This past Thursday was neat because there was a training in Bologna for the District Leaders and Sister Training Leaders in my area, around the south of the mission. So I ran into several other missionaries who are DL's (District Leaders), and Sister Welch from my group is an STL in this zone.
TRAINING TIPS. The training was about how to conduct effective companion exchanges, how to run district meetings, how to do baptismal interviews, and some advice for leading others. It was good training, with many things I can put into practice.
FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE. One thing I can work on is scheduling further in advance those things that I can plan pretty far out, like exchanges. And as a leader, I could definitely spend more time giving positive, constructive feedback -- rather than noticing something nice but not mentioning it, letting the person know I liked something they did. And I could put more thought into setting goals. Lots of things to work on of course, but if you work on too many at once, it becomes overwhelming.
Sunday was exciting because several of the people we're working with came to church! The purpose of teaching is to help people come closer to Christ, eventually through baptism, and part of being a member is coming to church regularly -- each Sunday. So when people come for the first time it's exciting, because they can meet members and see how church meetings work.
Tuesday, we ran into a strange man who said he knew Joseph Smith was a prophet because he had read the Pearl of Great Price (another book of scripture we have). He said there was a place where it says God is not pleased when people eat meat. We asked if he was a vegetarian, and he said yes...and fish.
"But fish is a meat," we said. "No," he said, "it's not mineral, and it's not animal, so it's vegetable, like a fruit." Now we know: fish are fruit.
We couln't find his scripture reference. Maybe it was Doctrine and Covenants (another book of scripture). He claimed to be from a really old religion in Chaldea...the priests who tried to sacrifice Abraham? He offered us a copy of their holy book, the Bhagavad Gita, but now is not the time for us to be studying that.
HOMEMADE LASAGNA. I made a couple of "Italian" things this week: a pizza, again. Kormylo is pretty straight-to-business, so it didn't take that long. I also made lasagna for the first time. It wasn't difficult, but I did half pesto, and half meat/tomato sauce. The pesto half was too strong, and the meat half wasn't flavored enough. So I know for next time.
I learned (ok, RE-learned) that there are some people who just won't be placated and who insist on being angry at God, so you have to just let them be. It's sad, and a little annoying when they vent at you, but all you can do is say that God loves them, give them a pass-along card (with our info on it in case they want to talk later), and leave.
I also got the package from you, of the notes from the 5-year-olds from church. Very cute--thanks!
Love, Anziano Whitesell
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