Hello everyone, welcome back to story time with Elder Coxson. Oh boy this was an interesting week so I'll jump right into it.
First off, I now live in Pacific Beach. I was transferred over today with a new companion named Elder A. We're white washing an area, which means that both missionaries are being replaced. We're gonna have to do a lot of reading up and planning, because we don't have a point of reference on the area. It's gonna be hype.
I'm gonna miss Lakeside, the people are the best. The next companionship there has a lot of great work set up and ready for the taking. Yesterday on Monday, we went over to a member home for a quick lesson. When we got there, they were sitting in their living room trying to put a 3D-printed cast on a duck with deformed knees... It's definitely one of the most random things that I've seen out here. We got their gears turning on missionary work and who around them could be invited to come closer to Christ.
We have a new friend we are teaching, and he's a member of another Christian church in Lakeside. We met with him Sunday morning in an attempt to try and get him to church, but he told us he would only go if we went to his church first. We agreed, so we exchanged times and addresses. Later that day, we pull up to this small little chapel. We park and as we were walking up we hear this loud beat coming from the door. Maybe for somebody who's been to another church wouldn't be surprised, but I thought that we were at the wrong place. Our friend comes out the door says he's glad to see us, so we head on in.
Inside it's dark with a lit stage. On the stage there is a small band playing gospel music, and all the people are jumping up and down, waving their arms. Is this normal for other Christian churches? Not sure, but it was not what I was expecting at all. The music goes on for about an hour with people singing and bopping to Jesus songs, then the preacher stands up. The piano keeps playing while he's talking, and he quotes Malachi about Tithing. They pass around a collection basket for people to donate to the church. Definitely a different church.
After the preacher finishes, the pastor stands up and the piano stops. And he goes off about the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ. And this wasn't your traditional church talk that we're used to in Utah. No no, he was screaming his lungs out to make sure the deaf people can hear. Wow, was that something. My ears are still ringing from the loud music and that pastor's sermon.
Now here's the weird part. After the sermon ended they went back to playing their music. We stand up to leave, and somebody asks my companion if they could pray for him. So they take us into the center of the rave, put their hands on his forehead and start shouting gibberish... Very weird. I don't know how other Christian churches do church, but that seemed pretty different than what I am used to. But it was a good opportunity to see church like our friends go to ours for the first time. What in the world are these people doing, ripping bread into pieces and then praying for it? Or what are they doing having secret temples that only members can enter? It's good to have that perspective now. I bet their practices make lots of sense to them, but made no sense to me as somebody who hasn't been immersed in their culture.
On Friday, we didn't have any lessons planned so we went over to an apartment complex. We asked people over there if they wanted to learn more about Jesus or have a message of peace and got some follow-up appointments. But a few people were very interesting. They had Christian backgrounds and were very opinionated about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One guy we had run into 3 different times. The first 2 times, he wasn't interested in hearing from us, but the 3rd time we knew it wasn't a coincidence. This guy was there on purpose. We brought up the gospel and he got super angry about us mocking Jesus with the Book of Mormon.
This may sound weird, but it was actually a good testimony builder for me. That night I flipped through the pages, reading through the different testimonies of the Savior from different prophets of old. And I thought, how could any devil inspire such a strong testimony of the source of all that is good? As I read, I felt the spirit confirming my thoughts.
One thing that's definitely been boosted as I've been out here is my ability to recognize the spirit. We can read Galations 5:22-23 all we want, but knowing how the spirit speaks to us individually is a personal journey. And through the Bible bashing and visiting other churches my relationship with the spirit has grown a lot. I know a bit more of what I'm looking for and how I can invite the Holy Ghost into my life a bit more. It's often taken for granted, but the Gift of the Holy Ghost has been critical for the work here in San Diego.
So my new companion set off the fire alarm today while making lunch, that's the subject line. Nothing else to it, just kinda funny.
A cool miracle happened that I wanna share. There are two Elders in my district that has a friend that's progressing towards baptism. Just for a fun activity, they took him over to the Mormon Battalion museum. When the Elders arrived, some Sister missionaries came running over and told them that a lady had came in to get a priesthood blessing. The Elders gave her a blessing for a health thing she was going through.
The neat part about that story is that the lady was not a member and had never heard of the Priesthood. Priesthood is the power of God, and it can be used to bless people's lives through faith in Jesus Christ. The night before, that lady had a dream she went to the MoBat museum and was healed by two young men in white shirts and ties. She went over to the museum the next morning and described what she dreamed to the Sister missionaries there.
What an amazing display of faith, it's amazing to see where God puts people to run into other people. Being able to be a part of it has been absolutely amazing. Just like D&C 4 says, a marvelous work is taking place here.
Now that I've written down what happened, I guess it wasn't that crazy of a week. Had some crazy parts, that's for sure. The weeks are flying by, can't believe that I'm 12.5% through. This'll be a good transfer, just you wait. Pacific Beach won't know what hit it.
Have an amazing week! Kick that devil out of your life and live to your fullest.
-- Elder Coxson
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