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I went on an exchange with Elder Eldredge in Johnstown so I got to lead out the area. It was an odd day, but I learned a lot from Elder Eldredge. We did some Scripture Mastery in the morning and I got to use some of the scriptures we discussed in some of the chats we had with people we stopped by. We got to stop by our recents converts Dereck and Grayson. We were originally going to talk about the gospel with them, but we ended up talking about the word of wisdom. We also chastised them on social media and specifically TikTok. Tami had been struggling with a coffee addiction and so it was hard for her. We had a suprise member meal with the altoona sisters with a member who goes to the Altoona Chapel, but lives in the Johnstown area so we got to go to that. They had to go home so they couldn't stay overnight. When we went to the Sheetz to re-exchange, Elder Eldredge stopped this couple and invited them to church. The lady was ex-mormon and turned anti. She talked to him for around an hour (it wasn't during proselyting hours). She had read the pearl of great price, doctrine and covenants, and the book of mormon front to back. She tried to bash him on the book of Abraham and how it's not directly similar to the scrolls that Joseph smith translated off of. Elder Eldredge is actually scary knowledgeable on our church and absolutely destroyed her, it was so funny. He started pulling out scripture after scripture to prove our church. Elder Kress pulled him out of it eventually, but it was a fun experience.
We had Thanksgiving with the Kenningtons and it was incredible. The Turley's also joined us so we had a crowded party of people. I definitely gained some weight from that dinner. We ended up staying for around 5 hours at their house just chatting, playing board games, and eating. I'm so grateful for them and their willingness to invite us over for Thanksgiving. I'm also so very thankful for my family, my friends, my church leaders, those who inspired me to go on this mission. It has changed my life so much and I'm so grateful I never made the choice to not go. I'm grateful to serve the lord in his might vineyard and to harvest. I'm grateful for the other missionaries who I look up to and learn from every single day. I'm grateful for the people of Johnstown who are in my heart all the time.
Uni Blitzed us and since Elder Verdine is going to be the AP (he was originally one of the a uni ZLs), it was the uni elders in a trio so it was so fun. We had 5 elders in johnstown. I was with Elder Ridgwell and Elder Bennett. Elder Ridgwell came out with Elder Kress so it was so awesome to learn from him and he is so outgoing it's crazy. We actually had so much success. We would go to a dot and then splash knock and get a find. We ended up getting 6 finds that day. We were getting handed people left and right. They was an apartment complex that we knocked and all 3 apartments were finds. The first guy Eric was wanting to come to church, the second Markice has a family wanting to all grow their faith, the third was both Dondre and Daniel. Dondre or Dre was wanting to come to church and I explained what the book of mormon was to him and he was interested in learning more about it. I asked Dre if he had any friends and he said that would be interested and he pulls his friend Daniel from around the corner. Daniel is this awesome guy who drums for his church and mentioned that his church feels like it answers his questions and adapts to the times. I then explained how we have a prophet and apostles at the head of our church for that exact reason. The Bible simply cannot answer every question we will have. God wants to give us more direction guidance and ways to grow in our faith. It was an amazing day.
Due to the Blitz which we had on Friday, we had 10 lessons on Saturday and it was a crazy day. We have been doing a team up challenge this week and trying to beat out the other districts in the total number of team ups combined. Out of our 10 lessons which we had, only three of the lessons actually panned out. We had a crazy experience where we were calling one of our friends who had originally canceled the lesson but we still chatted to him on the phone for a little bit. One of our members lived in the same building as our friend and so we got out of the car while we were calling this dude and ran into the building. The elevators were both at floor 15 and so we thought the stairs would be way faster since the member was on floor 4. We got in the stairwell and eventually realized that we were locked inside the stairwell. We had to call the member for him to let us out and also get the team up for the guy that we were still calling during all of that. Crazy experience. That whole day was so hectic.
Our new friend Latasha came to church and she loved it. She was a new friend who we got that week and she has a strong desire to change and learn more and come to church. Jay also came to church again after pretty much ghosting us on the lesson the day before. We had a lesson with Jay earlier in the week going more into depth with the word of wisdom and it seems like he doesn't have a strong desire to quit or wants to put in the effort. I guess we'll see.
I was recommended to read Jesus The Christ by Talmage from my District Leader and my mom so I can better understand Jesus Christ and what he did, what he taught, why he did it, and what we get because of what he did in more detail. Reading this book has helped me understand my savior so much more, it has helped me understand the Atonement and the healing that can come from it. I never have read the bible in my life or never looked into the history of religion and so this book has helped me a lot in my teaching. The more knowledge and wisdom I gain, the more I can teach simply. A couple elders have helped me in making my prayers more meaningful. Saying my prayers vocally and discussing with the lord in detail how my day went, how my struggles have been, and what small things I can do better next time. Actually talking to him like he's our father and not this being that has too much on his hand to worry or talk to 1 person out of all his children. Our parents wouldn't want us to say some Memorized speech everytime we talk with them, that doesn't build relationship, they won't be able to understand us, they wont be able to help us. In chapter 17 of Jesus The Christ by Talmage it says, "Food is indispensable to life. As we need it we should ask for it. True, the Father knows our need before we ask, but by asking we acknowledge Him as the Giver, and are made humble, grateful, contrite, and reliant by the request. Though the sun shines and the rain falls alike upon the just and the unjust, the righteous man is grateful for these blessings; the ungodly man receives the benefits as a matter of course with a soul incapable of gratitude." God does know what we need, but wants us to come to him first. As seen in Moroni 10:3-5, we need to actually have intent in our prayers. That means that we are willing to act on the answer we get. If we aren't wanting to act, then we won't get an answer. The Savior puts great emphasis on prayer in the Book of Mormon. He repeatedly and personally prayed with and for the Nephites. And after He did this, He asked them to follow His example: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him. “And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you.” Prrayers bring our desires and the desires of our Father into harmony, bringing us both the blessing we are seeking and also the blessing of greater unity with the Father.
It's Tranfer Week!! I thought last transfer flew by, this one was even faster. I'm assuming I'll stay here in Johnstown for a 3rd transfer and Elder Kress will leave me. I guess we'll see, so exciting. Happy Thanksgiving Once again.
With Love,
Elder Batman
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