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| Tongan Ward BBQ |
Hey everyone!
This was a great week! We had lots to do and lots of fun!
On Wednesday we had a great lesson with Conner. He's the guy that lives in Provo but his coworker who lives in in our area in Vineyard invited him to meet with us. We went over the plan of salvation. Conner isn't super set on any one way of believing, and he told us he basically chooses what he believes in if it sounds good to him or not. He believes in reincarnation, but really only because that sounded cool. We were trying to explain to him why he should pray about the things we were teaching him, but he wasn't really buying it. His idea of prayer is just talking to the universe, and he doesn't think he needs the universe to tell him what's right and wrong. His attitude in meeting with us is mostly just to learn about the Church, but we kinda had a breakthrough after the lesson.
After the lesson we all went to Culver's. Conner's friend that we've been teaching him with, Logan, does a really good job of relating the gospel to Conner, and he really clutched up over dinner. Conner was expressing some of his frustration about dating here in Utah. He was saying he wanted to date "a Mormon girl," but he thinks that all "the Mormon girls" don't wanna go out with him because he's not a member. Then Logan told him, "Ya know, if you tell girls that you're meeting with the missionaries, they'll really wanna hang out with you." Conner looked at us and said, "Really??" From then on he was hooked. He was like, "I'm coming to church, I'm coming to activities..." Vineyard really is a better fit for him than Provo because it's an older YSA crowd out here. More Conner's age. Logan was saying to Conner, "Those returned-missionary girls are gonna wanna come with you when you meet with the missionaries, and they'll wanna go to church with you too! Imagine her sitting on the pew in her Sunday best, waiting for you to sit with her in church." Conner said, "That sounds like heaven!"
Thursday was Zone Conference which was great. We talked about how amazing the Book of Mormon is and why it's always important to teach from it. Sister Evanson shared a really cool story about how her dad was inactive her entire life growing up, and that all of her nagging him never changed him, but that when she invited him to read the Book of Mormon when she was and adult he finally came around. President Evanson gave an awesome training about working with members, which is something I live and breath by now. Lots of missionaries feel like they're not getting anything done when they work through members, when in reality, they can get so much more done. It is slower, but it's so much more effective. I also played a piano duet with Elder Meredith, one of the APs. My trainer, Elder Petersen, gave his departing testimony because he goes home in like a week. I only have 2 zone conferences left anyway so that'll be me soon enough.
Friday we had a lesson with Jayden and his family in the Samoan ward. Jayden really likes reading, and we brought him a kids Book of Mormon (the one with all the pictures), and we read the first story together to teach him about Joseph Smith, the First Vision, the gold plates, and the Book of Mormon. They're such an awesome family, and we have a lot of fun with them whenever we go. Jayden could totally get baptized very soon, but his family just doesn't really go to church ever. It'll be a slow process with them, but they'll get there. I know it. After that we went to the Samoan ward's Mother's Day party, and everyone there was saying "Elders make a plate!" before they even said hi. That ward is really excited for Dee's baptism, and they are all so willing to help out with it!
Saturday we went to the Tongan ward Mother's Day party because we knew lots of nonmembers had been invited. That was where we learned about what Tongan Time is. All the posts and announcements said it started at 2 pm, so we got there at like 2:15 and there was like no one there; just a couple people setting up. We weren't sure if we'd missed something, or if they were going to start just a little late, so we started talking to one of the guys there for a while. Then he told us about Tongan Time. He said they wanted to the bbq to start at 4, but that if they announced it for 4, it wouldn't start till 6 because that's just how Tongan Time works. So, to start the bbq at 4 while accounting for Tongan Time, they announced it for 2pm. There was still a great turnout, got to meet some great people, and the food was AMAZING.
That was pretty much the highlights of the week. I'll tell you guys next week all about how Dee's baptism goes because it's happening tonight! We're excited and we think there's going to be lots of people.
The Book of Mormon is true! It forces us to have faith! It is how we are able to feel God's love, learn about and come to Jesus Christ, and withstand temptation in our world! Read it! Read it!
Love you all!
Elder Snyder
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| Big Chicken |
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| more from the Tongan Ward BBQ |
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| La Iglesia |
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| My ice cream at Leatherby's |
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| My epic Zone at Zone Conference |
