Family,
Fun fact about Montreal. You can't turn right on a red light. VERY illegal. Crazy eh? Just on the island, the rest of Quebec you're fine.
This week has been very fulfilling, but very stressful. One of our teams has been struggling, and it finally reached critical mass and we had to have an emergency transfer. Wednesday night I went on splits with the Zone leaders to try and find a reasonable solution to this problem, but the final result was an E.T. That night, by the time we had spoken to all parties and swapped teams around to make everyone happy, we arrived at the Zone Leaders' apartment at Midnight. Sigh...There is a couple of hours of sleep I'll never get back. Quite the all day extravaganza. STRESS. Ah well, this week is over.
Elder Dalton and I have been focusing on being more bold with our teaching, and it is paying off. More people are progressing and more are being found, it's great. Something big is going to happen here in this area soon, we've involved as many members as possible, everyone is getting excited.
There was one certain experience we had that rather frustrated me. We were on the metros, and I contacted a man that was super interested, asked questions and worked with me to better understand the Book of Mormon. In fact, during the contact we spoke of baptism and he showed interest and asked what he needed to do to qualify for baptism. It was a wonderfully spirit packed discussion, and as I showed him a scripture in the Book of Mormon, another man came up, and waved his hand to get my investigator's attention. Turns out this other man, (whom elder Dalton and I have dubbed STEVE) was a catholic missionary who was passing out rosemary chains to interested parties. He interrupted me and introduced himself by telling us how messed up the mormons are. He went on for a couple minutes, just spouting off blatant blasphemy, and then something that confused me. He spoke of virgin Mary, and showed us all how to pray to her, using the beads--one of the most complicated systems I have ever seen. The Spirit was gone, obviously, and Elder Dalton and I were trying our hardest to not argue, to give this man the same kind of respect that we in fact deserved. It amazes me what power lies in Moroni's promise, and how great it is to say with full confidence, "Ask God, and He will tell you if it's true." No other religion I have encountered trust their religion, or even trust God enough that they would share the same challenge. We offered this invitation to this Catholic Missionary, but unfortunately he only prays to Mary. Thus, he cannot ask God if our message is true. Hmmmm.... I don't get frustrated with people, but I get frustrated when people act under misguided faith in incorrect principles. I found that the bible dictionary section on FAITH is very informative. I recommend you read the effects of faith, and the change of perspective that leads to repentance.
Unfortunately the investigator guy walked away, not interested in learning anymore. We left them with a strong testimony, hopefully later he will find the truth again. As for the Heckling Catholic missionary, it saddens me that two young men must be better dressed, and more mature when sharing the message of LOVE and RESPECT and HAPPINESS. He must have missed that day in 6th grade. We pray for him, we pity his misunderstanding, respect his desire, and condone his method of sharing.
But in all reality, the work is going forth much too strong to be stopped by anything. We got more baptisms this month than ever as a mission here in Quebec. Things are progressing. The work is rolling forth.
Peace be the Journey,
Elder Holm (1)
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