Goat House

December 14, 2015

Dear Family,

Hellow! :D

This week was pretty fun. I got a lot of stories out of it. Starting with the dance. One of the sisters in the dance apparently didn't like that we did that. She complained to one of the STL's (Sister Training Leader, the only leadership position sisters can hold) about it and threw down on how "disobedient" we were being and "how many of God's children are going to suffer" because of it. It doesn't make sense for her to hate it because she looked like she loved doing it and she helped all of us learn it. But according to the Glasgow elders, she wasn't happy with it. Obedience to missionary rules is important. You should follow them. But some missionaries out here take it to Pharisee/Sadducee level and start making up rules so they won't break other rules. There is absolutely nothing wrong with making a district dance. We sent that video to every elder in the mission. That's at least 140 missionaries. And we sent it to Sis. Brough. She loved it. 

Now onto the minister. It actually went really well. He still lets us help in the kitchen but he doesn't want us delivering. We had a 40ish minute lesson with him. We taught L1 and after we finished he started asking a lot of questions about a lot of different subjects. He asked about God, Jesus, the Holy Ghost, Satan, eternal progression, the book of Abraham, Priesthood authority, etc. He was all over the place. What I liked was that he wasn't trying to bash. He was just trying to understand us. We cleared up a lot of his concerns and false ideas about us. He complemented our church by saying "You guys do family better than anyone else." Something he said that interested me was that he went to school for "Angelology" and "Demonology". I didn't know those were subjects that were taught in schools. I wonder where their doctrine for "Angelology" comes from. Anyway, it was a nice meeting. A lot better than I was expecting it to be. He's a minister for the money though, unfortunately.

I went to Glasgow again this week. I was there with Elder Hammond. We helped a member named Bro. E build the frame for a goat house in his back yard. The project took all day. We didn't have any power tools. We had a lot of 2X4's cut to certain lengths, nails, and a hammer to work with. The project turned out surprisingly well. While we were there, they fed us dinner and told us about themselves. Bro. E joined the church 19 years ago and has loved it ever since. He looked a little like Dad. His mannerisms were like Dad too. They have animals all over the place. Goats, pigs, cats, dogs, etc. They have a couple of Amish neighbors. We went over to borrow some clamps from one of their workshops. Yes, I was in an Amish workshop. The place looked and felt 200 years old. Building that frame was one of the funnest service projects I've done out here. I've noticed the funnest service projects I do out here involve some kind of farm work. After we finished the service, I spent an hour in Glasgow's church restoring my iPad's music. While I was in Glasgow, Elders Jensen and Caldwell got to try deep fried squirrel from one of the guys we serve with at that church.

While I was in Glasgow, Elder Hammond introduced me to a local Kentucky gospel band. They're called The Lindsey Family. Their latest album, Crosses & Stones, came out this year. I have it on my iPad. I think you'll like them because they're SUPER Kentucky but not annoying Kentucky. They're actually really good. 

Well, Elder Jensen is getting transferred. He leaves tomorrow. He's been waiting for this for a long time. In my time with Elder Jensen, I've learned a lot about exact obedience vs. disobedience. As I mentioned, some missionaries take being obedient to missionary rules to the extreme. They treat it like the military. They say "If you're not exactly obedient, you won't baptize." Missionaries like that look at other missionaries like Elders White or Jensen, who know how to have fun on a mission, and label them as "disobedient". The funny thing is, missionaries who are "disobedient" baptize way more than the missionaries who are "obedient". Elder White baptized 20 people on his mission. As I've thought about this subject I've come to a conclusion as to why "disobedient" missionaries get more baptisms than prideful "obedient" missionaries. People like people who are likable. If you're a stickler for rules and look down on others because you observed their "disobedience" once, that will show when you're teaching someone. On the other hand, if you're a likable person who knows how to have fun, but still follows mission rules, that will show and the investigators will like you. I've heard more stories about prideful "obedient" missionaries scaring investigators off than baptizing them. 

I could go on about obedience vs. disobedience for a long time. It's a subject that's always hot in the mission field among other missionaries. There's every kind of missionary possible out here. Obedience is important and you should strive to be exactly obedient. But in the mission field, it can get hard to define "exact obedience" when you've got every kind of missionary giving every interpretation of the rules. This is a subject I can talk a lot more about in person. It's hard to put into words. I'm going to miss Elder Jensen when he's gone. We had a lot of fun times but we still worked as hard as we could. 

It's weird to think I've been a missionary longer than I was at JCW's because I don't feel like I've been a missionary all that long. I'm 8.5 months in. It does not feel like 8.5 months. 

I love you!

-Elder Ben

PS- Here's a funny conversation I had with a guy who's an investigator. This week's going to be hard with all the Star Wars stuff. I'm going to know everything that happens before I get to see it. :'(

Guy: "Just watch Star Wars anyway. Go to the midnight release"

Me: "We can't. We'll be sleeping."

Guy: "Star Wars is worth losing sleep over. Besides, who's going to know? You're not doing any work at that time of day anyway."

Me: "It's against the rules."

Guy: "So? Who's going to know? Not your mission leaders."

Me: "The Lord will know."

Take care! Love you all!

The goat house we built.