Elder Collin Park

January 27, 2014

This week wasn’t the best for us... we had a lot of bounces and lot of people that we've had to stop seeing because they don’t keep commitments.

Wednesday we went to an area that I don’t know very well.  We saw a less active man named Mustapha.  His family hasn’t been in church for a long time so we work hard to get them back.  We had a great lesson with him and we talked about the role of families, and focused on the role of a father.  We talked to him about setting a good example for his children.  He has a couple of daughters that are at the age where they will start to look for a husband.  I told him that daughters tend to marry someone like their father, ( I don’t know what happened with Katie though.... :) )  (fyi, Katie is Collin’s sister, and her husband Adam could not be more different that Collin’s Dad!).  That was a real eye opener for him. I believe that he will start to come back to church even though he didn’t come on Sunday.

Thursday we did a service project for the Zeahn's.  This family feeds us every time we go there.  They always have food waiting for us.  We a cut their grass with 'whippers'.  It was a lot of fun till the rain came... it’s supposed to be dry season but it’s rained once a week for the whole month...  We did a lot though but the rain ended the project for us.

Saturday I went with Elder Kamara into his area on exchange. I met this man one year ago!!!   We went on exchange to celebrate our one year!  It was a fantastic day.  We got bounced a couple times but we still managed to have a lot of great lessons.  We even taught a lesson to Margret who I taught a couple lessons to in Tinker Village, before she moved.  I was so happy to see that the missionaries were still seeing her.  I was so happy!  I had another great experience that lasted the whole day.

Ever since I got to Gardnersville, it’s seemed like I have struggled to teach people, struggled to teach well with my companion too.   I won’t lie, we don’t have great unity in our companionship.  Saturday I realized why, it was because the Spirit wasn’t with us.  In Tinker Village I felt like I could handle every concern and teach to really help the people, and then here I struggled.  I guess I just got so comfortable and so relaxed and so dependent on the Spirit that I forgot it was there with me.  Saturday, it was back and it was great. 

Future missionaries that read this, have good studies with your companion, it truly effects your entire day after.   It’s what brings the Spirit with you. 
 
I hope you all had and will have a great week.

Elder Park
The White African
T.I.A.