This is Elder Blacks first “real” letter from the mission field after being there nearly a week. We are trying not to simply repost every word from every letter, but rather report the highlights and lowlights. On his first P-Day in Georgia he reports:
It's been almost a week in the south and things are going really swell. I do get nervous talking to people, I didn't think I would be, but I guess when it's about one’s salvation it can be a bit rickety. But I'm learning.
I'm learning a lot actually, and I've been paired with a new companion; he's been serving now for 20 months and is a great guy! He has one of the strongest testimonies I've ever seen and it's funny how a mission does that to people; I hope and expect that it will happen to me. His name is Elder Shane Hoyt. He's Canadian! He doesn't say "eh" (anymore anyway), but he sure does know his scripture mastery.
Our first area is Social Circle, with a pop of I wanna say maybe 6,000. It's very small, but the people down here for the most part are very very friendly and are willing to hear what we have to say. That itself was a little unexpected, I assumed the first day to be only door slams in the face, but everyone was kind enough to hear our message. We actually started tracting in the more impoverished area (and really our whole area is poor), but we came up to a group of black people just sittin’ out on their front lawn with massive piles of beer cans everywhere, and again we are in the what we now know to be the bad side of town, but they willingly listened to what we had to say and even took a card.
It's funny, after I introduce myself as Elder Black, most of the people down here either say "are you black?" "you don't look black" or "you look more brown". I love the people down here. I love some of the accents, some I can barely understand. But the people all seem to have a faith in Christ, and are very nice.
Tonight we should hopefully be teaching a girl by the name of Lori, she doesn't live too far from us thankfully and we actually met her on the street. When we met her she was with other black friends or family, and though the others showed no interest in our message I could see in her eyes that she was curious. And that's something that is really amazing to see, when you tell someone the truth and you can see that they just know. It's really cool, and I hope that as I teach my first lesson I can teach with the spirit and with power.
Adam continues by reminding that we are all missionaries. The church is constantly calling us to be rescuers. More and more throughout the world missionaries are discontinuing the traditional door-to-door tracting and relying instead on the local members to provide them with people to teach. He concludes his letter by stating:
If there is one thing I want you to know is that you need to serve the missionaries! Help them and tell them anyone you know in work, school, or family who is struggling and who could use some help. The members down here are very nice as well, and I loved our sacrament yesterday. We've only got 5 members who are in our area, and traveling is very difficult because of the limited miles we can drive monthly. I have a bike, only one tire is flat, and my comp left his in his old area which is miles away. So we walk on foot or drive, and it is nice. One thing I love about Elder Hoyt is that we jam out to hymns and listen to the Michael Bublé Christmas Album. It's a great time :)
Thanks for your prayers, and thank you for all that you do! Thank you to the ward and those who supported me ‘cause I now have a bike. Continue to take the time for daily study of the scriptures, I've found out so much more. Even if you do it for 10 min it will bless your lives. Take care now y’all this lovely week.
Peace and blessings.
Love, Elder Black
It's been almost a week in the south and things are going really swell. I do get nervous talking to people, I didn't think I would be, but I guess when it's about one’s salvation it can be a bit rickety. But I'm learning.
I'm learning a lot actually, and I've been paired with a new companion; he's been serving now for 20 months and is a great guy! He has one of the strongest testimonies I've ever seen and it's funny how a mission does that to people; I hope and expect that it will happen to me. His name is Elder Shane Hoyt. He's Canadian! He doesn't say "eh" (anymore anyway), but he sure does know his scripture mastery.
Our first area is Social Circle, with a pop of I wanna say maybe 6,000. It's very small, but the people down here for the most part are very very friendly and are willing to hear what we have to say. That itself was a little unexpected, I assumed the first day to be only door slams in the face, but everyone was kind enough to hear our message. We actually started tracting in the more impoverished area (and really our whole area is poor), but we came up to a group of black people just sittin’ out on their front lawn with massive piles of beer cans everywhere, and again we are in the what we now know to be the bad side of town, but they willingly listened to what we had to say and even took a card.
It's funny, after I introduce myself as Elder Black, most of the people down here either say "are you black?" "you don't look black" or "you look more brown". I love the people down here. I love some of the accents, some I can barely understand. But the people all seem to have a faith in Christ, and are very nice.
Tonight we should hopefully be teaching a girl by the name of Lori, she doesn't live too far from us thankfully and we actually met her on the street. When we met her she was with other black friends or family, and though the others showed no interest in our message I could see in her eyes that she was curious. And that's something that is really amazing to see, when you tell someone the truth and you can see that they just know. It's really cool, and I hope that as I teach my first lesson I can teach with the spirit and with power.
Adam continues by reminding that we are all missionaries. The church is constantly calling us to be rescuers. More and more throughout the world missionaries are discontinuing the traditional door-to-door tracting and relying instead on the local members to provide them with people to teach. He concludes his letter by stating:
If there is one thing I want you to know is that you need to serve the missionaries! Help them and tell them anyone you know in work, school, or family who is struggling and who could use some help. The members down here are very nice as well, and I loved our sacrament yesterday. We've only got 5 members who are in our area, and traveling is very difficult because of the limited miles we can drive monthly. I have a bike, only one tire is flat, and my comp left his in his old area which is miles away. So we walk on foot or drive, and it is nice. One thing I love about Elder Hoyt is that we jam out to hymns and listen to the Michael Bublé Christmas Album. It's a great time :)
Thanks for your prayers, and thank you for all that you do! Thank you to the ward and those who supported me ‘cause I now have a bike. Continue to take the time for daily study of the scriptures, I've found out so much more. Even if you do it for 10 min it will bless your lives. Take care now y’all this lovely week.
Peace and blessings.
Love, Elder Black