Dear everybody!
Man, so this week was without a doubt the craziest yet on my mission. Lots and lots of great mission stories and great stereotypes that missionaries get that I haven't experienced yet until now! How fun :) Well, some not really, but still pretty sweet. Let me give you the roll down.
So it was a BEAUTIFUL week here in Madison, I've been hearing lots of people say that the only reason they live here and endure the miserable winters is to have days like the ones we have had this week. So that's sweet! The only problem I've got with it is that it's so dang windy sometimes. Isn't my life hard? Yeah...I'm trying not to complain as much but the wind is super lame when you are biking all over. Ah well. But we were able to have alot of really great appointments and this week and were able to meet some great people.
We met a guy named Tim Crisp, by definition he is an "eternigator". He has met with several missionaries in the past and believes the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, he's got a quad, a firm testimony, and he says prayers like a champ. He is the perfect Mormon. But all eternigators seem to have one hold up. He feels that he isn't consistent enough in things like prayer and scripture study. This guy rocks! I told him straight up that he would make a perfect Mormon and that we and God need him. (There's another example of how I've changed! I've become much more bold in what I say!) But he's super great. He has read the entire quad and has a testimony of everything. But now we've just hit this brick wall of what to do. One thing that he said though that made me feel the Holy Ghost was that we had answered his prayers that day. I had heard of this guy and just how amazing and how strong a testimony he has and I just was like, I want to meet this guy! He sounds cool! So we gave him a call, I left a message (Elder Roberts hates the phone so I have to call everybody all the time!!!!), he called us back about a week later and we set up a time. But he said that he had prayed that he would be able to come back in contact with the missionaries on duty here in Madison again and here comes along Elder Kissell, just wanting to meet this cool guy in the area book! The Holy Ghost is cool. I've come to learn that to feel the Holy Ghost or have promptings by it, your thoughts don't have to be "heavenly" or thoughts that in a sense aren't yours. Does that make sense? All I wanted to do was meet this guy who I heard was awesome. I've heard of other experiences from missionaries that they wanted to go to see one investigator but they remember an old investigator in the area they're in right then and they go and see them and they set a baptismal date with them! All the Holy Ghost has to do is put a simple thought into your mind. There has to be SO many times in a day where the Holy Ghost prompts us and we don't even realize it. It's awesome.
We spent some time working with less active and returning members of the singles ward this week and 2/3 of them came to church!!! Yeah!!!! It's so stinkin fun to work in the singles ward. We played frisbee golf, ate brats, and taught a lesson to with one of these guys and with the other we talk about sports and then have a lesson with him. He's so sweet. He has like 14 various sports balls and a Louisville Slugger in his living room. Needless to say, we get along good. And he FINALLY CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!! And the third, we don't know why he doesn't come. He's the brightest guy and has a super strong testimony. This work is tough folks, sometimes it's like trying to put a puzzle together that doesn't have all the pieces. We have to make those pieces and hope that they fit.
We saw Martin again too. Guess what? He's actually been looking for jobs this week! But nothing has come up yet. But we're just happy he is doing something now. We met with Bo a few times and he's disappeared again, but we'll run into him in the next couple days I'm assuming. He still isn't making progress with anything. Donnette is still truckin along. Still has a great strong testimony.
So now, time for cool missionary stories. So Friday was a crazy day as it was, filled to the brim with appointments, and because of that we had to bike. To start the day off, we had gotten a referral from the MTC for a guy who lives in the dorms and we decided to go contact him. We just walked in with a ton of other kids and went up the elevator and tried to contact this guy. He wasn't home, but man... Can I just say I'm grateful I'm going to be going to BYU-I? The whole co-ed dorm thing can't be good. Especially the way these girls dress (or don't dress, however you want to put it). But looking back, it was a miracle in and of itself we even got to the right floor we wanted! That place had some sweet security and you had to have a swipe card to go on the stairs and a key to use the elevator. We just followed the crowd! But that probably won't happen again. But moving right along... we biked along the lake and I kicked a goose in the head on accident haha. Stupid goose. It got mad but I'm faster than he is! But same day, right before we got to Donnettes, it started to rain a little, and then during the opening prayer, BOOOOOOMMMM!!!! Huge thunder clap! Man...and then we look outside and it's dumping, but then it stops and gets sunny again! But of course, it starts up again right before we head out. So we had to ride in the pouring rain and we got totally soaked. You know how I told you I haven't washed my slacks yet on my mission? Well, I still haven't, but the rain did a pretty good job on one pair! But we were soaked. And that's an understatement. How great! All my passalong cards got wet and junked up as did my white handbook and yeah, fun fun. And I guess that day there was a tornado watch!!! How exciting! It was a watch, not a warning though. Since it's a watch, that just means the conditions are right for a tornado. It was definetely windy and pretty cruddy looking out there! I can tell ya first hand.
