Alrighty. I've now been in Passaic for about 6 weeks, going on 7. This area is awesome. I've had a couple of realizations lately that I've wanted to share:
1. Everyone has been and is being prepared by God. Just remember that some are more prepared than others.
2. More often God wants us to say "I will do this" rather than "What should I do?" He'll always back us up if the decision is righteous. God is proud of us and wants us to ACT on what we feel is best.
3. Being a leader doesn't mean ACTING like you have authority. That's abusing and making a mockery of the priesthood, the very power that Christ used to create our bodies and the earth. Being a leader means always using your authority in way that is consistent with the will of Heavenly Father.
I've been thinking a lot about talents lately. Our Father in Heaven has given us all gifts and abilities. He gave them to us before this life and he expects that we use them. USE THEM. Do all you can to make them grow. You have them to 1. Bring joy into your life and 2. Bring joy into the life of others. God likes it when we're together, using our rich talents to make others happy.
This week was pretty gnarly. We went to another baptism yesterday (ZONE 3!!!!! HEYYOOOO!!) in Paterson. Those Paterson elders are destroying it over there. We're so proud to have them in our zone. Elder Brincklow and recently arrived Elder Bennett have been working really hard over there and are seeing miracle after miracle. I love being their boss, and proudly reporting to President about all the baptisms we're having in our zone. Get THIS:
-Our July monthly goal was 3 baptisms as a zone. We got 7.
-Our quarterly goal was 8 baptisms as a zone (from July to September). We already have 7.
-We are going to have to readjust our goal. Makes us feel like a couple of kings. (I'm smiling as I'm writing this).
We had a lesson with our investigator Nesto (40-year-old Dominican man) yesterday. We invited him to be baptized on the 18th of August. He accepted. He originally had doubts of being baptized twice. We explained the Priesthood, the way Christ was baptized. After we asked him WHY he wanted to be baptized again (it's this little "answer-searching" game we do as missionaries where we ask a question looking for a specific answer. It's not a good idea cause if they get it wrong, it makes you look like a fool). He said because he wanted to be baptized how Jesus was baptized. He's humble and kind and loves his family. He's going to be baptized and it's going to be magnificent.
We also contacted a Mexican guy. He was wearing jeans, a white t-shirt, and was carrying soccer shorts and cleats in his left hand. He was walking quickly alongside us so we asked him where he was going. To play soccer with friends, he replied. He then asked us. We said, we're going to teach people about Jesus Christ. He smiled and said he had wondered what we were. He had seen us walking around for some weeks now. As we talked and walked we came to a place where we had to separate as he was going a different way than us. He shrugged it off and kept walking with us. We asked him if we could teach him about Christ. He said yes. He also said, I'm really lost man. I need you guys.
It felt amazing to be there at the right time. God is watching out for his children.
EVERYONE IS PREPARED. JUST SOME ARE MORE PREPARED THAN OTHERS.
EC
ps - ALL MY FRIENDS ARE MISSIONARIES. (corruption of Trevor Christensen's photo project "ALL MY FRIENDS ARE MONSTERS")
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