TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS AT THE ERC AND BEYOND

There have been some very difficult situations for me at the ERC—again. I think it has been because I have been so concerned about our “golden” investigator, Keith, that I prayed that I might have the opposition he might have to face to his conversion and baptism. In any case, because of his rough background, this sweet-spirited “gentle giant” with the formidable appearance and head-to-toe tatoos, there was some question whether he could be baptised. He was very depressed about this and felt that it was because he was so completely honest about his problems. However, the missionaries found out that he could be baptised after all (it was on again and off again!), but by the time they let him know, he was feeling very down and wasn't sure that he could do what he needed to do to qualify, which was to commit to change. So the missionaries called me and told me that his baptism was off indefinately until he would really commit to change, but that they would still stay in contact with him. I was convinced that if he put “off” baptism, Satan would intervene, and without the Holy Ghost, it would be hard for him to ever become a member, as he might become embittered with himself, the Church and Heavenly Father. I called and talked to him begging him to continue to do as he had been doing so far in learning about the truthfulness of the Gospel—pray in faith and wait for His answer. He had been sincerely praying about the Book of Mormon, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the truthfulness of the Church and had received total assurance that he couldn't deny. Please, I begged him, just make all of his concerns about worthiness and his ability to qualify a matter of his most fervant prayers and act on the answer he would get, which was to to commit in faith to the changes he needed to make. He did, and the next morning the elders called me that he had called them back and had a desire to make those committments—the baptism was scheduled for 2:30PM on Sat!! I was so excited for him, and so grateful for the answers to all of our prayers. They asked me to give the talk about the Holy Ghost, and I was honored. The Spirit prompted me to include some thoughts from Elder Bednar's “Patterns of Light” in this talk and I spoke directly to Keith. The baptism, of course was a super spiritual experience. Keith told me that he felt that all the bad thoughts and feelings were simply washed out of his head (like many who have suffered childhood abuse and/or are in addiction, he experiences racing negative thoughts most of the time). His head felt “empty” and he felt peace. The next morning, he was confirmed a member of the Church, and I thought about one of the first things he told me when he came into the Center. He has said, when I asked him his last name again (he speaks very quietly). He said it was Augustine, like the "Saint" (Catholic). When the beautiful blessing was given along with the gift of the Holy Ghost, I thought about Ephesians: “..no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the Saints and of the Household of God”. Keith, you are now surely a Saint in very deed, and will be of great service to your fellow saints, your brothers and sisters!

 

 

GOING AT A FASTER PACE AT THE ERC—2014

 

 

So many things have been happening since my last post that I haven't had time to write--too busy working and learning.  The time between Christmas and New Year's was almost dead time, and very few people came in.  I was able to register a lovely non-member, Tasha, and also, an electrical engineer, Jeff, who will probably do best through professional networking.  Then, on Jan 3, I registered a lovely Korean young lady, Helen, which seemed to make all the unbusy time more worthwhile.  She, like most of the candidates I have registered, signed up to take the career workshop the next week, and this is the first time I was able to teach this!  It was very exciting, exhausting, and completely involving and I loved it!  We always "team" teach these classes, and I was fortunate to be paired with Sister Splain, who is the most experienced (and best) teacher, and we worked together to set up the class schedule.  She entrusted me with most of the teaching for the first day, while she did more of the second day (which involved technical assistance).  I prepared the best I could--I was really concerned about doing it well, since lives and futures were on the line--and then I prayed very hard for His help.  He never lets me down!!  I felt the Spirit prompt me to really pay attention and emphasize the scriptures we use during the course, and I even wrote them down in big print to go over them in class.   Because of the condensed amount of time we have, although the scriptures are usually read, they are seldom discussed.  I actually spent a few minutes talking about the relevance they had and felt the Spirit as I taught. I felt the spirit in the whole class became much greater, and I was amazed that the members of this class seemed to understand the concepts I taught later much better that I had seen in other classes. I really loved the teaching although I was a bit nervous before I started. I prayed very hard to teach with the Spirit and I felt that Heavenly Father answered my prayers. I have helped so many new people, members and non-members register on the website and learn about our website, and I have talked about the Church with most of the humble non-members if I felt the Spirit witness that I could. There were two really special men, one older and one younger, who seemed to be so receptive, as well as a young married couple from Laos, so I referred them to the missionaries. I asked them if they "would be willing" to learn more about this great Church which provides so much help to people all over the world in the Lord's way. One of the men, Keith, the younger one, was really enthusiastic about the Church and wanted to join just from my descriptions!! He committed to baptism at the first discussion, which I was invited to come to, and the baptism was scheduled for Feb 1. I was so excited for him, as we had become friends when I wrote two resumes for him and learned about his very difficult life. The first thing he did after attending Church the first week was shave off his "dreds" (dreadlocks). He is such a special spirit and I felt the Spirit witness to me that he could be one of the great "protectors" of our people in the last days. He was an all-American football player for 7 years, a champion amateur boxer (with 42 wins, no losses, and 40 knock-outs!!), a cook, a coach, worked in a funeral home, and had as his greatest desire, helping and caring for others!! I also fell in love with some of the humble students in my classes (I have now been able to teach two workshops since I began writing this!). Teaching the classes is really exhausting and no "breaks," but rewarding. One precious young Korean-born lady, Helen, was such a loving Spirit and really brightened my day when I first registered her and throughout the career workshop. I still have so much to learn, but am doing the best I can. We are now working 9 hours (8AM to 5PM). Before the beginning of the year, we usually tried to be there by 8:15 for our spiritual thought, but the ERC opened at 9AM and closed at 4:30PM. This doesn't sound like a huge change, but we are all really feeling the extra hours and are more tired, especially since we seldom actually have lunch "breaks", but just grab a mouthful of food when it is quieter (if it gets quieter). But I much prefer it when we are busy, as I am still struggling with feeling comfortable with those with whom I work—would rather "lose" myself in the work with our candidates than feel the dislike/disdain of some of the others I work with. However, because of the long hours, when we aren't too busy, we are encouraged to take ½ hour breaks for “lunch.” This has given me the opportunity to drive to a very nearby park with real grass and walk for about 20 min!! This is a great blessing to me when I can do it. Of course, I often have candidates who need help, especially with their resumes that go over my break time. I don't know how many resumes I have helped with, but it is quite a few (maybe 20) so far!! I don't believe in doing it for them, which some of the others do, but take time to let them help plan, write, and even format (if they have the computer skills) their resumes, and I just offer suggestions and help with wording, placement and formating. I've gotten much better, and understand the importance of having separate resumes for each job application, if they are different jobs or in different fields.