Another busy week here in the
mission field!! Lots of memories and tests and trials and blessings. But,
that's just how missionary work is.
Last Monday, we went into D.C. It
was a blast! The Cherry Blossoms were out and so were lots of people! haha. Oh,
and mom, I took some pictures :) A few of the elders we went with wanted to go shopping, so Elder P and I
broke off from the group to go see the Jefferson Memorial. That one has always
been one of my favorites. It was warm and beautiful, and I was grateful to be
wearing a short-sleeved shirt! One of my favorite things about being in D.C.
is... well, just being in D.C. I just absolutely LOVE it there!
We also had the opportunity to peek
in the air and space museum. We were hoping to catch an IMAX film (which is
approved, provided it's about nature or history), but didn't have enough time.
Oh! and we met Miss Virginia, too! haha I guess they were taking the National
Beauty Pageant contestants on a tour...
People just make me laugh, can I say
that? A group of us were sitting down for a moment resting our feet, when this
guy walked up to us. "So, are you the Mormons?" We replied in the
affirmative. "So," he said, "Why aren't you on some street
corner spitting or something?" Seeing very clearly what was coming and
what his intentions were, we casually responded. "Oh, we're just tourists
today." "Oh, well, that's too bad. Because this lady over here
[pointing at his wife] wants to be baptized!" That's an old strategy that
people use to make us look like idiots supposing that we would just
“jump” to baptize someone. We just calmly responded. "Well, we're
willing to help." Well, that didn't work for him... New strategy.
"Where are you all from?" So, we went through the list. Arkansas,
California, Arizona, Mexico, no dice. Utah; ah, there's one he can dwell on.
"Oh! I hope you're not from West Jordan!" Nope... Some obscure place
in Utah... So, he makes us continue down the list... Another Mexico, Idaho. Oh!
another one! "Good place with a lot of mormons." He says before
dwelling on that for a bit. Finally, he gives us the big one. "Have any of
you ever read [insert anti book] before? You should give it a shot, let it test
your faith a bit." I've read enough of that book to know how incorrect it
is, but before I could say anything, Elder N jumps in. "Have you ever read
the Book of Mormon? You should let it build yours." He started making some
excuse or other before his wife ran over and dragged him away with a red face.
I just don't get it. People make such a great effort to try to humiliate us
young boys ( and ladies) . All we have to do is stay calm and testify of what
we know to be true . I guess I just
don't understand why some people have such great animosity for something they know so little about. If people would just
give the Book of Mormon a chance, they would see the faith it builds and the
Christ is testifies of. It has such power within its pages, and can and has
changed millions of lives for the better, why is there such intense opposition
to it? I just don't get it.
This week, instead of district
meetings, we had a zone training, so we had the whole zone together for some
training. That was good.
Oh, mom asked what being a District
Leader is like in the mission. Pretty much, the way President Riggs uses us is
as the most direct link to the individual missionaries. The Assistants have too
many other things to do and the Zone Leaders are more administrative, so we are
the ones that really get to work with the Elders and Sisters. Our week starts
Monday, which is just P-Day, but I usually use it to prepare for: Tuesday when
we have district meetings. In district meetings, we get together and - after a
song and prayer - spend some time collaborating and helping each other with
difficult investigator situations. My job there is just to facilitate the
conversation. After that, I present a principle or aspect of missionary work
that I teach about, then we break up into practice teaching. So, at that point,
I design some sort of way that we can practice using the principle I discussed.
After that, we depart. Tuesdays are often good days to go on exchanges, too.
For those, we switch companions, I typically go to their area, and we work
together for the evening, spend the night, study together, then I'll provide
training and advice for the area, as well as learning many new things myself. I
get to go on at least one exchange per elder in my district per transfer (I don't
go on exchanges with the sisters for obvious reasons). Then, Wednesday through
Friday morning, I'm mostly a resource for people. Friday morning during weekly
planning I collect everyone's weekly goals for the next week, then Sunday I
collect their key indicators for the past week and call those into the Zone
Leaders. Then repeat! haha It's awesome and a great place to learn, serve and
grow. If I could have it my way, I'd spend the rest of my mission training and
being a district leader.
Thursday, we had a weird experience.
We were tracting, and this one door had this huge commotion coming from the
other side... I heard running, crashing, someone yelling in another language,
then more crashing and a child screaming. They were LOUD crashes, too! It sounded
like this kid was getting wailed on and chased through the apartment in the process.
We slowly walked past the door, but then we heard something get thrown and
another blood-curdling scream. That was it, I couldn't take it anymore. I
turned around, and knocked on the door. I typically don't knock as many times
as I did on that door, but the commotion settled more and more with each knock
until eventually the door opened. A young boy had gotten it. I asked if his
parents were home and he disappeared around the corner, then returned followed
by a woman holding an 8-inch long kitchen knife. No, I'm not joking this time.
I acted natural and began sharing our message. She said she spoke Urdu, so
didn't understand me... I just bore my testimony to her in english and hoped
the Spirit would do the rest. Her face softened, and she accepted a pamphlet
she will likely never be able to read, but most importantly! She softened. Even
if we don't understand the words being said to us, the gospel softens people
because of the Spirit. It was a very neat experience.
Later that same night, a guy opened
the door and said with a heavy Hispanic accent that he didn't speak English.
So, I began speaking to him in Spanish and introducing ourselves when he
interrupts: "Look, I know who you are.... I just don't want to be
rude." haha apparently he DID know English!!! haha
My little Spanish contact phrases
are getting better. The mission office is constantly making jokes about how
many referrals we give to other missionaries. Apparently, I'm really good at
finding people for OTHER people to teach. haha. Which is a bummer because
teaching is my favorite part of missioanry work.
Oh! Another fun thing. In Preisthood
session of conference, guess what I saw! Elder Lafeen was in the choir during
the Priesthood session! If you're re-watching conference on lds.org, watch
"nearer my God to thee" around 1:40 and he's there!
This week, I was reading in the
ensign when I found one of my new favorite quotes. It was an article about
peace, and how we may not be able to find it in our surroundings, but we can
always find it in our hearts. Kind of what Elder Cook spoke about during
conference. Anyways, the author says at one point. "We all know that
Christ can calm our storms, but sometimes he calms our souls instead." I
just loved that. Christ has the power to calm our storms, but how would we grow
if we never had to weather a storm? We're here on earth to grow, to become
something, and sometimes, that means we have to get through a storm without Him
calming it for us. However, He is ALWAYS willing and ready to calm our hearts
and our souls if we will but turn to Him. The same was said in effect in the
movie "The Other Side of Heaven.": "Sometimes the Lord calms the
storm, sometimes He calms the sailor. And sometimes, He just lets us swim.
That we may continue swimming with
His love in our hearts is my prayer.
Until next week! (after transfer
week)
-Elder Hodgson
