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English Class Seeds, Humbled by Haws |
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Sept: 11 2000:
The dinner appt. w/ Sjlvie went well. Unfortunately her husband wasn't able to make it, even though he wanted to. Sjlvie's daughter, Marie Angela (who is in cooking school) cooked dinner for us. It was excellent. Marco (a member) came and ate too. We started teaching the 3rd discussion before the meal, but the preparation of the meal was too loud and distracting so we cut it short and decided to finish it this week. Sjlvie mentioned that her family is a little sceptical about her choice to be baptised, but will support her final decision.
Fernando's 2nd discussion went well. The spirit was really strong - he didn't accept the bapt. invite, but said he'll set a date after he has a stronger testimony of the BoM. He also said he feels guilty about part transgressions and doesn't feel completely worthy. We'll teach him the 3rd soon.
We've been getting ready to restart our english class here in Trento - we've been passing out fliers and publicity and have put an ad in the paper. Our goal is to have 50 people the first day (the 26th) which is a lot more than our meager 3 or 4 regulars that come every week. Hopefully it will go well.
The other day I had a humbling experience with Anz. Haws. We were doing street and it had been a hard week - very little success and I had caught a cold. We met a man who showed promise at the beginning of the conversation and pulled me in to being involved - He later showed himself to be a very hard hearted, subject changing, prideful person. By that time however I had been drawn into trying to convince him.
I was trying to recount one of my many examples as to why he should open his mind to the possibility of our message. (He said the "Bible" never mentions the "Book of Mormon" so it can't be true) Not withstanding the MANY holes in this logic I took the approach of an historical example. I tryed to help him remember the Jews of the New Testament who already had "their books" (the law and the prophets) and didn't want to open their minds to accept something more. He absolutely refused to follow this example showing his in-understanding of the Book he claimed so much love for. Of course this frustrated me and made me want to clear up my example even more - so I continued and he continued to change subjects and not understand (listen) to any of my words. Anz. Haws recognized this and tried to cut in and get things back on track - But I was determined to get my thought out - I rudely interrupted him with a comment like: "Well... yeah... but getting back to the subject..." then continuing my discourse. He kept on interrupting and trying to curtail my futile attempts to convince this man with my "great thinking mind" Finally I just looked at him and said "lasciami parlare!" That shut him up. Finally I finished my "grand world changing discourse" and the man for some reason failed to recognize this amazing pearl I had fashioned before his eyes. Elder Haws left him with his testimony and I left stupefied that neither of them had seen how great and perfectly convincing my argument had been. A few more steps down the road Elder Haws turned to me and asked "Elder Pasto, how do you think that went?" I was still fuming from their lack of recognition, "Well Elder Haws, just one thing - when I'm trying to explain something - don't interrupt me." - His response "Elder Pasto, I remember you telling me to jump right in when I have something to say..." Pause... Hmmmm - I had said that hadn't I? But this was different..... or was it? Elder Haws again: "I think you were mad during that whole discussion." Ouch - nothing more stinging than the truth. I was almost furious at Elder Haws for interrupting me while I was talking - and all I could think of was how wrong he was and how right I was... until I figured out it was the other way around. He was right - I was going nowhere with all my talking because I was doing it in the wrong spirit - I had put my trust in my own mind and ability instead of in God and my companion. I didn't let him talk because I thought he was too dumb to resolve the concern. The hardest part was to realize in my own mind that I has acted incorrectly and stupidly, not to mention rudely - then I apologized - and asked my companion to forgive me and thanked him for his patience. He had been crying (as he has a tendency to do when contention comes up) But it cleared up almost right away as a great Young Elder forgave me completely and immediately.
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