Elder Edholm -- week 62

We went to a zone conference this past week and we did a lot of practices, one of the most important things I learned at this zone conference was the importance of understanding somebody before trying to teach them.

So there is this guy that called us over one day named Victor who wanted us to pass by his house. We passed by and I shortly found out that his desires of wanting us to pass by weren't the best. He's Methodist and knows so much more about the Bible than I do. Just from the beginning I think he was just trying to tell us that we don't need another book, that it says in the Bible that God's word is perfect. I went home frustrated and angry because I didn't have the same amount of knowledge that he does about the Bible and just because contending makes me leave with a pit in my stomach. We had set another appointment, and the whole three days leading up to that appointment I was just feeling so anxious and not good because I knew he just wanted to maybe prove to us that our church is wrong. I decided I was going to go over there just simply to understand him and ask him what his intentions were in wanting us to pass by.

The day came, and my companion and I said a prayer before going into his house. We prayed that we would be able to feel the spirit and that our testimonies would touch him. We went in and I asked him that same question. He pretty much said his intentions were to learn, which I didn't believe all the way. But I told him that our purpose as missionaries is to teach those that will here and accept our message, that if we spend time with somebody that doesn't want to here or accept our message, than we are wasting our time. After I explained all that he understood very well, and it impacted him a lot, I could see him just kind of shrink a little bit, maybe realizing that his intentions weren't the best. We took advantage of this moment to show him 2 Timothy 3:14-16 that says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. We explained to him what the Book of Mormon is and our testimonies that we know that the Book of Mormon is scripture and that he can to if he reads and prays about it. He even accepted a Book of Mormon.

It was amazing to see how much more receptive he was after we took the time to understand him. We didn't show him any amazing profound knowledge we have, but yet he seemed extremely impacted by what we had said. It makes me realize that if we don't have a ton of knowledge about the Bible, that doesn't matter that much because that's not what's going to convert the people. The Holy Ghost is.

I love this work so much, and I love having the companionship of the Holy Ghost.