Good morning, everybody!
It
has been a crazy week, that is for sure! We had a multizone conference
at Crawley chapel. Crawley Zone was there as well as Maidstone and
Wandsworth Zones. We were addressed by Elder Texeira of the 70, our Area
President. He was incredible. My companion and I also sang "Dear To The
Heart Of The Shepherd" which went A LOT better than I thought it would.
It was my first time performing properly in... well, a long time haha.
We also received word this morning that, before Christmas, we'll be able
to go the temple and we'll have a Christmas Dinner there. Should be
exciting. We also had Stake Conference this weekend... because of the
way my transfers have worked, this was the first time I'd been to a
Stake Conference since the Super Bowl Sunday before my mission. It was
wonderful. The whole Saturday evening session was devoted to missionary
work.
Funny story of the week: whilst contacting along the
Seafront on Saturday, this man stopped us and in a VERY thick Scottish
accent yelled at us. He went on a ten minute tirade during which he said "You
know what yous ought to do? Take the next train to Brighton. Go to the
club. Find yourself a nice girl. Enjoy your life." At this point he was
practically in tears. The only reason I didn't walk away was because his
accent was so cool. Life is always an adventure!
Anyways, as far as the work goes,this week was a week of progress, that's for sure.
The key difference? Two things, in my humble opinion- first, we set goals, made plans, and followed through. Second, as Elder Astorga puts it, we sought out teaching experiences instead of finding experiences (teach when you find.) We taught people the gospel. We didn't blast them with the gospel and then ask for an appointment, we got to know them a bit and then tailored our unique message to fit their needs. Hearing from Elder Texeira also definitely helped.
Speaking of Elder Texeira, these are the things that we gathered from his presentation as a companionship and as a district. First, we need to be organized- we should be planning our appointments in advance. People like patterns. If we establish a regular meeting pattern with shorter, more frequent teaching visits, they will feel the Spirit in short bursts at higher magnitudes. Furthermore, we can establish a pattern for the members who accompany us and allows us to invite them to teaches a week away. It makes it easier for us and MUCH easier for them. Second, we need to go about seeking referrals in a smarter way. Elder Texeira gave us a brilliant way to do this (fellow laborers in the vineyard, read this next part carefully!) He said that if a prospector finds a huge gold nugget, he's not gonna say "Oh sweet! Now I'll start from the beginning and travel six miles and find some gold there!" That would make him an idiot. A SMART prospector digs deeper, because there is going to be more gold around! He'll dig and dig and dig until he is certain he's found all the gold. It's the same for us. When we find an investigator, we should ask for referrals! He suggested that when we pray with an investigator we ask whom they know we could pray for by name. We ask them why. Then we pray. Afterwards, we ask if we can teach that person, as their problems will ALWAYS be best addressed by the Gospel. Brilliant. Preach My Gospel promises that if we do this, we will have many people to teach. We have access to these blessings, we just need to do our end of the deal! :)
I know this work is the work of Almighty God. I am so grateful to participate in it.
I love you all so much! Hope to hear from you soon! :)
With love,
Elder Frederickson
PS The picture is the beautiful Elder Hanks and I :)
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