My new companion is Elder Ferguson! He's a stud, I love him already. We work well together! We actually served around each other in the Ypsilanti ward so it's not like I'm getting to know a brand new person. I'm looking forward to the time I get to spend with him. We had a busy week administratively with transfers and all that jazz. But we were still able to work in our area a bit so we were happy about that. A couple of experiences that stick out in my mind from this last week:
We went tracting Tuesday evening, it was about 8:45pm. We went somewhere close to our apartment and discovered some streets we didn't even know were there before! So we felt prompted to go down a certain one and we see this Father outside with his son on the driveway. We go up to talk with him and he is a super friendly guy. Says he's Catholic and that he's not looking to change so we asked him if he knew anybody who may be struggling in their life right now who we could go uplift. He said the first thought that came to mind was a house a ways down the street on the corner. So we go back to contact this referral in a couple of days and this lady answers the door. She answers it by saying something to the effect of: "It has been a crazy day! I'm fried! Gimme the word!" Hahahahahaha not a Detroiter or anything just a woman willing to hear the word of God. So we taught her the Restoration! You could tell her gears were turning as we discussed the reality of Christ's original Church on the Earth today. Set up a return appointment with her for this Tuesday. If we always talk with everyone and ask them for referrals whether they're interested or not, The Lord provides us with people who have been prepared to receive the Gospel.
Another happened Sunday evening at about 8pm. We chose a spot to go tracting as impressed by the Spirit and as we arrived I realized that I had never been to this place in our area before! It was kind of a hidden street, tucked away in the foliage surrounding a canal. Elder Ferguson says as we walk up to the first house, "These people are going to let us in! We are going to teach them The Restoration." We had faith and knocked on the door. This guy and his young daughter (probably about 10 years old) answered. We explained what we were sharing and started to teach them a little bit. The daughter was feeling the Spirit and you could see it on her face!! Such a big smile and a longing look towards her Dad, as if her spirit was saying, "let them in. What they have to share is good, and right!" However her Dad rejected the offer to learn more. We even re-asked him if he was interested in 2 other different ways. He still said he would like to pass. After he did this, his daughter piped up and said, "Your going to regret this Dad! They're trying to talk to you about Jesus more and you won't let them! Why not?? I can't handle this!" And she left, embarrassed for her Father's response. I then had a prompting to testify to him that his daughter had felt the Spirit and that God wanted him to hear us out, and that it would bring great blessings o his family. However I shrunk from this prompting! He said goodbye and as we left the door I felt this feeling of emptiness enter my heart and I asked God if He would like us to go back and give him one more shot, to try to "enter in by another way" as Alma of old was commanded. I didn't have a strong impression to do so and Elder Ferguson didn't feel strongly that we should either so we started to drive away to our next appointment. About halfway to our appointment I reasoned within my mind, that ALL good things come from God. Would I think of myself to go back and talk with this man again and try to convince him by the power of the Spirit that he should listen to our message?? Maybe, but even so, that is a GOOD THING. Therefore, it is of God. So I said, "We need to go back. We did, and as he opened the door I said, "Long time no see George!" and I explained that we didn't feel that we gave him enough information for him to make an informed decision whether to accept or reject our offer. We testified to him that his daughter had felt The Holy Ghost, and that the restored Gospel would bless his life. I felt the Spirit strongly right then, assuring me that we had made the right choice and that that original prompting to come back was of God. I know he felt the Spirit at that moment as well, as his countenance softened and he accepted to study and pray about the Restoration pamphlet that we gave him. We gave him our number and offered to help him with some yardwork he had to do and he said he would call us!
I know that if we follow the promptings of the Spirit courageously, then God will back us up with HIS power. I love The Lord and His work! May we all follow Him and the promptings He so freely gives us.
Elder Goff
Elder Ferguson and Elder Goff
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