Monday night was definitely one of the highlights of the entire week! We had been dropped off by the Sisters around 8 pm by Kevin's home in Butler PA. We were coming back from a dinner appointment and the Sisters were late for their lesson. They're nice enough because they usually drop us off close to where we need to go. Well we ended up getting to James' late- at 9:20 pm (we had told him 8:30). It took us forever to find where he lived. After knocking on a few doors on the street we were finally able to find him in 623 (he told us in town to go to 624 which didn't exist). However, we got in and made sure to immediately start with how we could come back another time. As we were talking to him, he brought up his dad and Fiancé who both passed away. I told him how he could be able to live with them as well as Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I also shared how God and Christ would receive them with open arms as they repented. He began to cry and told us it was a touchy subject. A scripture came to my mind (1st Corinthians 15:20-22) "through Christ all shall be made alive." He loved that scripture and we then shared with him in the Moroni 10:3-5 (in the Book of Mormon) and quoted verses 4&5 by memory. 🙌🏻👍🏻 I was looking into his eyes as I quoted this scripture, I could feel the Spirit so strongly and I knew that he felt something as well. So we invited him to be baptized. He told us that he would have to think about it and pray about it. So we invited him to pray right then with us and he accepted. We all kneeled down. He wasn't familiar how to say a prayer so I told him to repeat what I said. James prayed that he could know if February 25th was a good date for him to be baptized, if the B.O.M. was true and for the knowledge that his family is still alive in spirit form and they aren't gone forever. After this prayer we left. It was such an amazing lesson and night.
Valerie
As we were walking back to the apartment- it was about 10:15pm, a girl suddenly came out of a house on West Penn crying and balling. We asked her " is everything ok?" She responded "I don't know what to do. No I'm not okay." We asked what was going on and turns out her boyfriend was driving her insane and was being a punk and she "couldn't take him anymore." We asked where she was going she responded she didn't know. She then tells us " I wish I could just disappear." I was thinking NO WAY! This girl is thinking of committing suicide. Elder Ross and I were not going to leave her all alone in Butler with the mindset she had. We told her that we could walk with her and she declined. So then we proceeded to tell her that as missionaries we know that she is loved by a kind, loving God known as Heavenly Father and that He is our literal father. That he wants to help us in all of our difficulties and struggles. We also told her that God cannot forsake us or abandon us and how he shows his love is through his son Jesus Christ who knows all of what we go through emotionally. As we were talking with her she begins laughing and smiling rather than crying and talking negatively. We continued to teach her that we are all God's children and we are all loved by God. We asked her if she believed in that God? She said "yes." We continued to tell her He loves her and He wants her to return and live with Him in Heaven forever. As I was talking to her, I began to tear up because I knew that night it was one child of God talking to another child of God out of pure love. Elder Ross, being a boss, invited Valerie to pray. She told us she had never uttered a prayer in her life- neither in her heart or out loud- and she was confused on what to even say. So Ross, being very inspired, asked "If God was standing right here in front of you, what would you say?" She told us what she would say and we said that saying that would be perfect. So this woman, Valerie age 25, feeling so alone in life prayed to God for the first time in her life that night. She asked Heavenly Father to help her find peace, to come to know that she wasn't alone or forgotten and to help her in life. The prayer she said was so beautiful and from the heart. The spirit was soooo strong!!!!!! By the end of our conversation, Valerie was smiling and laughing- a complete 180 degrees. The Spirit TRULY can change us into new creatures. That night I will NEVER forget and Valerie will always hold a special place in my heart. We exchanged numbers and we told her we wanted to make sure that she was ok. She told us she was going to go back into her boyfriend's house and she would let us know. We left and got home around 11:30pm. We texted her and asked if she was safe and good. She responded "Yes!" We also left her with a Book of Mormon so hopefully she will read that too! We do change lives out here and I don't think very many people who don't go on missions experience experiences these kiinds of things. I'm very grateful for the experiences I've had.
President and Sister Johnson visit
This week President and Sister Johnson came to visit and Sister Johnson gave an amazing training which helped out a lot. I'm very grateful for her and her training- it was something that I needed to hear as well as share. We were talking about stress that we experience as missionaries- when we experience it the most and when do we feel discouraged or beaten down. As others were sharing what stresses them out Sister Johnson looks at me and asks Elder Cahoon, "what stresses you out?" I shared how I struggle with feeling good enough and comparing myself to others. I brought up how I feel like a failure sometimes. I talked about how I had FANTASTIC older brothers and they were amazing at what they did and I always felt I never measured up to them. I then brought up if you compare yourself to others you are never going to be happy. I said those are the kinds of feelings Satan wants us to have- it is easy for Satan to work on those thoughts. Having those kinds of thoughts are NOT from God but from Satan. Sister Johnson appreciated my comment and mentioned that I had a strength of making others feel loved and cared for and that was so pleasing to hear.
