Area: Dallas Texas (Richardson)
Companion: Elder Jordan Jones from Kanab UT
Hello Everyone,
Another eventful week in the Texas Dallas Mission. All of the missionaries
have now been interviewed, so that will free up a bit more time to work in our
area, but not for long. Transfers will be this upcoming week, so who know what
will happen. I will be able to tell you for sure next week if I am staying in
the office, or going out in the field. Time will tell.
On Wednesday, we had our meeting with all of the zone leader's. Elder Jones
and I were responsible for planning out the meeting. It went well with the ideas
we tried to implement. There are so many great and capable missionaries that
help teach and train missionaries, so we focused on helping our leaders uplift
and encourage the missionaries in their zone. We try to address different issues
that we have seen throughout the mission and then train everyone one our monthly
focus. For May, we are focusing on chapter 11 of Preach My Gospel. There has
been a lot of focus put on lesson plans, but we have seen the invitations
extended become a bit weak. There is also not a lot of follow up with those
commitments, so we are striving to change that. We are excited to see what
improvements will be made throughout the mission.
President and Sister Durrant attended a Mission President Seminar a few
weeks ago and decided to experiment on something they heard a mission in
Phoenix. The idea is to knock doors and ask people if we could come in and leave
a blessing on their home. It is not a dedication of the home, but sincere prayer
to bless the home. President Durrant shared some of the success that has taken
place in Phoenix and asked us and a few other zone leaders to try this out. We
wants us to do it for at least eight hours in our week. Last night we spent
about two hours knocking doors in our area trying to implement this idea. We
picked a street and parked out front of a man's home who was irritated that we
would park out in front of his home. I love the principle of killing someone
with kindness, so that is what we did. He asked if we had a permit to knock on
his street. We said that we did not and that it was not required of us to obtain
permits to proselyte. We then tried to ask if he would be interested in hearing
our message. I bet you can guess what he said, "No." We then asked if he knew if
any of his neighbors would like to hear a message about Jesus Christ. He loudly
exclaimed he doesn't care who his neighbors are and that they should keep their
beliefs personal and we should not push ours on them. We thanked him for his
help and then grabbed our bags and proceeded to knock on his neighbors door. We
spent the next two hours going up and then down his street to talk with people.
About 15 houses away from the man's home, there were two police cars parked with
the officers standing outside. After going door to door, we eventually came to
the home the police were standing outside of. They jokingly asked if we had
broken into that home, shook our hands and then let us on our way to the next
home. Not far behind us, that angry man was walking to stir a little trouble
with the officers about us being in the neighborhood. They of course said they
couldn't do anything to stop us, so he turned around and walked back home. We
continued and had some great experiences talking with people and asking them if
we could pray with them. Surprisingly, people would open up to us more and share
experiences they have had in life with members of our church, or why they
worship the way they do. It provided us with opportunities to bear simple
testimonies of Jesus Christ and the Restoration. As usual, we were not invited
to come back and share more, but we were confident we had left a good
impression. A man in his 80's that was on his way out the back door heard our
knock and greeted us at the door. His wife had died 5 years ago and he knew she
was in heaven but feared his was going to hell. We asked if he believed he could
be with his wife again. He didn't, but it lead to a great conversation that
lasted about 20 minutes. His countenance changed, and he began to smile. We
asked to say a prayer with him, and he willingly accepted. He then gave us
permission to walk across his lawn to the next home. At the next door, we were
greeted by a teenage boy. After a brief conversation, his father, who
was sitting on the couch, stood up to make us leave. We asked if we could say a
prayer with them before we left, and with a less than willing attitude, he
agreed. As he folded his arms, we asked for his last name to include the whole
family in the prayer. We pushed the wrong buttons with that question, and he
shut the door. We were so close. We continued on and said a few more prayers
with people. It was interesting to see the different styles of prayers people
had, and explanations of how praying has helped them. We came to the end of the
street on the opposite side of where we had parked our car. The man we had
encountered earlier was now landscaping his front yard. Before we could get in
the car, he was walking towards us to ask about our efforts on the street in a
way to show our work is worthless. We had been keeping track of how many times
we had asked to pray with people, and how many prayers we had said, so we
reported our efforts. He said that it was a fair amount, and asked us a series
of questions about our lives and explained how his faith had weakened. I cant
remember how our conversation went because I was shocked at how open he was with
us, but with one last effort to bring the spirit to this man we asked if we
could pray with him. His attitude towards us had changed during our
conversation, so he agreed to pray with us and said, "I will even give you my
hand for us to pray together." We held his hand and offered a sincere prayer
thanking him for his time and asked that his family would have the health and
safety they needed to continue with their lives. We closed the prayer and, after
a few parting words, got in the car and left. We were shocked that he spoke to
us and asked us questions about what we do after what had happened when we
first parked there. I have no clue what will come of that experience, but he is
on my list of people to find in the after life and visit with him.
I am so thankful to be able to teach to gospel and bear testimony of the
restoration. I know God lives and that Jesus Christ suffered and died for us so
that we can live with God again. This is the work of the Lord to help people
understand how they can receive eternal joy and happiness. Thank you for your
prayers and letters. They build me up and help me stay focused on the work God
has prepared for me. I love you all.
Elder Seager
P.S. On a more funny note aside from the spiritual experience of knocking
doors - We often times come across "no soliciting" signs, but very rarely will
people rudely ask if we had seen their sign. For one man yesterday, he was ready
to stand his ground and defend his home. Our conversation went as follows;
Us: "Hello sir, how are you doing tonight?"
Him: "Didn't you see my sign?"
Us: "Yes, we did. We are here to share a message with you and your
family."
Him: "The sign is right there. What don't you understand about it?"
Us: "We understand what it says. Do you know who we are?'
Him: "I know what you do, and I don't think it is appropriate for you to
sell Jesus."
Us: "Sir you cannot sell free salvation."
Him: "Slaaaaammmmm!!!!!!!"
I love being a missionary.
