Area: Frisco Texas
Companion: Elder Michael Louder
Hello Everyone,
This has been a week of highs and lows. I am so thankful for the trials we
receive. The attitudes we have change the outcomes dramatically.
We were able to meet with a great part member family we have grown to love
over the last few weeks. There have been a few schedule conflicts that have
pushed our appointments back, but we were finally able to meet with them this
week. Our focus was to build a friendship with this couple first so they know we
love them and want to help their testimonies and faith grow. We watched a video
with them and then talked about the importance of developing our personal
relationship with God and having the strength to face adversity head on. I felt
much more connected and open to the promptings of the spirit in our visits and
rejoiced in the friendship that has developed.
On Thursday we were able to attend a meeting in Dallas with President and
Sister Durrant, and their son who recently returned home from Paraguay. Their
son shared his mission with us and applied a few things they had focused on to
our mission. I was so thankful to have been with the missionaries here and
recognize what we can all do to be better teachers of the gospel. Hearing their
son talk about his mission made me think more about mine and if I what
experiences I would share in a setting like that. The Lord has been so great to
me, and I am so thankful for the service he has allowed me to be a part
of.
Saturday was a challenging day for Elder Louder and I. We had set some
great plans for the day and focused on finding new investigators. As we were out
and about the whole day we talked to people who just wanted to argue and bash
with us. We are always running into people to don't care to listen to our
message, but very rarely are people aggressive about why they think we are
wrong. I will do anything to get out of those situations, so I always tell
people right up front if they are wanting to argue then we will walk away. A few
people like that came to the door, and each time the Spirit would leave. It was
nothing we would do, but we had to fight to get the Spirit back and think
positive. We were blessed I feel for our positive attitudes because we did find
a few people who were interested in learning more. Towards the end of our night,
we were in an apartment complex to visit an inactive member. The door we knocked
on was probably not who we were looking for because the woman rudely expressed
her interest was not in our beliefs. A bit flustered, we walked down the stairs
to meet a woman out walking her dogs. She quickly asked if we lived in the
complex. We said no but that we were trying to contact a member of our church.
She was sure to let us know the laws about trespassing and dialed for security
on her phone. She then shouted for us to get in our car and leave right then. We
remained calm and politely said we would. "God bless," came our reply after she
said a few more choice words. She said "whatever," and then stormed off toward
her apartment. While getting in the car we could hear her conversation with
security, and we became a bit more irritated about the confrontation. The Spirit
once again that day left. It was 8:30, so we thought we could easily finish our
day and go home. I knew if we were to go home she would have won and we would
have allowed a negative experience affect our day. With a bit of will power I
pulled into a neighborhood near our home to end with a positive experience. The
second door we knocked was a person who knew members of the church and asked for
us to come back the next day. I felt whole again and knew the Lord was well
pleased with our decision to press forward despite the adverse encounter we had
just experienced.
Others we talked to that day had watched a program on NBC about the church
and had questions. Comments were made such as, "I now understand that Mormon's
are Christians and they share a lot of the same views as most Protestant
faiths." We had no clue this program was on until we asked a member if there was
something on the news about the church. We hear that some things were borderline
accurate and had a few offensive comments or images, but for non-members to make
comments like we received, it left a positive impression.
On Friday night, we knocked on a door and a man opened up and said in a
cheerful way, "We are watching a show right now about you missionaries." The
timing was perfect I guess, so we asked if he would like a face to face message
about the church rather than a television program. He declined, but it made us
laugh a bit about the positive quick whited comments we had made to go along
with the program. We live in a great time to share the gospel. Missionary work
has become even more exciting with the added exposure to who we are and what we
believe.
I love this church. I am so thankful the Priesthood has been restored. We
are so fortunate to be able to make covenants and partake of the sacrament each
week. I don't know where I would be without staying true to the covenants I have
made and repenting for the mistakes I have made. The ATonement (I loved how
Elder Morga wrote that in is e-mail) is real and the mercy of Christ is
available to those who humble themselves. Thank you for your love and prayers.
They strengthen me to move forward and finish as a focused servant of the Lord.
I love you all.
With love,
Elder Seager
