That night during tracting I realized it was a street I'd done before and knew nobody was interested, so I contemplated hopping over to the other side but decided to exercise some faith and knock it anyway. Near the end we got farther than I had before and at the last house of a corner, Sister Humphreys knocked, and after hearing our introduction, the woman who answered laughed and said "We were just about to have a fellowship about your church." We were thoroughly confused as we were ushered in and invited to take a seat on the couch. As it was, to our right was a couple from our church of a ward nearby, and to our left a Seventh Day Adventist couple; the husband, Poli, having been through several churches and many family members that are Mormons. What they meant by "fellowship" was that they were sharing each others' beliefs and having a sort of discussion which we had arrived just in time to participate in and all agreed it was by divine means we happened to arrive.
I had no idea what the Mormon couple expected of us missionaries whether they wanted us to take charge or simply share comments, but I didn't have to worry about saying anything right away as what was supposed to be a discussion turned into listening to Poli talk about our differences and what we do and don't believe in for 20 minutes straight. We listened to him talk about many things including how we don't believe in the same Christ and how - although he never explicitly said but inferred in every way possible - the Book of Mormon was written by Joseph Smith. Although the Spirit was very present in the beginning, it didn't last long as he kept talking. When he finally gave us a chance, we were able to bear testimony of what we DO believe in, which contradicted this little red book about religions he used to tell us what we knew and didn't know, and even though he said it was an open discussion and he had a strong faith in Christ, he wasn't truly open to what we had to say.
His favorite statement was "I've read the Book of Mormon, I've done my research." and the comment that finally ended the discussion was about the fourth time we testified that the Book of Mormon was not written by Joseph Smith, but by prophets just like in the Bible, before it finally clicked for him that he was trying to argue and he back-pedaled, saying he could probably read the Book of Mormon again. We had told him several times and we could have kept doing it, but it was only when it was stated like a fact he wasn't willing to accept, and less like a statement to counter his attack that he realized how the discussion had turned, and he backed down. I have never sought the Spirit's guidance as hard as I did during this discussion, and I know it was only through the Spirit we were able to know what to say in order to leave him a little more open to continually seeking the truth. It was the highlight of my week to be able to feel the Spirit so strongly as we listened and tried to discern what we could testify in order to defend the faith, and to leave still on good terms. They invited us to come back next week, but since they weren't Cambodian, we gave it to the elders in the area to go.
It's just so cool how God works; a few days later the Sister of the couple called and thanked us for showing up. She shared how she and her husband had prayed to know what to say to the other couple and when they sat down after dinner to begin their discussion, it started taking a turn. It was at that point she said a silent prayer that God would support them and help them know what to say when there was a knock at the door. I didn't particularly feel the Spirit prompting me to keep knocking that street - I just wanted to exercise faith and do the right thing. God hears our prayers and answers them!! Sometimes through divine means, and sometimes through other people.
Haha, sorry this is going to be a very long email, but so much fun stuff happened this week! Just wait...
Park Day was insane as it just so happened to be the rainiest day of the week, and we chose to use the elders' bikes which we couldn't touch the ground on when on the seat the frames were so tall. We almost fell a few times and Sister Humphreys ripped her skirt when she did fall, otherwise we managed to stay upright most of the time. One thing about Park Days and tracting, is those are the times God pays special attention to our prayers. It took us ages to get to town, so by the time dinner rolled around we were nowhere near the church to get hot water for my cup of noodles in time to go tracting. We decided to visit 7/11 to see what we could get for dinner, which, did you know has boiling hot water available!? Oh, that was another miracle for the day as Sis. Humphreys and I sat on the wet curb eating warm dinner in a few minutes of rain-less weather.
The rain went tracting with us, and by the time we rode our bikes towards a members' house, each car parted a mini red sea every time it passed, which, if the puddles were tall enough to splash us, we were too soaked to notice a difference. We washed up at a recent converts' house who put some of our wet clothes in the dryer for awhile while we rested until we had to leave in time for bishop's meeting. We didn't have any flashlight to see the street, so we rode mostly in the dark where God blessed us again with no traffic coming behind us so we made it safely to the building; just as wet as before our clothes were dried. We found the other poor sisters barefooted and huddled around the kitchen stove, with stories of their adventurous day and how Sis. Loy almost got hit by an oblivious car. Needless to say we got a ride home that night, but I gained a respect for the elders on bike, and slept very well that night!
Almost there....
For Halloween the whole zone got together for 5 hours at the church building for a meeting (you know you know you've been a missionary awhile when you get the Conference issue of the Ensign and three letters and feel like it's Christmas!), dinner, and a movie. They set it up on the projector in the gym, and although we sisters had a couch all to ourselves, it honestly felt kind of weird to be watching a movie in a semi-dark room with other guys. I guess it just shows how long I've been out. That, and the fact I thoroughly enjoyed watching The Best Two Years! Mostly because I can watch it from my missionary perspective and see just how accurate or inaccurate it really is, and it's just hilarious.
So that's just a part of my adventure for the week!
Sister Dunster
2. Cambodian Sarongs for Halloween. (And Elder Kearns)
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