French Toast, a Miracle, and “Dude, where’s my bike?”
January 19th, 2011
I had French Toast this morning. It was delicious. But the best part of it all was having that French Toast with my Uncle Gary, Aunty Cheryl, and all my sweet Cousins; Madison, Sidney, Thys, and Ellie! They drove up from their home in southern California yesterday, stayed the night at a hotel, and we met them this morning for a wonderful breakfast. We had a fantastic visit, I got to give them all hugs. It was great to see Ellie, since I’d never met her before! I love ‘em all. I’ve attached a picture, so check it out!
We had a good week. A great week in fact. We taught Jennifer, the referral from last Sunday, and she accepted to be baptized on February 5th! It was fantastic. So Elder Castillo and I have a lot work ahead helping her prepare for that. It’s a miracle. We were really praying and working for one. I’m glad it finally came. I know there are more out there.
Otherwise things are a little slow. A little cold. And like the title suggests, we’ve had some opposition. You see, every night when we come in, we take our bikes inside and park them in our living room area, right next to the front door. Nothing special. But, we woke up Friday morning to find that Elder Castillo’s bike… was gone! Yup, someone came into our apartment in the night, took the bike, and left. Mine was still there, fortunately. I guess they only had time to take his. It seemed as though almost everything else in the apartment was untouched. (I mean it’s not like we have anything valuable in the open) — terrifying, right?
Well, we’re fine! Elder Castillos had insurance, he’ll have a new bike in a couple days. The police caught someone with a gun near our complex that night. But I guess our apartment wasn’t on the report… so according to them “no on was in our apartment” — *sigh* I’m just glad we’re all safe. We always lock our door… but I guess someone forgot that night. I was passed out in bed. I’ve been fighting a nasty cold the last few days. Mostly sinus congestion, headaches, and fatigue. Bleh! Better now though, just getting my voice back. I sound like I’m hitting puberty all over again.
Went on a blitz last night. I was paired up with Elder Marcheschi, from Ogden UT. He’s my “Grandson”, since I trained his trainer. He’s a solid missionary! We met this guy named Steven who started off our conversation with a bunch of anti-Mormon stuff. I cracked a big smile right away. I’ve come to love people like this guy. He was throwing all sorts of stuff at us. He knew a lot. Pretty impressive really. He was very passionate. “You can’t prove the Book of Mormon”, he says, “Cities in the Bible can be found today, but in the Book of Mormon… blah blah” … “You can’t trust feelings!” he said. But that got me thinking…
“Sir, are you Christian?”, I asked.
“I sure am.”
“Sir, how do you know that Jesus is the Christ?”
“Well, it’s clearly recorded in History that in the Roman empire two witnesses were used to establish historical fact… blah.. Josephus… blah… So Christ’s ministry was well known and recorded.”
“I agree. But that’s not my question. Clearly Christ existed, and walked, and taught, but how do YOU know that he is the Christ, the Son of God, and your Savior?”
He then tried to explain his testimony of Christ. But sadly, he missed the mark. His testimony was not based on any witness from God. It was based only on fact. Only on his limited knowledge.
It was fun talking with him though. I smiled the whole time. People like Steven used to scare me. Now I loooove it! Ah… the things I’ve learned on my mission, and the people I’ve met!
Well. Three more weeks, my friends. It’s impossible not to think about it. Everyone I talk to seems to bring it up at some point. Trunky! :X
There’s so much work to do! Till next time!
Love,
Elder Macpherson




