Elder Zachary Andrews: TO PW: Tender Mercy

THE VISION OF THE SOUTH

"Make no small plans: This is the vision I have for the South. I believe that one day the South will baptize more people into the church than all other English speaking missions in the world together....We will see the time when we will baptize hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...In your day you will see a million members of the church in the South. There will be temples plural in the Southern States. What a great call you have to serve with these marvelous people." President Spencer W. Kimball

Monday, February 24, 2014

TO PW: Tender Mercy

Sent Date: Monday, February 24, 2014
Author: Andrews, Zachary Jacob
President,
I really like what you told me in interviews. I have been keeping a record of the tender mercies that our Heavenly Father has shared with me. It is funny, how what I think is just Elder Andrews bumping around is actually Heavenly Father guiding me. This week we were able to commit two people to baptism. One has a date the other was a little tentative to set a date. Josue's, the gentlemen with a date, wife called us Saturday, saying "Josue is drunk and has a machete and is going to kill me and all my cats." We were on our way to help a Less-active move but sorry that takes priority.

We get there, to Josue's, and just in time. When we pull up we see his wife running out of the driveway and into the street where I almost hit her, and then we see him. This is a man that I love, a man that is so prepared, that is so smart and wants it so bad, but it is also a natural man. Sloppy dressed, with blood shot eyes, standing in the doorway of his rundown house that his poor wife works so hard to keep. Standing there with a machete in one hand and a cat in the other. I didn't even recognize him. This was a Natural Man. It was scary, but then he saw us and it scared him. He threw the items in his hand back into the house and came out to meet us. At this point i was wishing that I had the protection of my Proselyting clothes, they do protect us. We end up talking for like an hour and a half. We learned some very interesting things about him. He calmed down we convinced him not to kill anyone. It was very spiritual. and then we left him with a less active from down the road that had walked over. Later that night we got a call from his wife saying that he was drunk and high. How do i make one hour of spiritual experience last so that when we leave he doesn't go right back? is my question.

My tender Mercy...well you can pick cause I see at least 6 or 7.
Elder Andrews

No comments:

Post a Comment

Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission

The first branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in New Orleans with 334 members in 1841. The prophet Joseph Smith sent the first missionary to New Orleans in March of that year. After reaching 169 members in 1849, the New Orleans branch disbanded because of the threat of serious disease in the area. The Southern States Mission, which included Louisiana opened in 1878, but the first missionaries were not sent to the state until nearly 20 years later. Missionary work spread throughout the state during the early twentieth century and by 1930, there were 1500 members. The first ward was established in Shreveport in 1953 and the first stake in New Orleans in 1955.In 1975, the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission was created and by 1980, there were over 12,500 members in the state of Louisiana. By 1989, Louisiana had 22,000 members in seven stakes. In 1998, the First Presidency announced the building of a temple in Baton Rouge. That temple was dedicated on 16 July, 2000.The Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission extends from Natchitoches South to the East and West borders through the state including the Gulf of New Orleans. The mission also includes the South West corner of Mississippi including Natchez, Liberty, and Macomb.