I can't take it anymore. I am so sick of being away from my family. I don't feel like I have a strong enough testimony to convert anyone down here, and that's obvious in my astounding number of baptisms (SARCASM). I feel like I'm wasting my time and money, just to walk around uselessly with no one to talk to. I already talked to President Craven, I'm flying out this weekend to be home for conference. Normally he calls home before I leave, but I told him not to so I could tell you all today.
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April Fools. Too soon? I mean is a day early that uncalled for? It was my only chance! Haha but no I'm fine. Although it's true it's a little disheartening not having at least one baptism by now, because next week marks the 4 month mark. However, there are things going on, slowly progressing to the point of baptism, for now anyway. I'm having fun though, Elder Smart is a great companion and actual friend.
I have done some counting... and I should be leaving December 7th, 2015. We have a "license to preach" or something like that in our white handbooks, and that's the expiration date, as well as that the transfer meeting is that day. It's apt to change, but that's what I'm going with for now!
The work is pretty slow right now. I think I mentioned last week that we did a little "spring cleaning" through our area book, sorting through the ones that have some actual potential and who we have just for the sake of teaching a lesson that day. We have to go back to doing a lot of knocking on doors, but at the same time the few that we are seeing a lot we have appointments for all throughout the week.
About Tedarreus... He has been our most progressing investigator since the day we found him back in January. Lately however, he's gotten on this pattern of not contacting us or not answering when we contact him, for about a week and a half at a time. Then, we'll have an amazing lesson with him like we always do and there's suddenly hope for him. Everyone has been telling us we need to think about dropping him, district leaders, zone leaders, even President Craven's wife. I was about to, then Elder Smart told me about an investigator he had in his first area named Cedric. He was in the exact same position Tedarreus was in, he even looks like him. E.Smart was saying that Cedric would have the same teaching pattern, and almost never come to church. But he showed so much potential. E.Smart never got to see it, but Cedric was baptized. That helped me a lot, and we're going to keep being patient. In fact, that's the Christ-like attribute we studied as a mission this last week. Patience.
Patience is "the capacity to endure" according to Preach My Gospel. And that's true. The gospel of Jesus Christ includes Faith, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and ENDURING TO THE END. We really can't have any hope unless we have patience, and we can't have patience without the faith that we can endure. Romans 5: 1-5 does a pretty good job at explaining how we can gain patience as related to the other Christ like attributes. Patience is the means by which we can endure to the end!
So one last thing before I go. We got to help with Primary yesterday! It was so much fun! We each (the four missionaries) got assigned a character, got to dress up if we wanted, and had to tell our story and testify of the resurrected Christ. The Sisters were Mary Magdelene and a Nephite Woman. Sadly they didn't dress up. But we did! Elder Smart was Joseph Smith. He had a suit on, I let him borrow my sweater vest, he popped his collar and tied one of his ties to look like those ascot things they wore back then. He even has a copy of the BofM how they were originally printed! It was perfect! I was Thomas, the apostle. I just had a bed sheet wrapped around me like a toga with a tie around my waist to hold it together. Oh yeah and a shaving cream beard. Bam. I have pictures but I don't have my camera. If I don't get them out today I will next week.
It was a lot of fun, and the common message is still the same for us today. Christ resurrected and now lives. He loves us and wants to help us, as long as we ask for it in prayer (John 15:15). I love you all and will talk to you next week! Also... General Conference is next week! Find someone who isn't a member and invite them! It's going to be great.
--Elder Gardner
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