Things are Clicking for Us

From: Joseph Weiss <joseph.weiss@myldsmail.net>
Date: March 1, 2015 at 8:53:56 PM MST


Last P-day of the transfer! GAH! This transfer has come and gone too
bloody fast! I only have three more? That means at the pace my brain
is working I'll be home in like four days. I'm too young to die!!! I
feel like I'm in free fall wondering how bad it's gonna hurt when I
splat on the ground.

We are trying to master how to use our time
wisely so that we can fit as much possible into a day. In the past I
might have dropped by an investigators house without an appointment
but now there is not enough time! I can't be bothered wasting that
time so it's phone calls and set appointments only.

Yesterday I felt
like I was going to die! We had a goal for six member present lessons
because we had six appointments but like it sometimes happens the
squirrels climbed back up into their trees and we only had two. But
they were both great!  Our fellowship took a video of our lesson and
he's going to put it on a USB. Watching yourself teach is the next
level! #Distric3

This week we invited heaps more people to be baptised
and they said “yes". If you follow the Fundamental Lesson's suggestion
to invite to be baptized on the first and __ lesson and set a date no
later than the second lesson you will see a lot of people come and go.
But after a small while of doing this you will have a teaching pool
that is serious about your message.

I finally feel like I'm starting
to figure this mission thing out and I've only got three transfers
left! I've worked hard and had a strong desire all my mission but I've
misunderstood the right way to go about it. Elder Shelton and myself
have committed ourselves to studying 1 hr of fundamentals a day during
a slow part of the day. I hope that is alright. We feel like trying to
align ourselves is as important if not more so than going out and
working.

We are trying to figure out how to do two handed pushups.
Because before we were trying to set a pushup record with one hand at
a time. Hasn't worked so well. But we have seen ourselves improve in
all areas of the work as we have emphasized fundamentals. I feel like
missionary work is a tricky game. When you want 3 new investigators in
a week you won't get it. When you are trying to be more loving you
can’t.

Elder Bednar said that attaining Christ-like attributes occurs
as we sincerely desire the welfare of others. I feel like missionary
work is the same. If we want numbers for the sake of numbers, God
won't let you have them. Doing so would strengthen trust in one's self
and not in God, so he waits. But when we sincerely want to help OTHERS
then God strengthens us to be what he wants us to be.

I asked myself
this question, "If I were to have absurd amounts of sucess as a
missionary, would I keep some for myself?" Unfortunately for me the
answer is yes. My motives are not the same as God's motives. My heart
is not as pure as God's heart. But the more I feel concern for the
welfare of others, the more spiritual power I will receive and the
more people I can help, which coincidentally raises key indicators.

Maybe I don't understand why Key Indicators ARE KEY INDICATORS. If I
understood better "why" then I would use that to satisfy the needs of
others and not my personal agenda. I'm asking myself the question
again, "Who am I?" and it's not because of how fat I am. I feel like
I've won the lottery with my mission. I've learned so much, but I
don't deserve it. I don't get it. Why did I get so lucky? I'm not more
special than anyone else. I feel like anything that is good in my life
is something that was given to me. We all come into this world
depending on others... I guess that never changes.

Hope things are clicking for you like they are clicking for us!

Love Elder Weiss