Loving someone is like rotor tilling a garden...

From: Joseph Weiss <joseph.weiss@myldsmail.net>
Date: July 7, 2014 at 7:47:59 PM MDT


Hola!! So things are great. It's so much fun serving with Elder Williams. We laugh a lot. I think we look at missionary work differently but our personalities mesh really good which makes things really fun. I feel like I can be myself with him. This past week we decided we would separately pick three streets and see if we came up with any that were the same. We both picked Napier street. So we went and it was freezing cold and windy.

We started knocking... got some Catholics... *opens door* "Yeah thank you!" *closes door*. After a while I said to my companion, "I trying to figure out the reason we both picked Napier. Why are we here?" We kept going until we reached a Part-member family's house that was on the opposite side of the road. We decided to knock it and start knocking our way back where we came. So we walked up and knocked on the door and we here voices, "No you go get it!". A voice says, "Who is it?" "The missionaries" my companion replies. "Oh um we aren't religious at all." Enter stupor of thought!! haha.

So we kept going with no success until we found this older gentleman that was keen to talk with us. I went to quote something that the savior said in the Bible and he stopped me and said, "This is the problem I have. The Bible has been changed and I believe parts are divine and parts are man made but we have no way to tell the difference. So the Bible by itself doesn't really help me." What in the world? How is my brain child so much older than me? We talked and testified of the Book of Mormon as another witness that helps us see the truth. He accepted a Book of Mormon and he said he was visiting from Victoria and would leave in a few days but that he was going to read this book. We gave him our card and said, “If you want missionaries to come and talk to you give us a ring". We promised him he would find the truth through the Book of Mormon. He said, "I hope so because I haven't got much more time to search!". I know that God has a purpose in everything. We shouldn't doubt because we don't always see it.

So our neighbor played international 7's rugby for Papa New Guinea and now he just plays for local clubs. He also coaches and said we could come to training sometime so today at 4:30 we get to go play footy! Yay I'm so excited I even bought some cheap cleats! I'll take some video to send next week.

Having Mission Leadership Council with our new Mission President (Back) yesterday was awesome. Him and his wife are just what we need. Something I learned yesterday is the to have faith you must first have a soft heart, and we can help people have soft hearts by loving them which hopefully will help them one day have faith. I honestly didn't really understand the role of love in missionary work but now it makes sense. Loving someone is like rotor tilling a garden. I prepares it for the seeds of faith. So now I'm working on loving people with a better idea of why. I fasted for love on Sunday and when I think of disobedient missionaries, instead of thinking, "He's so dumb. He's wasting his time and the Lords time" I now have at times thoughts pop into my head "I wish he understood that disobedience is making him unhappy." or "I just wish he could catch a vision of what God wants for him". Fasting is great.

I want to be so dadgum loving by the time I get home it's not even funny. You'll all be murdered with my kindness!

Love you all!

Elder Weiss VI