This last week was my companions last few days in the mission field. Elder Hartung was a very good companion that taught me my important principles of learning. I had overlooked a few aspects of learning and he opened my eyes to those. It was a great transfer with him!
I did get a new companion, one who was with me in the MTC from the beginning ha! His name is Elder Taylor and at one time he was the tallest missionary in the mission! As a 6' 5" giant he hovers over me like a tall skyscraper! He served here in Bangkhea before so it is good that he is back so we can get more work done.
We called a less active lady in the ward and asked if we could go see her this last week. She works at home making pants with her uncle who is also a less active member. As we sat down to talk they have been members for a while now. They talked about some challenges that they are facing toward not going to church which they brought up on their own. We asked what they had done to keep the Sabbath Day Holy and they couldnt really answer the question. We told them that they could not work on Sunday for starters but they didnt really think that was a good idea. They talked about their health and their disabilities restrict them from coming. We told them that we are more than happy to come pick them up. If you they dont want us we have a member who drives a taxi who is willing to come pick them up but they reject both offers. The uncle said something along the lines of him being lazy. I looked at him and said, " The apostles have said that being lazy is a sin and you need to repent!" Yeah it is true, M. Russell Nelson said that being lazy is a sin from the latest conference address. We really encouraged the brother and sister to keep the Sabbath Day Holy by reading the scriptures, praying and not working. We gave them many offers of help from us and members but they said no. That really makes me sad to see and hear this.
We taught a new investigator on Saturday. He was very open with what we talked about because he wanted to know. We talked about God and prayer and he was receptive to that. We talked about what we teach at the church and how these things can help him in his life. He had mentioned something about alcohol so we helped him learn about the Word of Wisdom. He was didnt reject what we taught. In his closing prayer, which was very sincere, he prayed something along the lines of," Heavenly Father can you help me quit alcohol? Can I do it?" He said afterwards that he felt "enlightened". He came to churchon Sunday and was able to share his experience with the priesthood brethren. He said after he went home from our lesson he looked in the refrigerator and didnt have a desire to drink, instead he drank a pepsi. I thought that is the beginning of your testimony right there.
Sister You-Gee also had some experiences that have helped her have a stronger testimony of Heavenly Father. She said I had a dream about you and Elder Taylor. In the first dream she told us that we asked her if she had prayed about baptism yet. She said that she didnt because she had a headache. We told her that she wouldnt now if she needed to be baptized if she didnt pray. Before the dream was over we told her DONT FORGET TO PRAY! She woke up after that and prayed. Then she had another dream about she was reading in a book something that mentioned about baptism. She told me what it said and then said, "Elder it means baptism." When she came to church the first thing she opened up to in Sunday school was baptism, she was shocked!! She knows that Heavenly Father is trying to talk to her and answers her prayers. As we taught that lesson I just about shed a tear! She is getting so close to baptism! We told her dont forget to pray about baptism why, because this is something she is really considering!
Another one of our investigators sister Nee is also considering baptism. She asked us,"When can I get baptized?" We any time but that is between you and Heavenly Father so pray first and we will meet again on Tuesday. She is awesome! We have some great investigators right now!
Tong, You-Gee, Nee, Tin, Om, Eggy, Din, Bon, Poon, Cheian and Gab. We had about 5 investigators at church this last week which is good but we know we can do better. Elder Taylor and I are searching for more investigators. We need a bigger teaching pool. Will you please pray for our investigators that they will receive answers to their prayers please?
Elder Taylor and I were teaching a member that Elder Taylor baptized when he was here about 8 months ago. We asked if we could meet him Sunday because we didnt see him at church. When he got there I kindly asked him why he didnt go to church. He said,"I didnt wake up unitl noon." "Well what time did you go to bed?" "I went to bed around 4 a.m." 'Why did you do that?' 'I was playing a game, dot A, have you ever played it?' 'No I have not! I dont waste time like that anymore!' The member was shocked to hear that. I hope you followed that conversation. Anyways he wasnt mad at me but I told him that was my opinion. We sat down to talk to him and we addressed that fact games are not the best. I asked him how often he plays on the computers. He told us just about every. I asked him how many hours and he said 3-6 hours everyday. So I get a marker and did some math on the white board so that he could see what I was getting at. We did the math to show how much time he would waste in a year if he played 4 hours of games on the computer, games with no value. It turned out that he would has about 60 days of his life just playing games, 60 days he cant get back.
So we asked him what he could do to make more use of his time. He said," I could read books." That is good. "What kind of books do you like brother?", we asked. He said, "Comics." We opened up to D&C 88:118 "...seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom..." He read that and said," So comics are not the best books?" We told him they were not. We really encourage him to read books that are best for him that will help him learn and grow. I just want you to see the picture we painted here. Computer games, video games, phones, ipad can waste your time. Time that you could be doing better things to help yourself and others around you. Think about how much time you waste with these things. I know that I have changed the way that I use my time. You can change too! Fill it with meaningful activities!
Love
Elder Hinckley
Sorry no pictures this week.
