Something Strange is Afoot in Franklin

It's been an interesting week fo sho. It was actually a really good week, but Satan was hounding us pretty good.

 Wednesday started out awful. Tuesday had been a beautiful day, but Wednesday was cold, snowy, and super windy. Aaaand nobody wanted to talk to us. So we had no set appointments, and tracting is super difficult when it's that windy. 

But that was okay because we had a good handful of people we'd met recently, had good conversations or lessons with that said they'd love to talk to us more. But not really. 

We knocked on the first door--his truck was home but no answer. Onto the next one--we heard a baby cry for a split-second, but no answer. Onto the next. We saw the door knob start to turn and then stop. No answer. So we went to the next one. We saw a man check through the window, but no answer. It was pretty eerie. Not to mention extremely discouraging. I can understand four outta five people doing that, but when it's like 15 for 15, it gets a little weird. Something strange is afoot in Franklin

On the other hand, we were blessed with really good timing when it came to seeing members that aren't as active. We stopped by one family on Saturday night--we just got to know her a little bit and set up an appointment for late because they were a bit busy getting the kids to bed. The next day several people told us that on Facebook she had posted about how she'd been praying for something, and the sisters stopped by and were the answer she was looking for. She said she'd be going to church the next morning. She wasn't there, but she might not've been aware that church was no longer in the morning O_o

Lately I've been thinking a lot about pride. It's a purdy natural thing to think about on a mission. You think about how people don't listen because of pride. You think about how people don't keep the commandments because they know better than God how we can be happy. You think about how you'd be a much better missionary if it weren't for your pride. You think about how Christ was who He was because He lacked any ounce of pride.

But these thoughts were further catalyzed by a simple event on Saturday. The elders we share the ward with (who are also the zone leaders) called a meeting with us. To further preface this, our district leader had called us to see how we were doing on our terrible Wednesday, and had probably reported to them our discouragement from that day. 

So these wonderful, sincere elders met with us to discuss "issues" that had arisen about crossing boundaries. (Sisters have only been in the area for a few months, so when they first came, the previous elders had split the area taking the east side of the 31, which is Whiteland and most of Franklin, and giving the west side--Trafalgar, Bargersville, Nineveh, and the rest of Franklin to the sisters. They gave the sisters a ward directory marked with which side the members lived on. 

For the most part, we stay on our respective sides, except to meet the needs of single members/investigators of the same gender on the other side.) We've got a handful of people we work with on their side because they are single women, or because the ward council suggested it would be good. They work on our side with some single men or prospective elders. 

To make a long story short, they thought we were spending too much time on their side, and that we might be doing so because we were struggling. They lovingly said some offensive things. They successfully made us feel like terrible missionaries. They respectfully neglected to acknowledge some of their own errors. Yet, their motives were pure. They desired for the example of unity between companionships to be modeled in our area. They desired to help us in any way they could. They desired to do the work of the Lord.

And so often that's what happens in the church. I was thinking about Alma 4:8-9 this morning: "there began to be great contentions among the people of the church; yea, there were envyings, and strife, and malice, and persecutions, and pride, even to exceed the pride of those who did not belong to the church of God....the wickedness of the church was a great stumbling-block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fall in its progress."

How often does that happen? Leaders, with the the best intentions continue to be imperfect. Those they are called to serve become victims of their imperfections, yet have their own opportunity to overcome pride for the progress of the Kingdom. We wanted so badly for these kind elders to see the beam in their eyes. And then we saw the bigger one in our own :P What is to be done? To move on. That's all there is to be done. I've been busy thinkin' 'bout how I've been wronged, and the opportunity cost has been thinking about what I can do to serve others. Pride is the primary enemy to progression. And I've got a lot of work to do to overcome that :P

Phew. Well, that's my sermon for the week. On a more humorous note, we were trying to find out where somebody lived with an out of date directory, and met a man named Mike. We introduced ourselves. He was mildly shocked when I said, "and I'm Sister Bowen." He said, "Oh! I thought you were her daughter! You look like you're 12!" They tell me it'll be a good thing some day :P

And one more thing. We have in our ward this couple that were baptized back in November. They hadn't been to church the past few months. They had become extremely argumentative and bitter. And they talk so much that nobody can even get a word in :/ They were simply having a rough time with things. Their home teacher went to see them on Saturday night. Before he left (after 2 1/2 hours of listening) he asked if they'd be at church. They said they didn't know. He asked them if they'd pray about it. They said they would. They came to church yesterday. It was a miracle.

Sorry this is so huge, and probably uber boring. But I hope everybody has a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Bowen