Old School Book of Mormon

Getting ready to role play at Zone Conference

Zone Conference group shot

This week started out well. On Tuesday, we received a Bible referral. Now, 96 percent of the time that we receive Bible referrals, it usually is someone who just wants to show off their wide biblical knowledge and doesn't usually care too much to listen to our message. This guy actually turned out to be a pastor named Anthony, which made me super happy because I have been wanting to talk to a pastor for some time now. He was a real nice guy who we had a pleasant conversation with. He doesn't affiliate with any sort of religious denomination. (Like many, he used some arbitrary scriptural verse in the Bible to justify his own beliefs, but that's okay.) He's the type of pastor that conducts funerals and preaches in the prison and other houses of worship. He told us he would set up an event where we could be guest speakers in the prison and other houses of worship, which made me very happy. I've always wanted to preach, and this is my chance to do so. Also, Anthony told us that his mom was actually a super strong member of the LDS church and he had an old version of the Book of Mormon! He showed it to us which was real fascinating, because old Book of Mormons have pictures of archaeological artifacts that could represent artifacts from the time period from which the Book was written. 

Pictures from old Book of Mormon

We weren't able to teach any lessons to our three investigators at all this past week because they all worked late, but they all came to church yesterday, which shows that they desire to progress. Our ward mission leader set up a Family Home Evening activity for us and invited all of our investigators, so hopefully they have a good experience. 

On Wednesday, we saw a huge miracle. We were out knocking doors, and noticed one house on the street that had several cars come and go in a space of only a few minutes, which indicated to us that it possibly was occupied by people who sell drugs. However, I felt that we should knock it, and we did. The guy that answered the door told us that he was hoping we would knock the door when he first saw us, because he is a member who has been inactive for awhile, but feels that he needs to come back to church. He came outside, and we pulled up a few chairs and talked with him for awhile. We asked him what he missed, and he said he missed the guidance of the Holy Ghost in his life. He specifically remembers times in his life when the Spirit prompted him to "not go to that party" or to avoid a certain area of town, and he has seen the consequences of ignoring those warnings. He is currently going through a real hard time with regards to some legal issues, but we assured him that the Savior will never give up on him, and that we'll be there for him. Some of his buddies also showed up during this time, and they are going through some of the same struggles, and showed a desire to change, so we'll see where that goes. As I was pondering this event, I realized that it is possible that we were led to Anthony, the pastor, who would help us get into the prison to teach, and led to these guys who we might be able to teach, too.

Anyways, I love ya'll sons and daughters of God, and I hope that this email finds each of you well. If not, feel free to send an email my way, I'm always happy to help in any way I can, even if I only can on Mondays.

Elder Josh Barrus