Penticton BC, Canada at night.
Hello there friends and family! I’ll warn you right now, this is a long email. But I implore you to at least read the last paragraph. It is my testimony and what I really truly think of my mission thus far.
Well it’s been one full week here in Penticton! There have definitely been some tough days, some tough people and some really stressful situations; but I have loved it here. Like I said in my last e-mail, Penticton is a lot like my hometown of Pleasant Grove, Utah. They have generally the same stores as well. There’s a Taco Bell here, a McDonalds, a Wal-Mart AND a “Real Canadian Superstore!” Haha, that’s about as Canadian as it gets here!
So this week was pretty sweet. We found a couple new investigators, committed one to baptism and had one come to sacrament meeting! We met an investigator and she is the one that came to sacrament. She left early, however, because she has anxiety and she told us she “felt like the walls were closing in” on her. She sat in the very middle with the family that we brought her, so we’re thinking that if we can get her to sit on the back row that would help her a lot. She’s a really nice lady and really committed to being baptized on the 29th. We’re meeting with her again this week so hopefully we can help her out!
There’s also a recent convert, that we’re working with and he has a really cool story. He is registered as a First nations person, he is schizophrenic and he’s a citizen of both Canada AND Germany haha. He’s a really awesome guy and he loves the church! He gave up smoking weed to join the church and he met these missionaries while they were street contacting which is really rare around here! We’re going to meet with him this week and I know that will be fun!
Now for a really funny story:
We have two other investigators. One is a Jehovah’s Witness (a J-W or J-Dub, if you will) and we met with him once this week. When we got there, he gave us a huge J-Dub lesson on how we were wrong and he was right. He also told us how the J-Dub bible is the most correct bible on Earth because it was “the correct answer to a question on Jeopardy”! Haha, classic. Anyways, my companion, Elder Sly, is a wiz with scriptures so he was able to answer all of his questions and teach him a little of what we believed as well. He invited us back but we can’t go on Thursday’s because he likes to keep that open for his personal ministry –haha.
Now for the other investigator, he is a truth seeker! He really wants to know the truth and he loves to pray. However, he has been meeting with the J-Dubs and learning their ways. This became apparent when he started hitting us with the EXACT same scriptures that our other investigator used! He was even following a piece of paper with the scriptures written on it! They had literally prepared him to contend with us. Anyways since he isn’t a full blown J-Dub, he was more receptive to what we were actually saying. We showed him our views and answered his questions and he wants us back! We’re going to meet with him 3 times a week and the J-Dubs are meeting with him 2 times a week.
Now for the funny part: We’re 99% sure that our first investigator is the one meeting and teaching him! Haha!, classic!
Well that’s about it for now and that was a really long story, but I hope you enjoyed it! My first goal and what I’ve been succeeding at is preparing to teach other Jehovah Witness’. There are a lot in this area, so I need to be able to back up what I’m saying with a LOT of bible scriptures. It’s coming good and hopefully we’ll have one baptized before the end of the month! I’ve been growing spiritually and mentally since I’ve been out (not physically yet thank goodness!) and I have really loved it!
I know the Lord has been leading me and guiding me. I know that I literally couldn’t do anything without having the Holy Ghost with me. The people around here aren’t the most humble, but I keep telling myself that my real job is to “gather the elect” and “invite others to come unto Christ” not anything else. I can’t force anyone and I can’t convince anyone of the knowledge that this church is true. It is the true church of Jesus Christ on this Earth once more. Only the Holy Spirit can bring people to that knowledge. I am trying my hardest to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands. I’m trying so hard to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost in every way. And I feel that I’m getting better at it. I challenge all of you to try just a little harder this week to do what the Lord would do or what he would have you do. Follow your personal promptings from the Spirit and you will be blessed. I love you all! Have a marvelous week and may God bless all of you!
Elder Rushton the Third
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