Saturday, man where do I start? We helped a guy in the ward move a dresser to an office building downtown at like 9 in the morning and when we get down there, there's tons of college kids out! 9 in the morning! Most of them drinking and dancing around of course. 9 in the morning. Come on! We had no idea what we would be getting ourselves into later that day. We went home, had our studies, and then out we head on our day. I needed to send a package so we caught the bus downtown and while on the bus, some bum saw us and practically ran off the bus to talk to us. He wanted to bash with us and he wanted to know where a Goodwill was, bums are fun. Went and mailed my package, and then off to catch a bus to see Martin. Little did we know that the craziest event either of us had seen in our life lie in between the post office and the bus stop. Thousands upon thousands of college kids were roaming the streets of Madison and we keep walking and talking, discovering most of them to be drunker than a sailor, and then walking into the University of Wisconsin renowned Mifflin Street Block Party. Holy cow. The stench of alcohol was so bad, the environment was terrible, the feeling there was horrid. We saw alot of crazy stuff. When we got out of that crowd, we were both shaking and just felt terrible. We hadn't done anything but we just felt covered in sin because of the environment we were in. It was the CRAZIEST thing I have ever seen and I hope to never see anything like it. And it just so happens to be Madisons 2nd worst (or best, depending on who you are) party to go to. But guess what?! That's not all! We get to Martins and nope, he's not there yet. So this black lady comes out and she starts talking to us and she says "you don't mind if I drink and smoke right now do ya?" I said "well no, but there's better ways to get happier than doing that!" And then she just flipped out on me tellin me that I had a smart mouth and all this other crazy stuff. She said that the both of us would be a great married couple (uhhh....no we wouldn't) because we disagree on everything. And she was like "if you think you're so smart, how about you tell me how old I am." Elder Roberts answered first and said 35, she says "man, that's pretty close! How bout you smart boy?" I said 37. She just shook her head and said, "dang, this boy is smart!" Haha. But she was pretty drunk and pretty out of it. She didn't like me but she said I had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Second compliment I got about my eyes that day! Neat. But then Martin finally came home and I faked a phone call that he had called me so we could get out of there because she was getting drunker as the minutes went by. Had our lesson with Martin and then went the long way home so we could avoid that party. But even by our apartment, a pretty decent part of campus, there were parties going on there! Campus life, ain't it great?
Sunday was such a crazy day of mixed emotions. There was a baby blessing whic was really neat. Then right after, the first conselor announced that a young father, one of my favorite people in the ward, had passed away unexpectedly that morning. He was in his mid 30's, PhD student, 3 young kids, 8,7, and 4, and he died as a result of an aortic dissection. I, as was the entire ward, was pretty sad. Life is such a fragile, you never know when it will be your time. So live it to the fullest every single minute. I've had lots of experiences where I've seen the need to do that, lots of unexpected medical events that make you think twice about life. So live the gospel, love your family, have fun, and have no regrets. We had really great corolation meetings in both wards, in the singles ward we had an intermediate prayer for a recent convert who is slowly becoming less active, it was super powerful. It was a super emotionally trying day. Times where I was crying and times where I was greatly rejoicing.
This week has been psycho. Being a missionary is quite the experience and I absolutely love it. Keep me, my comp, my area, and my investigators in your prayers. Keep those letters comin. Keep being the best people I know.
I love all of you.
Love
Elder Jesse Kissell
pictures
1. I forgot my camera! Sorry!
No comments:
Post a Comment