some worry before my mission, but missionaries are always full of things to say, right? We were assigned slots of 5 minutes (for my companion) and 10 minutes (for me). My companion went first and took 13 minutes, which made my remarks a little easier. The Bishop was to come after me, and Brother Bott (my mission prep teacher) taught us to never encroach on the presiding authority's time: so I shared a scripture and bore my testimony, then sat down. Hopefully next time I'll be able to share a little more.

I haven't always been prone to approach and talk to strangers, but this week's experiences have helped change that disposition. After our Zone Meetings, we were full of desires to find new families to teach. And as we walked home, I began to see many potential families just waiting for us - walking in the street, sitting on a park bench, etc. But as I felt spiritual desires to talk to them, I felt physically timid and a little introverted. After a day of passing by what seemed a multitude of strangers, I had resisted the Spirit long enough. I felt bad for not lifting up my voice, and as we continued on, I wasn't able to feel that spiritual desire to talk to them anymore. I understood that repentance was in order. After many prayers and a little chastisement, I pondered on the scriptures that told me to never fear man more than the Lord. I asked my companion to help me contact families in the street, and we started talking to strangers. Once again I was able to feel when we should talk to people and when we shouldn't. We found many people who were not only interested, but also receptive to the gospel message. We talked to large families, young families, single adults, youth; we talked to them through windows, through doors, or walking alongside them in the street as they took a family walk. I'm still not the most outgoing person in the world, but I'm getting over my fears through the strength of the Lord. Like a certain quote I remember, "courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that some things are more important than fear" (from The Princess Diaries II, I think). It only takes a moment of meditation to realize how important this work is.

I got a much-needed haircut this morning, but before heading to the hairstylist, we took advantage of my long hair. I styled it the best I could to model the picture on the cover of our Elders' Quorum manual, threw on a shirt - with the collar up and a tie tied loosely around the neck - and my suit jacket, and grabbed a Book of Mormon. I don't look too much like Joseph Smith, but the sun has bleached my hair and it almost matches the blond portrayed in our manual. (I'd love to send a picture, but you'll just have to wait.)

Sister Mora has asked me to come to the mission home and play a couple of primary songs that aren't found in the normal Primary Songbook in Spanish. She's going to record them and take them to help the districts out in the mountains/desert prepare their primary programs. We're going to take a taxi over to the mission home just as soon as our time runs out for using the internet.

Well, it seems like that moment has arrived, so I better sign out. Thank you for your letters and your prayers! They really keep me going. The work is moving along here. With a little more faith and some more hard work, we're going to see more results. I love it.

Love,
Elder Withers