June 2, 2014 (Elder Clements)

This week has been awesome! So many lessons and so much progression!

 

Before this area, I wasn't used to getting high numbers. My past companions and I would have a mentality where we wouldn't be agents. In other words, we wouldn't act or make things happen. We would wait for others to come to us, wait for people to prepare themselves, etc. We would average maybe 8 lessons a week total, where we should be getting 20+. We definitely were not doing the best we could now that I think about it. Once I got switched to this new area, with a new companion, I decided to change it up. My companion had a similar experience in the past. He has only been out for 3 transfers, (4 months), and always just followed along without being part of anything. We both decided to take a leadership role in the companionship and work together more. It has definitely proved to be the right decision. We are now accountable for our goals! It has really changed the way we work.

 

Now, we are hitting almost all of our daily and weekly goals. We have been teaching more than 20 lessons a week and have 2 baptismal dates later this month.

 

My point with all of this, is that we need to be agents. We have to wake up knowing that our goals will be met, and we will have success.

 

This mentality has helped me so much as a missionary, and I have seen so much success between me and my companion. 

 

One of the 'fruits of our labors' was uncovered yesterday at church. We have been teaching a less active woman and her daughter for a couple of weeks now. They went through a rough time when the dad took off one day, and never came back. They were confused and upset and turned to the church, which was great of them to do. The only thing, is that they saw 'complete' families at church. They felt left out and unwelcome. We decided to really focus on teaching them about families, the Plan of Salvation, and Temples. I know the Spirit has helped them the last few weeks, because I have seen them change. Right before church started yesterday, they both walked in, still seeming a little uneasy, but they were there. Immediately, almost every single member gave them both huge hugs and told them how much they had missed them. With the guidance of the Lord, we had helped this family come back. It was incredible.

 

The Lord lives and this work is real.

 

Elder Pilkington