The next day, Sister Johnson butt dialed me by accident. Of course I didn't realize this so I called her back. She told me that she had mistakenly called me; however she told me how grateful she was for my real comments and she shared with me an experience she had growing up. I'm soooo grateful for the Johnsons; they both help me a ton!!!!!
Brady Varner
We had a great lesson with a new investigator, Brady. We got to see him and we even got to have his father sit in for a lesson. As we were discussing the importance of the B.O.M. and how it affects each of us, Brady brought up how he had an special dream where he saw a person he felt was God and he talked to Him. He told us he woke up overwhelmed with joy. He asked if that was an answer to prayer. We told him that God can speak to us through the Holy Ghost in dreams. We shared with him the story of Lehi and his family in the Book of Mormon; how in his dream he had great feelings of joy too. We also shared the story of Joseph Smith and how he acted in faith to receive answers to his questions. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. He unfortunately didn't make it to church this week.
Awkward street contact
As we were walking the streets of Butler, a girl with no shoes was standing outside of her house. We stopped to talk with her for a little bit. We began talking to her about the B.O.M. and about our purpose as missionaries. As we were talking with her she was pretty restless- moving around and looking around a lot. As we continued to talk she was getting more and more restless with her body. We asked her if something was wrong and she told us she was waiting for her grandparents to pick her up. We asked her what they were doing picking her up. She responded, "well, my father is getting sent to jail right now because my mom had a drug overdoe." (So a little side note about Butler. In the city of Butler an average of at least 2 people per day die due to drug overdose, specifically heroin. It's one of the highest drug OD areas in Pennsylvania.) Elder Ross and I were in shock and we told her we were sorry. We left her with our number and we told her to give us a call back anytime. As we began to walk away, her grandparents show up. Then the police, which had been in the house, came out and her mom's body was covered on the gurney. That is now the third dead body I've seen in PA.
Bible Basher
So for those who don't know, we see and talk to people who want to argue with us about the scriptures. I'm sure this is no different than anywhere else. This gentleman asked if we were Mormons and we excitedly said "yes" thinking it was someone interested... far from it.🙄 At first he was nice but then out of nowhere he began to tell us how we aren't Christians and how we are following false truths. Yea, yea. The usual. I've heard it all before. You know I don't care if people have questions and want them answered- I'd be more than happy to discuss things with them. However, I don't like it when people just attack and don't care what you have to say. As he was talking he asked me a question and I just straight up told him I wasn't there to Bible bash. "That we invite others to"... and before I could finish he cuts me off and just proceeds to tell me what we do is wrong. He wasn't even taking the time to listen. Still love the guy and I know he had good intentions to help us but he didn't care what we had to say. We had one of our investigators walk by right then (we were actually going to see him) and he saves us from this guy. Thank goodness for our friend JD!!!! So we told the man goodbye and God bless!
JD
We had a great lesson with JD we talked about preparing to be baptized. He is on probation so he has to wait a year or so to be baptized. Is is working on living the standards any member would. He has had some serious back problems and it's made it difficult for him to attend but he wanted to come this week and he did!!!! He has been trying to set an example for his wife and he is really pushing himself to be able to help her as well as himself.
2nd week (this past week)
Joe (member present- Tom Matson)
We got to see our friend with a baptismal date (it is currently set for February 25th). He is learning and applying what he's being taught. He loves coming to church and doing those things we invite him to participate in. We had a lunch and a lesson at Tom's (he is a great member whom ran the Addiction Recovery Program in Cranberry when I was in Ambridge. Always did a fabulous job. I look up to him). We had sandwiches- Ross and Tom ate outside while Joe and I stayed inside where it was warm. I got to talk to him one on one and he was excited to be baptized. He was grateful he met me and that we were teaching him. He told me the Gospel helps him in life even if he doesn't understand everything! BOOM!!! Joe knows what faith is!!!! In our lesson we taught Joe about the 10 commandments and the Law of Chastity. He was familiar with the 10 commandments but the Law of Chastity was new for him. He has a girlfriend but he told us that he only kisses her. We congratulated Joe with the respect he had for her and himself and most importantly God. Brother Matson shared a story about coveting. He told about how he was laying bricks for these super rich people. He said he got up earlier than them, worked harder than them but they were still making the big bucks and he wasn't. He told us he let this get to him and began asking God "Why don't I have any of this?" He kept getting more and more upset when he realized one day that needed to start looking at his blessings. Once he began looking at the things God gave him, he couldn't count all he blessings he had been given! He truly was grateful for what God had given him and watched his actions from then on out.
