I don't understand how my words have had such an impact on your lives. I don't feel like someone who shares a Spirit-filled and inspired letter every week, I'm just a 20 year old guy trying to do my best in a calling that I feel like is much, much bigger than me. But, then again it's always good to get another perspective on things to give you encouragement, hope, and strength. That is so awesome that there was just barely another baptism in our ward!! Absolutely incredible! Rachel's story sounds like an absolute miracle!
Mom and Dad, what you both said about being united as one body in Christ has really helped me. Soo.....what's it like being a district leader? What are my responsibilities? Simply put being a district leader means that every night you call the members of your district, make sure they're home safe and keep updated with their investigators etc, plan weekly district meetings, meet with the branch president weekly, and attend branch counsel. However, that's only the things I do. As far as responsibilities go, I am essentially responsible for the Spiritual well-being of my district, I am to be an example of an obedient and hardworking missionary to the other missoinaries and to the branch members. I am supposed to be the branch president's right hand man, his best friend, and I am held accountable for all of this to my Zone Leaders, the AP's, President Hill, the branch president and more importantly, God. Now take all of that, add on the whole training thing and being responsible for basically the way that Elder Cox serves the rest of his mission, and think about how my brain processes responsibilities and duties. Is it stressful? Yes. Is it challenging? Yes. Do I feel inadequate and unqualified at times? Yes. Do I witness miracles and feel the strength of heavenly guardians? Every. Single. Day.
This branch is struggling a lot, and not very much is being done about it. I've been thinking, we've all been thinking as a district, about how we can help this branch become what it once was. A lot of the members are becoming depressed, discouraged and close to giving up, and I've felt completely helpless with everything. But what you said to me today about uniting ourselves and becoming a body of one has confirmed exactly what members have been saying and what us missionaries have been thinking. This branch needs unity, trust and love. So....within the next couple weeks I will be doing everything I can visiting members, talking with the branch president, talking with my mission leaders to get advice and direction to help these people come together.
We've been thinking about holding a branch activity where we can have people share their testimonies, thoughts, ideas and feelings, and set some goals together as a branch. I've been doing my best to be patient with the members here, I know that life is really hard for them and that most of them are just barely getting by, but what I don't think they fully realize is that it doesn't have to be that way. I feel that once they learn to reach out to each other, forgiving each other for past offenses and disagreements, stop taking sides and pointing fingers and become united in purpose then they will witness tremendous growth in the branch and blessings will pour down from heaven.
There is a saying in Romanian they use here a lot that says "Dumnezeu iti da, dar nu iti puna in geanta" which means "God gives you, but he doesn't put it in your bag." In essence, you have to work for blessings. You can't just sit around and wait for things to get better. And while there are a few members who do do a lot of work for the branch, staying in contact with less actives, sharing the gospel with friends etc, it's only a select few, and those select few are getting burnt out.
As for investigators, we had another lesson with Marcela and she came to church again! She's read up to 1 Nephi 9 and is continuing to read. However its been hard getting her to pray. The thing is she's really open to our beliefs, but too open the point where she doesn't really see the importance of gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith because she says that we all pray to the same God, so we're all going to go the the same place after this life. Hopefully after we finish teaching her the Plan of Salvation she will start to understand a little better.
On the bright side, Ovidiu, the guy who just showed up at church last week, came again!!!! We were able to have a lesson with him during the second hour of church and it went really really really well!!! He's already read almost halfway through 2 Nephi!! At the end of the lesson we asked that if he came to find that this church is true if he be baptized, and he said "well, I don't have a belief in this book or in this church yet, but I want to. So yes, of course if I feel like this is God's path for me I will certainly be baptized. I just have to come to know for myself first." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So........basically if he keeps up his commitments he will absolutely, undoubtedly be baptized either this transfer or the next. He's so prepared. He's 43, he does volunteer work as a counselor for children who have been abused, and he's single and has never been married because he wants to marry someone who has the same faith as him, and he's never really found the right church.
Then last night we were vila knocking and everyone rejected us until literally the very last door. A middle aged man opened the door, we told him we wanted to talk to him about the Book of Mormon. He said he'd never heard of it, that he studies from the Bible but wants to know what this other book is about. He apologized saying that we couldn't come in at the time because he had guests, but he asked if we had some place where we could meet up. I told him we could meet up at our chapel and then we exchanged numbers and he said he and his wife would be very interested in sitting and talking with us!!! So we're super excited for that as well.
Thank you so much once again for all your love and inspiration. I love you soo sooo much!!
Cu drag,
Elder Myers
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