After complaining about a lack of things to write about last week I certainly got what I was asking for this week.
This week has brought a lot of contact with death. One of our investigators died on Sunday. He passed away after struggling with pretty aggressive cancer for some time. It's strange to think that he's gone, that just under a month ago I was teaching him the plan of salvation. We went to visit him before he passed away. He smiled when he saw us come in which surprised his nurses. We gave him and his wife Priesthood blessings. That was the last day that he was really fully conscious.
When he passed away on Sunday we stopped by the family and said a prayer with them and read scriptures about the resurrection. It was a good reminder about what we celebrate and remember in this Easter season. I liked Pres. Monson's scripture that he shared in conference from Job that says, "If a man dies, will he live again?" I shared that one with them. So now we're helping them plan the funeral with our Bishop. His wife actually wants to have the service in our building, which will be a nice way to share the hope of the Gospel. His wife and two little daughters need all of our prayers at this time.
A less active member of our ward passed away this week as well. We'd been by to visit him a couple of times and had put up with his extremely long stories about how much things used to cost "back in the day." His non-member daughter had started listening to us, but has been understandably busy with her father's sickness and passing. They were going to have the service at the Church, too, but the family changed their minds and decided to have a Catholic service instead. So we went to that yesterday with Bishop. Catholic funerals are interesting. I've decided that if I ever need quick money I'll go into the Catholic funeral business. It seems to me that all you need are just robes, holy water, and a book with the mass you're going to read. It just felt like a bit of a letdown that a service that should be so heartfelt and spiritual was just kinda read by some guy who didn't seem too interested in the whole thing. I came away from the whole thing with the firm conclusion that I don't want to have a Catholic funeral when I die. I also don't want a lot of people saying, "Let's forget the bad and remember the good." They repeated that quite a bit when they talked about him. I hope that when I go people won't have to convince themselves of a lot of bad things that they need to forget. Although Bishop told us that a lot of times they'll have a mariachi band playing songs at the gravesite. That seems like a pretty good idea. I can get behind that one.
I've felt good about the ways we were able to visit and support these two men before they passed away. Hopefully we made a difference, whether great or small, in their last days in this life. Hopefully we'll continue to be able to help the families. I'm thankful that the Lord's put us in their lives so that they can have the answers and comfort they need in this difficult time. This whole experience has taught me how perfect the plan of salvation is. It answers all the questions these families have. It tells them exactly what they need to know in order to understand the plan that God has for them and their loved ones on the other side of the veil.
Conference was great. I loved the messages. I thought that it was interesting how in Priesthood session they didn't speak on a lot of specifics but instead just talked about doing our duty and serving others. They basically said that if we're not doing what we need to, like our home teaching or other Priesthood responsablilities, it's probably not because we need to be reminded, but because we don't understand why we need to do it. We don't do what we need to normally because we lack the faith and vision of why we should. Elder Bednar's story about how his dad wouldn't get baptized for a long time because he couldn't understand why men holding the Priesthood of God would act basically just like any other men was really powerful.
So after conference I have been focusing a lot on the importance of love and service. I think it's easy as a missionary to get caught up in results and numbers and forget what we're really here to do--to help people. So yesterday me and Elder Lemon just tried to help people and focus on their needs. We tracted for a good three hours and it went by super fast. We were offering to pray for people and bless their homes and families in their specific needs. Almost no one turned us down. We had some great experiences and found a lot of people to go back and teach. I'm really working right now on sharing the Gospel not because it will help me be a successful missionary, but because it will bless and lift the lives of those I come in contact with. It feels really good.
Be sure to pay attention to the talks on real growth and how to help that to happen. For a while the Brethren have been focusing on real growth, meaning increasing the level of conversion of the Church. I enjoyed the talk that said that it's possible to be active in the Church and less active in the Gospel if we don't live it and magnify our callings and assignments. We're really trying to focus on those things as a mission. What good is it to baptize if the people just fall away shortly after?
Transfer news came this morning. Me and Elder Lemon are staying in Estrella! I'm pretty happy about that. Me and Elder Lemon gel really well and I love this ward. I've been making so many friends here in the ward. It's so nice to be here. And the work's going super well, too.
I almost forgot, we all went to the Mesa Easter pageant on Friday. That was awesome. I got to see a lot of my friends from Encanto who were all really happy to see me. The pageant was amazing as always. We even had 5 investigators there (although one of them broke the news to us that they're moving to Utah -_-).
Well, I love you. Find a way to serve people this week. As President Monson said in Priesthood session, we're only truly happy when we're serving others.
Elder Grasley
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