I had a pretty good week, although I did get sick. I am feeling a lot better now. So I had the privilege of going around and visiting people with Brother Joseph Freeman, the first African-American man to receive the Melchizedek priesthood in this dispensation. He is truly an amazing man. He is so humble and it makes me realize that I have so much to improve on. He has a book called "In the Lord's Due Time" and I really want to read it. I took a picture with him too and will be sending it.
We have been meeting with a man named O----- for a couple weeks now. He is originally from Kenya but moved here from Minnesota. He is a great guy and is really trying to come closer to Christ. After we taught the Restoration with him, Elder G----- asked him if he would like to be baptized. He accepted and we put him on date for New Years Eve. We are really excited for him and we look forward to teaching him more.
While nothing is more amazing then helping someone come closer to Christ, I had a really awesome experience. I was able to shake hands with Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. He came to the mission and spoke to all the missionaries here. He was such an amazing speaker. He made us a promise that every day until Christmas, if we go to the sealed part of the scriptures (the topical guide) and study all the scriptures under the section Jesus Christ, we would have a much greater love for our Savior and we would have a more personal relationship with him. If any of you would like to also do this challenge, I would encourage you to do it.
I had one of the best Sacrament meetings ever yesterday. Elder G---- and I had just arrived at church and hadn't put our stuff down yet. Elder G---- still had his beanie on. So we were going around shaking people's hands and telling them good morning and introducing ourselves. When we got to the last person, a lady in the back corner, she looked at Elder G---- and told him he needed to take off his beanie. He told her he was going to take it off before the meeting began for sure. She then said he needed to take it off immediately or leave. So we left until it started. Then, since it was Fast and Testimony meeting, she got up and told everyone "I want to apologize to the missionary I may have offended today. But I want you to know that you should show respect to God when you are in his house and to not do things that take away the spirit." In front of the entire congregation! We were sitting there laughing because we couldn't believe it was actually happening. So after she was done, Elder G----- got up and bore his testimony on the Atonement, moving on and becoming better. Then I got up and said something along the lines of "Something I have learned on my mission is that the church is not perfect. It is
run be imperfect men and women who have flaws and who make mistakes. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that the Gospel is perfect and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us no matter what. That is what's really important......." I never enjoyed myself more at Sacrament meeting. After the meeting, we got a ride to our missionary meeting and we told what happened. He thought it was hilarious and now he understood what she was talking about and why we bore our testimonies on the subjects we did. Later we got a gift from a Samoan missionary couple. They gave us kakui nut necklaces which are a sign of respect. It was really nice of them.
Well I need to leave and I will respond to questions and email pictures later. Have an awesome week! Love you all.
Elder Burner
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