10. Unexpected

Well tonight I went over to my neighbors house to invite her to our ward conference this weekend. She invited me in and we visited for quite a while. I told her a little about ward conference, and that Matt would be singing in the choir, and asked if she would like to come with us. She told me that her son in law has become very concerned since he found out that she has been going to "Mormon activities", he even sent her a book that she "must read" to find out the "truth" about mormons. And yes you guessed it, it's an anti-mormon book written by a former mormon. I told her that honestly those kinds of books, written by people that no longer belonged to the church, were not the source of truth about what and who we really are. I told her that if she really had questions and wanted to know what we believed and why, that the best way was for her to ask someone that lived and still believed in the church.
She seemed shocked that Mitt Romney had said that we believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers, she couldn't believe that, and she asked me straight if I believed that. I told her that I did believe that they were brothers, and that we are all brothers and sisters. I told her I thought of it as a real family where one brother can go completely off the beaten path and from what his parents have taught him while the other can be so righteous and exceed their expectations. She said that the Bible said that Jesus was The ONLY begotten of the Father, so that meant that He was His only son, that yes, God created the world and us, but Christ was his only Son.
This is were I didn't know what to say. I don't know, I mean I know that the scriptures say that, but it never crossed my mind that someone would interpret it to mean that Christ was God's only son. (Of course when I got home and told Matt he whipped the answer right out, Go figure! He told me that it meant that Christ was the only begotten in the flesh. Duh, I knew that! But like I said, I've never thought of that question, and didn't know how to respond. I just told her what I knew and that Matt would know the answer...which he did). She bore her testimony to me that she knew Christ died for her and that her daughter (who passed away) was in a better place and happy and that someday she would be with her again. When she was telling me this, and it sounded much like a testimony I thought to myself "well if she's gonna bare her testimony to me, I'm gonna bare mine to her". So I did.
We both agreed that it was just fine if we didn't believe the same things.
But I did tell her again that if she did have questions that she should ask them from someone that was a member of the church, not from a book a former member had written. I invited her over for dinner and family night on monday and she said that she would like very much to come. She said that she really wanted to talk to someone that knew that bible. I told her that Matt served a mission and that he knew the bible and the book of mormon and that he has been asked many of the questions that she has. She told me she couldn't make any promises because she suffers so bad from insomnia, but she would really like to come.
She said she has been watching the BYU channel often and doesn't understand why so many speakers just speak on a topic and aren't teaching right out of the bible. I told her that though I thought there was nothing better than teaching right from the scriptures, that our church believes in modern revelation and that God still speaks to us and that we have a living prophet on the earth. So the scriptures will always be the scriptures, but we believe that what the prophets say is doctrine. I don't know if that appeased her inquiry, but it's all I could think to say.
We talked about a few other things, but I can't remember them all right now. She did tell me though that she has met so many wonderful members of the church since she's lived in Utah, and that our church helped her out the most with her grandson when no one else would.
She wouldn't promise anything about sunday, she said it depended on how much sleep she was able to get and how she felt that day. I told her that was fine and that I understood.

I wasn't really expecting all of that to happen when I just went over there to invite her to a meeting. Infact it was the farthest from my mind. If I would have known, I would have insisted that Matt come with me. Though I wish I could have answered her questions better, especially that one, I am okay. I feel like I said the things that I needed to say. And even though my worst fear, of not knowing what to say, actually happened, I don't think it was as bad as I imagined it would be. She was okay with it, and so was I. It only made me stronger in my conviction to know the answers to those questions, and how I could do better next time. That's the thing about the internet questions as well. They make me go out and search those things that I didn't even know people had questions about. However that's a whole nother topic.
Anyway, there's an update. If your reading my little blog please pray for the miracle of her coming sunday, but if nothing else that she'll be able to come to family night and that we'll be prepared for her questions.

My Advice: Just do the best you can. That's all that we can do. Just try to listen to the spirit and testify of those things that you believe.

What will I do next:? Pray like crazy that she will come to ward conference and family night and that somehow we can teach her what mormons really believe.............. and hope she burns her book. lol.
But if she doesn't come, I know that I was led to her and the things to say, and the things to invite her to, and I'm just gonna have to keep trying to listen to the spirit and do my best.:)

Grateful for Friends

Geez, I kinda feel like I was on a roll for a while, and then not so much.
I hope it's because I've mostly just been with family for the holidays, and hopefully more will start happening now that I'm back into the swing of things.
But despite not have "offical missionary opportunities" I have been thinking about how blessed I have been for those that have come.
Since I've been home I have enjoyed visiting with some of my non-member friends that I have written about on this blog. I just wanted to say how much I love them. Isn't it ironic that I pray for missionary experiences because I want to do my best to do what the Lord wants me to do, and in return I have some great new friends. I will always be in debt to the Lord, because everytime I try to do something for him, He gives me blessings right back.
These friends might not be coming to church (which I would love) but it's just great to have friends.

My Advice: Keep praying for those missionary opportunities

What will I do next: Keep hoping and praying that my friends can see the joy and peace and answers that the gospel brings, and want to know more.