Teaching Eugene

Hello Everybody!!!!

Ahhhh what a week!  It's been incredible and I LOVE being a missionary. Seriously, if somebody had told me a year ago when I left that I'd feel the fire that I do now, I would have just smiled and nodded and been like "Ok, yeah sure." I love the members, our investigators, the missionaries in our zone, and especially my wonderful companion! Elder Stuart and I get getting along better and better everyday. He's so unique  - haha - and not afraid to be himself.

We're so busy! We have several people who have baptismal dates right now. Two of them are 9 year old kids whom we are teaching and preparing for baptism in a few months. They're so great! Their families haven't been to church in a long time but it's powerful to watch them change as they come back to church and the Spirit enters their lives again. They just get happier and happier every week.

This week, instead of writing a poem, I think that I'll describe one of my favorite people using verbose vocabulary that I'd use if I were writing a fantasy novel. So I'll describe our investigator Eugene, an amazing, brilliant man who has his PhD in anthropology. He's preparing to be baptized next month. Here we go...

A clap of thunder shakes the windows of the church. Rain pelts down in sheets as we wait patiently, yet anxiously, for the phone call to come. We've planned. We've studied. We've spent days, even weeks, preparing for the next hour. This is the time when years of study finally pay off. We talk quickly but quietly in hushed and reverent tones, our voices echoing in the chapel hall of the church. We discuss scriptures, stories, all things to assist us for what is about to come.

The phone rings. We answer. A monotone, yet energetic and calculating voice comes over the speaker and we converse for a moment. He's here. It's time.

Up we stand, pacing briskly to the foyer and then to the door. We continue talking, finalizing plans, offering insights, preparing always. We open the door, the pouring rain splashes us. We look around for a minute, searching the wind swept scene. Branches fall in the wind and rain, leaves scatter across the parking lot. Then, squinting, he comes into view through the darkness.

Head down, hands in pockets, he approaches. Around the corner, down the sidewalk, across the parking lot. The rain doesn't phase him. His purple button down shirt is tucked into grey slacks, which fall a little short, revealing white socks that strike dissonance with his black shoes. He raises his hand to push his wide rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose, then raises his head as he comes closer, raising his hand in salutation.

His appearance is humble, even ragged, but the fire in his eyes gives off his burning intellect. They look this way and that, glancing about in such a way that paints of picture of numbers and objects constantly flowing through his mind; always calculating, always learning, always growing. He's come prepared, and so have we.

So anyway, cliffhanger to an incredible lesson that we had on Thursday night with him! He's so incredible - he thinks very logically but he's changed so much and it's been powerful to watch his faith grow and grow.

Love you all! I hope you have a great week!!