Hello!
Monday evening we went and
contacted a media referral. These are the people who go online and request a
Book of Mormon, Bible, DVD, etc. and 9 times out of 10 it doesn't work out.
I've literally heard the excuse "Oh, yeah sometimes I sleepwalk and I
ordered one by mistake." So yeah we weren't too excited for this one. But
the lady we went and contacted was actually really nice! Her brother had just
gotten baptized and being under the new convert fire of the spirit, started
teaching his family. His sister, this lady, was really interested in seeing
what changed him. She went on about how he had not been anywhere close to
following any gospel principles and to all of a sudden change like that was
confusing. She took the Book of Mormon she had ordered and we will hopefully be
going back this week.
Tuesday I went on
exchanges with a missionary from Gallatin. Most of the exchange wasn't too good
since a lot of people didn't answer their doors, but we did get in the house of
a part member family with the kids not being baptized. We committed them to
church, but they still didn't come. But anywho, when we got back to our
apartment we got a call from the Goodlettsville (said like it's spelled)
Hermanas asking if we could go back to pretty much where we were and give a
blessing to one of their members. The missionary I was with objected a little
bit but luckily I was the one driving. We showed up there 15 minutes later and
for the first time, I gave a baby a blessing. That was an adventure. The kid
would not stay still haha. It was adorable though.
Wednesday evening we went
over to another part member's home where the husband and kids have not been
baptized. The huge miracle here is the fact that when we first saw this guy he
was totally against us. Didn't respond to anything. But after I brought him
cookies, and many really amazing lessons later, his heart has softened so much.
He is so so close to baptism and when we asked him about it he literally didn't
speak for a minute or so because he was really considering it. I don't think
I'll get to witness his baptism while I'm serving in Hendersonville, but I know
that he will be baptized soon.
Thursday I was pretty much
done. I had been fighting an illness for almost a week at this point and I
finally called the mission nurse for further instruction. I was told to rest
and I slept for most of the day. I did feel better, but my illness has still
continued till even now. That night though we went out with a member on
exchanges and went over to a few families. The first family was really fun. We
talked about the importance of building an unshakable faith as a family. We
then went over to Chad Truman's and had a great conversation with them.
For the longest time I
never really understood the importance of 1st Nephi 2:15 which is "And my
father dwelt in a tent." But Bro. Truman expounded it amazingly. When you
think about it, Lehi had a lot of good things going for him in Jerusalem. He
had much silver and gold and his kinsman was a lord of many things. So putting
that in perspective, the very fact that he left what may have been a life of
luxury to dwelling in a tent, probably was very significant to Nephi. Bro.
Truman likened it unto his father who is Dan Truman, a member of Diamond Rio.
"And my father, Dan Truman, dwelt in a tent." It blew my mind.
Friday not too much
happened other than that one member who went to the hospital was back home. We
were her first visitors. Her dogs had left a huge mess all over the place so
Elder Hansen and I started cleaning up. I noticed that she had a Martin guitar
so I tuned it for her and played some classic rock and some country along with
some church hymns for her since she hadn't been able to play it herself due to
her fibromyalgia. She was grateful for that.
Saturday the only major
thing that happened was that we tracted into a crazy old guy who believes
almost everything that we do. He kept asking questions like "Haven't ya'll
wondered why there are so many churches around here?! I mean shouldn't there be
one church?" We will probably be back to go see him.
Sunday was awesome. A
little primary kid named Fisher bore his testimony on how he's a missionary. He
talked about how while he was playing with some friends that his friends wanted
to have a sleepover, but he couldn't because he had church the next day. His
friends were curious, so he invited them to come.
One of them who did come
has been at church the past few weeks and wants to be baptized. His mother
turned out to be a less active that hadn't been to church in 20 years or so.
And last Sunday, his non-member dad came to church as well and stayed and
participated for all three hours! It was awesome! That evening we had dinner
with the Mitchell's (she's the primary president) and had an awesome time. The
kids were crazy as usual but it was fantastic. Later that night though I got
sick again so that wasn't so fun.
I think I'm doing better
now. I've gotten a ton out of my system since this thing began. I'm grateful
for all the support and letters I've received in the past while. This may be my
last week in Hendersonville but honestly I think this will be a place I will
never forget. If it's my time to go I hope that the members know how much I
love them and will miss them.
Thank you all again!
Elder Peery
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