April 8, 1991
What a relaxing P-day! We did not do a whole lot all day. For starters, I took a nap this morning. Did that feel good or what? After that, I got up again and read the Book of Mormon for a while, washed my clothes, wrote some letters, and then Elder Baker and I went and goofed off for a while this afternoon.
Tonight we went and saw Sue Vue. We went with Ser Vang to have Ser help us, Ser did an absolutely awesome job! I never would have dreamed that a man’s testimony could be so strong 5 months after his own baptism. Anyway, despite our best efforts, Sue Vue has decided not to be baptized. He says that he has to wait for his younger brothers to move to Fresno so that they can all get baptized together. I was kind of disappointed because he said that when he prayed about it, God told him to be baptized , but he was not going to anyway. What a let down. I wish I could have done something different, but that’s the brakes I guess. you can lead a horse to water, but you just can’t make him drink. you can teach a man the gospel, but you can not make him drink of it’s fullness.
My knees have been very sore the last few days. i am not very sure why, but I wish they would stop hurting. i don’t have time to slow down because of my knees, so I sure hope that they get better soon. It would truly be a pain to have to start seeing a surgeon about my stupid knees. Oh well, I’m sure they will get better soon.
April 9, 1991
We spent until about 6:00 this evening tracking because until then, every single appointment that we had fell through. It was really kind of discouraging how few people really want to be taught. The one thing that I have learned is that just because the Spirit leads me to a door does not mean that he person who lives there will be baptized. Just as Alma and Amulek taught in the city of Amonihah, after being sent there by an angel, and were unsuccessful, the Lord send us to some people to give them a chance. i believe now that often times we as missionaries are sent to a door to testify to the people of the truthfulness of the gospel. The Lord all ready knows who will accept and reject the gospel, but all must be warned. For this reason, we are sent out to all of the world, both to testify on behalf of those who accept our message and to testify against those who reject it. This does not mean that missionaries can use this for an excuse to get our of working hard, but it does mean that if we do our very best to proclaim the gospel to all that we see, we will be held blameless at the last day.
We really had a good evening tonight. We were blessed with the opportunity to teach two very good discussions tonight. i absolutely love to teach the gospel. I can honestly say that there is nothing on the face of this earth that I would rather do than to teach the gospel. It is really fun, but it is the deep down kind of fun that one very rarely experiences outside of the gospel.
April 10, 1991
Today was really a good day. We went on team-ups with Elder Brown. It was really fun to go with Elder Brown, but I’m also glad that Elder Baker is my comp. It makes an absolutely huge difference to have a self-motivated comp instead of someone who is motivated only as much as you are at any given time. I really appreciate the great blessing that it is to have Elder Baker as a comp. He is great.
We had the chance to teach quite a few really good discussions today. I love to teach! We have traced into some very food families. We have one family who is just really excited. The father’s name is exactly the same as my hmong name, Bee Yang. Anyway, they are really excited about the gospel and going to church. I absolutely love families like that! It is so fun to teach someone who is excited about what we say. Tonight we went to choir practice at the church. I hadn't realized how much I missed doing that. I’m not sure what it is, but those women have such an incredible spirit of humility and devotion to God that it is extremely humbling to hear them sing, “I know that My Redeemer Lives,” so humbly, yet so sure, brings tears to my eyes every time. I really love to be in an area where you can draw from the spirituality of the members. My love for the hmong people grows faster everyday. It is really going to be hard to leave them behind when it comes time to go home. I have a lot of work to do before then. I love what I am doing now with all of my heart. Sometime I can’t believe they call being a missionary “work.”
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