Hi friends, I don't think I have told you all (other than my family) much about the area I am serving in right now. So I thought I would share a few things about it today.
 |
The Puppy Posted for the Picture
|
I am in Virginia right now, and we live in Lynchburg. It is a HUGE city. It is also a college town, there are 4 colleges! The biggest one however, is Liberty University. Okay so let me tell you about Liberty.... It is a Baptist University. Lots of people that go there are becoming ministers or preachers or whatever they call it. It is like the Baptist version of BYU! They actually aspire to become bigger than BYU and they want to be just like BYU, only they are Baptists. It is crazy, when they heard that BYU has a Y on the mountain near it, and that people hike up to it, Liberty decided to do the same thing! There is a big 'LU' on the hill (its not really a mountain) next to it. Of course, Liberty hates Mormons and won't even let members go to their school, except for the medical program.
So Liberty is a big thing here in Lynchburg, but there is also this HUGE Baptist church here. It's Thomas Roads Baptist Church. Everyone knows it, and the preacher who formed the church here was a very good business man, and so the church basically owns all the stores, business's, and restaurants around it! The members of this church are known for giving away church material. They have these stickers everywhere that say, "Not I, but Christ" and they give away cards and books all the time. It is crazy! They are hardcore Thomas Road Baptists, and they are not changing!
 |
Selfie While Tracting
|
 |
| Visit to the Museum |
Sister Alligood and I spent a good amount of time this week tracting and we ran into lots of Baptists :) that is always fun. It is interesting how lots of our doctrines are the same, but the principals are taught so differently. We are not saved by grace :) So a while back, we found some awesome places to tract and we did A LOT of tracting. We found some awesome potentials and we also received a few referrals! We actually have some return appointments for tonight and through the rest of this week! :) YAY! Something cool actually happened while we were tracting in a trailor park. We came up to a woman who was waiting for us
on her front porch. I was totally expecting her to tell us to leave and that she wasn't interested, but it was actually the complete opposite. My companion said, "We are from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!" And the woman said "I know, I used to meet with some nice guys a few years ago, I have a Book of Mormon and I would love to come to your church!" It was not what I was expecting at all! We exchanged phone numbers and set up a return appointment with her right there! It was awesome. We will be seeing her on Thursday!
We were also able to have a great lesson with our investigator, John! We talked about the priesthood and the different offices of the Priesthood. He is so awesome. He trying to remember everything we teach him, even though he doesn't need too. It is cool because he really takes the time to soak it all in and think of ways to remember what he learns. How great is that!
 |
Really Cute Puppies - Savannah and Sami Jealous?
|
So one last thing. It has been really nice in Lynchburg lately, the temp. has been in the high 60's. It is supposed to get really hot this week and so pray for me, so that I won't melt in the sun!
It never hurts to find out what other churches believe. It will help you understand your own religion better, and it will help you to talk with them and understand them. One of my best friends in Texas was a Baptist, and we used to have some great talks. He even came out to church, once, and had all the missionary discussions. When the elders asked him is he wanted to be baptized, he said: "Did you ever try to give a cat a bath?"
ReplyDeleteHope you have a happy birthday.