This was a fun week. On Tuesday we went and helped a farmer build some stalls for his horses. We didn't get it done, but we got a good start on it. We taught some people this week. There are some investigators that might progress. Anyway, we will jump to the best day which is always Sunday!
We went out to knock some doors in a place named Rachel. We tried a potential, and then a Less-active. We weren't able to meet with either of them, so we started knocking doors on this street. We walked up to this one house and there is a big sign that says "No Trespassing, We've got a gun and aren't afraid to use it." Those are all over in WV so we didn't think anything of it. We knocked on the door and a nice lady came and talked to us, and then she let us in! Wow, it's rare to get let in a door. So we go in and talk to her and her husband and taught them the Restoration. They said we could come back. We invited them to read the Book of Mormon and they said they would. I don't know how much they will progress, but they just accepted to read the most powerful Book in the world. We will let the tool do the job. Later that night we went to a road called Daveys Run. We were knocking doors there and a man came out. He told us that he was Deacon at his Baptist church. He was a very nice fella. He told us how much we inspire him and how good he feels knowing that there are young people like us spreading the word. We talked to him about the Book of Mormon, where it comes from, why we have it and we invited him to read it. He wanted to read it. His son pulled up while we were talking to him. His son is 24 years old and is very smart. He is already working on his masters degree and he teaches math at a High School. After listening for a minute he asked me "so why Mormonism?" I told him my conversion story, and how I came to know the truth for myself though prayer. He asked us "what's the foundation of your church?" So we told him that Jesus Christ and his Atonement was the foundation, and everything else we believe is an appendage to that. He asked us what we meant by that. So we explained to him faith, repentance, baptism, the holy ghost, and Enduring to the end. He kept on asking questions about our beliefs. He was asking good questions. It was like a friendly contending. We weren't bashing, and neither was he. He was just honestly inquiring of our beliefs. It was neat because he agreed with everything we said. When we explained our view of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he said that he agreed with that. As we were talking to him, his girlfriend pulled up and was standing there listening to us. She started asking questions. The guy we first talked to was there too still, and he was just enjoying the whole thing. Elder Robbins and I were quoting scripture, explaining our beliefs, and answering their questions. It wasn't like they were trying to confound us, but I guess the best way to put it was they were "testing/proving our doctrine." The young man loved the conversation. He was eating it up. He said "This is Fun" and the Girl loved it too. IT was just a fun experience because the spirit was there. We were bearing testimony and sharing scriptures from both the bible and book of mormon. The girl demanded that we come back and so did the guy. The only problem the guy has with our beliefs is that he doesn't think we need the Book of Mormon. But all 3 of those people said they would read it. We are going back on Friday. It will be fun. It isn't contentious, it is people honestly wanted to know what we believe and why.
This scripture came to mind. Doctrine and Covenants 100:5-8
"Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say. But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things. And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say."
I got to experience this. We were not confounded, and the Holy Ghost was really helping us and telling us what to say. And we know the spirit was there because they felt good and so did we. There is some good potential with these people.
I hope my story all makes sense and you all understand it. Give people the Book of Mormon, share your testimony and let the Tool do the Work. I love you all!
Love,
Elder Josh Spencer
P.S. Just to tell you another experience we had this week. We were tracting, and we knocked on a door, a lady came out and started to talk to us. She is from a Sovereignty Grace Baptist Church. They believe that all you need is grace and it doesn't matter what you do. We inquired of her beliefs and asked her questions. She believes that God doesn't love everyone, he only loves some of us. He only saves those he loves. God is a mystery. He is a respecter of persons. It was so sad to hear that is what she believes. I shared John 3:16 with her For God so loved the World... and she said that it means he loves the "concept of man". Whatever that means. I asked her if she would like a picture of Jesus Christ, she started to take it and then said "I don’t believe in pictures, you don't know that's what he looked like." I responded, "You don't know he didn't look like that either." It was funny. She just kept on contradicting herself on all of her Doctrine. It was sad. We just bore testimony to her that God loves everyone. It says it all over in the bible. We didn't bash with her. We just wanted to understand what she believes. We still really don’t know because it makes no sense. It was a fun experience, and people were asking us the same things about our beliefs, and we were not confounded, but this lady was. That goes to show that there are no holes in our Doctrine.
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