Area: Frisco Texas
Companion: Alex Christman Florence Kentucky/Dallas Tx
Hello Everyone,
What a week it has been. I was not able to write a general e-mail last
week, but I am sure many of you know already that I have been transferred back
into the field for my last few months. I was double transferred into an area as
a district leader and trainer. My companions name is Elder Alex Christman. He is
from Florence, Kentucky. He is serving a short term mission for three months
before he will receive his call. He has lived in Dallas for the last 7 months
with his brother to prepare for his mission and came straight to the mission
office. He is 22 years old and was baptized just over 4 years ago. He has a
great story and has overcome quite a few trials to get where he is at today. The
experiences he has had in life have made him a great missionary. He already
knows how to work with people and can carry a conversation with anyone. What I
have to help him with is learning how to teach from Preach My Gospel. It has
been a week of miracles. It was a bit of a challenge getting to the new
apartment and not really having any direction on where to go or what to do.
After cleaning a few things up and planning out an evening, we went out to work.
I was told we had dinner with a member from the missionaries that were
transferred out (one went home, and the other replaced me as an assistant) so we
contacted the member and made plans to eat. That member is the first counselor
in the bishopric and gave us a few referrals for us to work with during the
week. A huge burden was lifted off of my shoulders, and I was excited to have
something to work with. We knocked doors the remainder of the evening and then
stopped by one of the names we had been given. The man we visited is less active
and has a non-member girlfriend that is interested in the gospel. We set an
appointment to come the next day, and had a great visit. The Lord is so mindful
of where missionaries need to be and directs this work by the Spirit. There have
been few weeks in my mission where everything seemed to be positive. Other than
knocking doors, each person we visited was home and greeted us with open arms.
Our plans were truly inspired, and we were put in the right places at the right
time. On several occasion we were going to visit someone we had seen on the
progress record, and as they were walking outside to leave, we were walking up
and able to introduce ourselves. We planned to knock doors on a specific street
during the day, and it happened to be more humble home where we taught two
lessons. A family to be taught by the spanish missionaries resulted from those
efforts. Another evening, we ate dinner with a family and then chose to knock
doors a few streets away. I felt to knock a particular street, so we parked and
then began our work. One woman opened the door and expressed her negative
feelings towards organized religion. I felt impressed to share that we have a
lay ministry. She was so impressed with that, and it opened to a long discussion
and an interest in attending the church. A few doors later, a woman opened up
with a cheery attitude. She expressed missionaries had knocked on her door three
weeks ago and left her a pamphlet. The missionaries did not come back and she
was interested in learning more. We set a return appointment for Tuesday at
7:00. If this wasn't the work of the Lord I would think it to be a coincidence,
but I know the Lord directed us to the individuals we met that night. Saturday
morning, we stopped by a part member family in our apartment complex. While
walking back to our apartment for lunch, we noticed a moving truck had just
pulled up, so we offered to help unload. They accepted our help, so as we were
unloading we were able to get to know their family and friends that we helping
and develop a great relationship with them. After about 45 minutes of moving
boxes, it was all in the apartment. They thanked us for our help and invited us
to stay for lunch. While they prepared lunch, we went home to shower and change
clothes. Upon our return, we sat down and began to eat. The family is active in
their faith and have served many mission trips for their church. It lead for a
great opportunity to help them understand what we do, and then the
conversation flowed to us teaching the first lesson. As we shared the role of
prophets throughout the beginning of time, they understood the importance of
having clear doctrine communicated to man in these days. We shared the story of
Joseph Smith and recited by memory the first vision. The Spirit illuminated the
room and the emotions everyone felt were sacred. I am so thankful for the
restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the Lord guides His servants
to those who are in need of the fullness of the gospel. We later gave them a
copy of the Book of Mormon (with Grandma and Grandpa's testimony), a Family
Proclamation, and restoration pamphlet. I don't know if we will harvest this
family, but I know we needed to visit them. It was a powerful example to me of
an unplanned service opportunity that lead to an opportunity to teach. The night
before, I was telling Elder Christman about the success I have had with sharing
the gospel with my neighbors in various apartments I have lived in. We set a
goal to be as friendly as possible with our neighbors. I felt so blessed to have
had an opportunity our first week to teach one our neighbors. I could go on and
on about the miracles we saw this week. With each missionary I have trained, we
have prayed specifically to apply what we learned in companionship study for
them to have a real life practice in teaching. Elder Christman and I have done
this, and the Lord has blessed with those opportunities just as he did in times
past. Our Sunday meeting were great. We were able to share our testimonies in
both sacrament meetings. It was a great opportunity to introduce ourselves and
develop trust with the ward. The Lord is so good to me. I love being a
missionary. I feel as urgent as ever to do the work of the Lord. I thought my
days as an assistant were exhausting, but now with more time to work hard it my
area, I come home even more exhausted. I am so thankful for all of your prayers.
I know they helped me get through this week. It was challenging, but with the
Lord it was miraculous. I love you all.
Elder Seager
