Well! This week has been a week of extremes. Well, to start off, I discovered what was wrong with my throat! When I went to the doctors a week ago, Dr. Hemi told me that I had an Ulcer in my throat. Ow. So, I had to get medications for it. I got Amoxicillin, and also Paracetamol mixed with a little bit of Codeine. If you are not a doctor, you probably have no idea what those last two medicines are. Paracetamol is a fairly moderate painkiller, and Codeine is a very powerful painkiller (not as powerful as something like Morphine, but still.). Well, to kinda give you an idea, there was about 500mg of Paracetamol to every 8mg of Codeine.
Anywho... The Ulcer was pretty horrible on Monday, but it only got worse. Tuesday was the worst day, and Wednesday was almost the same as Tuesday. I started to get better on Thursday and was able to start eating solid foods again on Friday. Today, I am almost back to being able to eat everything. I can't eat anything spicy, and Oranges, if I eat a lot, are fairly painful. But, nothing like Tuesday. Anyways... For those of you who don't know what an Ulcer is, it's an open cut that can't heal quickly and properly because it is surrounded by something that always agitates it, or moistens it. Like, Stomach Acid in the stomach, or saliva and swallowing in the throat. Think of it as a really bad canker sore. Well, my ability to talk was significantly lessened. When I had to conduct district meeting, I couldn't do it. We had to cut it short, because I couldn't keep on talking. Every time that I swallowed, it was incredibly painful. So, the painkillers weren't doing anything, I thought. I forgot to take them at one point on Tuesday, and holy smokes. I never missed a time after that. They were most certainly taking the edge off of the pain, but that edge was not quite enough for my taste. Lol... So, I plan to never have an Ulcer anywhere ever again. The only thing positive that came as a result was that I ate Yoghurt and Ice cream for every meal. :-) So, yum. Ice Cream in NZ is pretty delicious. :-)
So. I will stop complaining about that. My companion had to do quite a bit of the teaching for a few days as I tried my hardest not to even think about swallowing.
Our Mission President has asked us to "talk with everyone" (TWE) with at least 20 people each day. E. Ngalu and I maybe talked to 20 people in a week (Btw, TWE is like tracting and street contacting. Of course we talked with more that 20 people in a week. Just not street contacting.), so that was a really big challenge for me. But we're getting there.
I can see the blessings the Lord is giving us for TWEing as much as we can. I don't recall if I talked about Mel Miller, but she is set. Also, we were able to set her daughter, Maia. We are looking to set the rest of her family. That would be 6 people. :-) Also, we recieved a referral from a really awesome member, Sis. Roberts. She introduced us to this British young adult named Adam. He is really cool, and the Plan of Salvation, when we taught it, was like the patch to cover the hole that he never knew he had in his life. So, that is really super awesome. :-)
Set wise, we just received a letter from President, and it says that we are above 200 sets for the mission in Feb. And it's not even Feb yet. So this will be super awesome. We have 4 sets in NGA. :-) That (sorta) means that we are baptizing weekly. :-) :-) The mission goals asks us to baptize at least 2 every month. January was a tough month, because no one is home! Lol... supposedly the holidays are a time when you can catch families at home the most. Nope. Missionary works starts to go on holiday as well. :-)
There is something in Preach my gospel that I find really cool. :-) It is talking about the Book of Mormon:
Many people will not believe everything you teach. President Ezra Taft Benson taught how the Book of Mormon can be the central resource in responding to such situations:
“We are to use the Book of Mormon in handling objections to the Church. . . . “. . . All objections, whether they be on abortion, plural marriage, seventh-day worship, etc., basically hinge on whether Joseph Smith and his successors were and are prophets of God receiving divine revelation. . . The only problem the objector has to resolve for himself is whether the Book of Mormon is true. For if the Book of Mormon is true, then Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was his prophet, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and it is being led today by a prophet receiving revelation. “Our main task is to declare the gospel and do it effectively. We are not obligated to answer every objection. Every man eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his stand” (A Witness and a Warning, 4–5).
For example, sincere investigators might object to what you have taught about the Word of Wisdom. Help them see that their real question is whether Joseph Smith was speaking as God’s prophet when this commandment was renewed in this dispensation. You might say: “Having the faith to accept this teaching will require the assurance that this commandment came to us through revelation from God to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The way to know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God is o read and pray about the Book of Mormon.” Investigators must resolve for themselves their concerns and objections. You can help as you focus them on what will strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ—reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. When they strengthen their testimony of the Restoration, they will have the strength to overcome their objections and concerns. As you answer concerns, remember that our understanding comes from modern prophets—Joseph Smith and his successors—who receive direct revelation from God. Therefore, the first question for an investigator to answer is whether Joseph Smith was a prophet, and he or she can answer this question by reading and praying about the Book of Mormon.
So, no matter what, it all comes back to the Book of Mormon. No matter the question or concern. If they believe the Book of Mormon, then they have to believe everything else. :-) Pwnd. :-)
Well! We came across something quite interesting this week. A member in the ward asked us to visit this girl named Elizabeth, who was baptized, but does not come to church ever. We went and saw her. She is a really great girl. She was baptized in February of last year, came to church for about 3 or 4 weeks after her baptism, and then stopped coming all together. We talked with her about he baptism, because quite often, rekindling that fire that someone has is sometimes all that they need to come back. Well, we discovered to our shock and horror, that the missionaries that baptized her convinced her to come to church, to keep commitments, to be baptized, to do everything, etc., by bribing her with chocolate. Let me take a moment to discuss that. If you ever want to retain a convert, then convincing them using chocolate is useless. So, if you are about to go on a mission, or are on a mission, or even if you are back. DO NOT ever try to convince someone of the truth. The only way to convert someone is through the Spirit. The person may like the chocolate, but they aren't gaining anything else from you but the chocolate. So, let my kindly tell you not to be an idiot and bribe someone to be baptized. :-) Thank you for your time. :-)
Here is the most recent awesomeness from my Journal: "Ue answers his own questions. He is very intelligent, and really thinks everything through.... Something very interesting happened. Right after we left on Saturday, he was reading from the BoM, and the [Plan of Salvation] pamphlet, and he was pondering on baptism, when all of the sudden, his pages of his BoM were blown by the wind until they rested on pgs 526-527. He looked down and immediately, his eyes looked at verse 24 of Moroni chapter 8. He read through 24-26. I reads:
24 Behold, my son, this thing ought not to be; for arepentance is unto them that are under condemnation and under the curse of a broken law.
25 And the first fruits of arepentance is bbaptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth cremission of sins;
26 And the remission of sins bringeth ameekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the bHoly Ghost, which cComforter dfilleth with hope and perfect elove, which love endureth by fdiligence unto gprayer, until the end shall come, when all the hsaints shall dwell with God.
"How cool is it that the Lord would make the wind blast in such a way to make his eyes rest upon that particular passage? We got talking, and when it came time to talk about answers to prayers, we talked about fruit of the Spirit, as per Galations 5:22-23...He described us coming as a kind of light, penetrating the fog, the cloudiness of his mind."
Well, that's all that I have to share for today. I think... :-)
Jokes!
We taught a great group lesson at the Gubb's house. Which is the tire house, with the plan of Salvation in it. :-) It was great. :-)
Pictures
1.The group that we taught. It was on the Plan of Salvation, and Bro Gubb, the guy with White hair, taught a bit of it using the floor of his house. :-)
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