Dear Family,
This week has been really tough for all three of us here in the Zliner. First of all, this week was "baptismal date week," but we didn't get any. None of our investigators are anywhere near ready to be receiving one, and the only one that may even be close to it is across the country on vacation with his girlfriend. Interesting. Anyway, he had an eight hour train ride, and he said that he'd read the entire Book of Mormon, so we're very excited for that. But other than that, there is not much that's going down here.
I guess there are a few little stories that I can tell you. One of the new investigators that we got this past week is named Anna G. (I truly can't remember her last name because it's like someone put the alphabet in the blender and then poured it into a cup). She's been an investigator before, and was dropped a few times. She's a Seventh-Day Adventist and for those of you, like me, who don't know who they are, they're a religious group who's entire church is built upon the fact that the sabbath is on Saturday. Not Sunday, but Saturday. They also can't get over the fact that we don't use wine for the sacrament and that we have prophets, even though their church was founded by a prophetess, which to me makes even less sense. So they're super super bible-oriented and will not believe anything else to be the word of God basically. They're of that category. So, they started a little after our church did in 1820 and they were of the same group that the Jehovah's Witnesses came from. Basically there was a group of people that "knew" when Jesus was going to come again, and when that day came and He didn't, the group split into two - 1, the Jehovah's Witnesses who say that Jesus DID come, but he came invisibly and that we're actually living during the millennium right now; and 2, the Seventh Day adventists who followed a prophetess who started their group and I don't know a whole lot more. Both groups talk about how we don't need revelation because we already have God's word and that everything that we need to know is already there. Well, I'd like to refer them to the passage in 2nd Nephi (I think - probably around chapter 15 or 17) where it says something along the lines of "A Bible, A Bible, we already have a Bible and have no need of more. Oh ye wicked people, do ye suppose that God only speaks to one nation when there are many upon the face of the earth and that they do keep their own records?" That is by no means the exact scripture, but that's the overall effect that it has. Anyway, so now that you have a little bit of a hold on what kind of lady this is, add on top of it that she's probably about 65 years old and has lived this religion for a long time.
Tak jo (ok...), we went to her church this last Saturday, and it was probably one of the strangest experiences of my life. We came into the church, not a bad building, very modern and very stereotypical new age church building, and the guy who was leading read us a scripture to start and then he said some stuff for about five minutes, read another scripture, and then we went to scripture study. Seriously, we just barely sat down, had no prayer, had no song, and then went to scripture study. Very strange indeed, but whatever. So in scripture study, we all sat around a table and they opened their bibles and their little notebooks of stuff. Basically kind of a study guide, which also had weird topics like "I am... Truth" "Truth is Fruit of the Spirit" and other things which were really weird to make your subjects. Anyway, we sat through that and it wasn't all that bad, except at the end they had a really leading question intended for us to try and get us to admit that our religion is weird and we do things wrong, but we all just acted like dumb Americans who don't understand what they're saying and kind of zoned out at the ceiling or the walls. Then we went back to the place that we had originally been, and we had a few songs and some praying (which were very weird). If you thought that the people in Provo or Salt Lake City are bad when they get up to pray for like five or ten minutes are bad, come to one of these peoples' churches. Each person who prayed, prayed for at least five minutes, but it was more like a drama script and people all around kept muttering to themselves "amen" and "ano" when they agreed with what the person said. Then they also had a praying time when you turn to the person next to you and pray to each other. That was probably the weirdest. I was lucky enough to be next to Starší Thompson and we just said a normal prayer to God during that time. Then the song at the end was like this jazzy hip hop thing that was way weird. Really caught all of us off guard, and Elder Thompson almost laughed during it. Glad that he didn't. That's all I'm going to talk about it, because I could probably talk a lot longer about it, but the other things are minimal. I can just tell you, they are very very stuck on having the Sabbath on Saturday, but don't you think that there are other gospel topics which are of much more importance?
Kind of like the Jehovah's Witnesses. A week or two ago we had a meeting with some JW's and they told us straight, "It doesn't matter who God is, or what He does, as long as we know His name." Really?! I think that actions are more important than names. What if I were to punch someone in the face, would they want to know why I just did it or what my name is? Perhaps they'd want my name so they can report it to the cops, but just knowing my name for name's sake. That's kinda dumb and kinda getting stuck on little details.
What else can I tell you? Oh! This past week was really hard because we're all running out of steam. All three of us, as I said at the beginning. before I got on my Seventh Day Adventist and Jehovah's Witnesses rant, are having a hard week. Elder Thompson's girlfriend basically told him that he either needs to come home to be with her or to not have her waiting for him anymore. Elder Mills is having his own problems, and I don't know what they are. And as for me(!) I'm homesick for the first time in my life. I don't think that I can remember a time when I've been homesick before. Kinda sucks. I don't recommend it. Don't do it. It's like drugs, except without the fun part. It just sucks. Anyway, I did a few things today that seemed to have helped. We had a kind of slow week, so that didn't help, but we're all excited for Zone Conference, and we know that that will boost our spirits.
Anyway, nearly out of time. Hope that you're all doing well and that you're ready for spring, because here it comes! I sure know that I am. I'm ready for people to actually stop and speak with me for longer than five seconds because it's not cold outside anymore. It'll be awesome. Push through the hard and then the blessings come. Kind of my entire mission experience so far - push through the winter and spring will arrive.
Anyway, love you all and hope that you can feel my love every day,
Starší Monk