We are working on getting more members involved with Joe and planning out his baptism this next week!!!!🤗😝 so excited! He is excited for his baptism and was telling people at church about it!
James
We went back to go see our friend James and he is preparing for his baptismal date. We have to teach simply and go at a slow pace for him so it may take longer than we initially thought. We read with him in 1st Nephi and helped him understand a little bit more about the B.O.M. and he was able to understand what he was reading. We invited him to read another section so that he could know for himself that this was good for him. Then as we concluded the lesson James told us of a friend that he wanted us to go see! Her name was Sara and he felt that she would be interested in what we have to say and teach. So we called Sara and set up an appointment for the next day! James is awesome!!!!😊😃 So glad we are working with him and helping him.
Sara
Part 1
The next day we got Brother Matson to come out with us to go see Sara. She was a little shy talking to us in person at first but as we sat and talked with her about her 2 year old she relaxed and then she was really open with us. There's something out here in Pennsylvania we refer to as "the PA ramble." People just talk and talk and talk and it doesn't relate at all and is totally off the wall- just about anything and everything. Well she started rambling. We also don't want to be rude and interrupt her but we needed to start teaching and we eventually managed it. She mentioned to us that she has seen visions and has had felt the Spirit but she feels like people laugh at her and make fun of her for experiences. Well Brother Matson said, "That's great because that how our church was restored- through visions and experiences with God." She almost jumped out of her chair. She couldn't believe what we had to say and she told us she wanted to be a part of this but that she had family that might disprove of her learning and joining the church. She was hesitant and told us that she would need time to think and pray about he B.O.M. She was absolutely GOLDEN!!!!
Part 2
We went back Saturday night with our great friend, Kevin, who has been coming out with us. As we went into her home, Sara began telling us how she downloaded the Gospel Library app and already listened to 5 chapters in the Book of Mormon! She told us that she loves it and though she has a few learning disabilities she told us she feels that it is true and makes her heart feel warm inside. She is learning the truth of these things for herself and she is loving it and doing what she needs to. That night we talked about faith and repentance and she had many questions. She said that she has always gotten mad about Christ's crucifixtion because "no one that pure should have ever died for those who rejected him." We then were able to share with her that even though it is sad and painful to know that he suffered, it was all a part of God's plan; that Jesus Christ needed to suffer so that He could help save all of us from death; that repentance is key in living with God again; that repentance is a blessing; that through Christ's suffering, He is able to heal our wounds because of His love for us and because he knows everything we go through. We read with her Helaman 5:41-42, 44-45. Then Elder Ross told her that Jesus Christ had to die and be resurrected so that we could also be resurrected and return to live with God again. She looked him dead in the eye and said, "That makes sense. What you just said made perfect sense." It was great! She told us she was 110 percent coming to and she did!!!!!! She had a great experience at church and she felt the Spirit in Fast and Testimony meeting as well as in Relief Society. She had an amazing time!!!!! She has a baptismal date for March 11th!!!!!! It's going to be great!
INCREDIBLE NEWS!!!!!!!!
So I got a text from the Ambridge Sisters in the Wexford Ward and they have been teaching Balaziah- remember her!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Remember, Elder Schofield and I got a referral from church headquarters about how she wanted a Book of Mormon. So Balaziah has accepted a baptismal date with the Sisters!!!!!!!!!!! Isn't that amazing????!!!!!!!!!!! She is getting baptized February 18th!!!!!! The Sisters told me that Balaziah talks about me all the time and that when they asked Balaziah who she wanted to baptize her personally she requested me.😳😳😳😳😭😭😭😄😄😄😄🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻😱😱😱😱😱😱 I was BLOWN AWAY!!!!!!!!!! I told them I would LOOOOOOOVE TO DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to write President and see if he gives me permission since her ward is not in my area. I will update you and let you know what happens with that! AAAAAAGAGAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! So exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
