Take A Hike!

Every once in a while while knocking doors, we meet a slightly peeved individual who, upon seeing us, immediate shouts "Take a hike!" and dramatically gestures at us, as if without the excessive histrionics their unkindness would be insufficient to make us leave. I have often been tempted to ask them if they know of any good hiking spots nearby where we could go, but I always bite my tongue. I have learned that generally angry people do not have sense of humor, and any response to them other than fear (including good-naturedness and kindness) only serve to infuriate and enrage them further. If you don't take them as seriously as they want you to, they take it as a personal offense against them, their family, their dog, and their favorite footwear. I know this not just because I have met angry people before, but mostly because I have, it times in my life, been an angry person. I would be a liar if I side I have never been like the angry people on the other side of the door. Really, I should have more compassion on these people. I don't know why they are angry. They could have just slammed their finger in the door. Or maybe they had a child who died and their preacher told them that their 2 year old daughter was burning in hell because she was never baptized, and now they just intensely dislike religious people. You never know. It is not a good idea to poke the giant, stoke the flames of rage, or incite someone to a state of infuriated madness. It is always better to handle things with charity and compassion, and to do your best to leave the campsite better than you found it.

Anyway, thanks for reading my meaningless blathers. 

I couldn't think of anything to write about this week other than the fact that we took a hike last P-day, and it led my mind off on a wild tangent.

I suppose we did have a wonderful meeting this week where we learned about disciplining our minds and giving 100% of our attention, focus, desires to the Lord. It is very difficult, but we need to be all in. We need to be standing up on the inside, not just the outside. I really learned a lot and have been striving to incorporate what I learned in my daily walk. It is way hard, but I have made some improvement.

Finding new investigators this week has been a struggle. Nobody has seemed interested in talking to us. We have been praying and fasting and working our calves off to find someone to teach. Our success right now may be hard to measure, but I am confident that God has something wonderful in store for us and for this area. I do not doubt that God has a plan for the salvation of each of his children, even the easily angered ones. All people are children of God, and all people deserve an opportunity for salvation. No matter how far gone. 

I love this work, and I truly do know that it is God's work, and that it is for us, His children. I know that God loves each one of us, otherwise he would not have sent His Only Begotten Son for us. In fact, if he didn't love us, He wouldn't have even sent us here in the first place.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Here is a picture of the hike: (Only 3 companionships came to the hike from the whole zone, which was kind of weird)

​Left To Right: Elder Quinton, Elder Porter, Elder Benge, Elder Stapley, Sister Parker, Sister Christiansen

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Elder Benge