Starting from Scratch

With good spirits!

Thanks for all the great suggestions and tips, yall. We're going to put in most, if not all of them. Mostly Mike's. He suggested that, while knocking doors, to bear testimony more often. It seems to me that I had got comfortable falling into a rhythm of trying to small-talk people into their house, which works sometimes, but doesn't really get the message across. We had mission conference this last week, and they talked about the exact predicament that we're in... Running out of Investigators. Kind of odd, they didn't really talk much about bearing testimony too much, but they did talk about not falling into a routine. We did have some meaningful conversations with people after the conference, but we didn't get into any houses nor new investigators (after conference, before we did =D). But I have a really good feeling about the whole bearing testimony. Seems like missionaries don't really bear testimony enough in the mission. We do it when we're "supposed to," for example, when teaching the Restoration. It seems like we bear our testimony, but not in a direct manner... Hard to explain. But I'm going to be more direct with the people, tell them what God has told me is true, and invite them to learn the same.

Here's something else that we're starting to do. We're praying more often, and more sincere. Never before in my mission have we started a round of knocking doors with a prayer, but we decided to do that this week, and we had amazing results. President Wilhelm told me it was because we invited God to work with us, so of course he's going to give us success. This gave us a boost of confidence which we thought would give us success every time we did it. Not long after, we stopped having success, which left me slightly confused. In conference, Presidente Wilhelm touched on that subject as well. He read to us D&C 121, the following:

36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.

So the jist of it is, we stopped having success because our sincerity went away in our prayers, we stopped working with the principles of righteousness, and started to work to satisfy a vain ambition, and gratify pride. Hmm.... Rather humbling. I must go pray.

e'horspool