Cambodia

Cambodia

SHOUT OUT TO TRENT MENDENHALL 9/5/16

I'm finally realizing how important members are in missionary work. I read a study ( http://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/10/what-are-nonmembers-interested-in?lang=eng ) that said only 8% of converts were invited to learn by missionaries. The rest were invites by members to friends and family. In our mission that number is like 12%, but still. So now elder Hale and I have been focusing only on members lately. We have been trying to visit every member every day. Which is actually impossible but its fun to try and fit everyone in our schedule. We are super busy and we are making good connections with members and hopefully referrals will come.

One of our good investigators is named Savuen. Her husband is an RM and former Branch President. He is just returning after 10 years of inactivity.

Our plans on Thursday were to stay close by the house and meet a couple recent converts and less actives. That evening we had to ride to the mission home for a meeting so we didnt want to travel too far in the opposite direction. We had planned all our lessons but then afterwards I didnt feel right. I remembered that Savuen's only day off was Thursday and that if we didnt meet her then we would have to wait. The problem was that her house is 10 miles in the opposite direction of the mission home. But we talked about it and decided to skip 3 lessons in favor of teaching Savuen. So we called and cancelled our other appointments and started riding.
When we got there it was quiet and everyone was super chill. We started teaching the plan of salvation and as we talked about the Atonement the spirit grew really strong. Our plan was to commit her to baptism at the end of the lesson. But as I tried to transition away from teaching the Atonement something told me not to go on. So I nudged Elder Hale and told him to give the baptismal invitation that we had been practicing. "Bong Savuen, Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be Baptized by someone holding the Priesthood authority of God?" There was silence for a moment and then Savuen looked up at us trying to contain her smile. She said yes and a flood of relief  came over us and her husband. We finished the lesson as fast as possible and left with the spirit still burning in our hearts. We left their house feeling no aprehension about the 16 mile bike ride ahead of us. As we rode Elder Hale looked over at me and said "I think that when she said yes I was the happiest I've ever been on my mission so far."

Moments like those are why I love being a missionary so much. Sometimes its hard when we get rejected or we cant figure out how to kill the rats in our house. But its all worth it for those moments when the spirit peaks.

I am the most stoked about missionary work I have ever been. These next few transfers are going to be great. I love my mission.

Love,
Elder Osborne

We got zone t-shirts with troy bolton on them!!!! https://www.dropbox.com/s/6m20yqzq3ost7n8/DSC00109.JPG?dl=0

We went fishing with a less active guy: https://www.dropbox.com/s/er7c0111fpxushr/DSC00106.JPG?dl=0