11.6.12 - My last P-Day at the CTM! And my first proselyting!‏

Hello everyone! So, lots has happened this last week. I'll start with thet best since I'll probably run out of time typing.

So, yesterday was my and my companion's first try of proselyting out in the city. They just let us out of the CTM, gave us each two Books of Mormon, and told us not to come back for three hours. To say the least, this was intimidating. Neither of us really speak the language very well, and here we were just going through the streets trying to preach the gospel to everyone we passed.

Well, we prayed, asked what direction we should go, and set out. We walked past a few people, and each one I just kept thinking, "If only they knew how valuable this gospel was! If only they really understood, how much happier they could be." Those couple little books we were carrying around cost hundreds of lives and some of the finest blood this plannet has ever seen. They contain the history not only of one, but two full civilizations here in America, one that lasted almost 2000 years. And that's just the beginning. They contain the fullness of the gospel as it has been restored by the very hand of God in these days, as well as a more complete witness of Christ. Needless to say, each of those copies of the Book of Mormon were immensley valuable, and here we were, in the midst of hundreds of people who don't speak our language, and it is our duty to try to explain to them just how much they need this gospel. So, just a tad intimidating.

Well, we started by an LDS chapel, and the first lady we talked to just kept walking. I asked if she knew this church, and pointed at the building, and she said something like, "Yeah.." and payed us no heed. So that was a little sad. We walked for a while until finally we found someone else. An older woman, sitting on a curb in old, dirty clothes, looking pretty sad and scraggly. She was sitting next to a homeless man who was asleep on the sidewalk in the shade of a tree. I introduced my companion, Elder Tibbitts, and myself, and she didn't want to have anything to do with us. She just said, "I don't understand you guys" and waved us off annoyed. SO we were a little discouraged. We had thus far made zero progress, and apparently nobody could understand us.

We walked further and we finally found another man (There was nobody outside which was really strange...). I found out he was a missionary from another church, but I still asked him if he wanted a Book of Mormon anyways. He explained again that he was a missionary from another church again, and I said I understood, and he just smiled a little and said no. We said goodbye and headed back out. So far, zero succuess. We ran into some other missionaries who told us they had managed to give one out, and we still couldn't. Oh well, I thought, we'll just keep trying.

We walked pretty far till we were almost lost, and then we started talking to every person we saw. People would run across the street to get out of our way and evade us. It was pretty funny. I was sad though, because they didn't know that this book we wanted to give them could open the doors to more happiness than they could even imagine. And here they ran from us.

Well, we kept working, and as we tried harder and harder, our effprts started to pay off. I saw a woman at a bus stop and felt like I should talk to her, so we went towards her. There was another man before her though, leaning on a pole smoking. So I said hi and told him about the book of Mormon and testified of it's truth. He was really astonished. He loved it. He accepted it, and we told him how to contact the missionaries. He was very impressed by our efforts, and seemed very grateful. I am so gld we decided to tlk to him, and not just pass him by because he was smoking and looked a little intimidating. He turned out to be very nice, and I absolutley felt our savior's love for him. I wish we could be friends forever.

We then talked to the lady we had origionally seen, and the same thing happened. It was amazing. She was so happy. She wanted it so much, and she thanked us over and over again. It was amazing. I wish I could talk to her more too.

We kept walking, with less sucuess, and then we spotted a whole cafe with like six people around, so I thought, "Challenge accepted." As we were walking to the first person, a lady with a young biy ran up to us and was so happy to see us. She saw the book in our hands and said she had wanted one so desperately but did not know where to find it. She was so happy to see us. Overjoyed even. We gave her one and took her information for the local missionaries. She left so happy. We ended up talking to everyone there, and everyone accepted a book of mormon. Two of the people we talked to had been given one by other missionaries sometime before, but they were of another religion and didn't read it at all. I testified of it's truthfullness, and the young woman we were talking too got really quiet and pensive, and then when I asked if she would read it and pray about it, to know if it was true, she said she would. She too seemed very happy by the time we left. There was a really old woman with her, and I think she was trying to tell us she had a vision or a dream or something relating to us, and she also agreed to read and pray. I really don't know what she said, so I could be mistaken. But she was talking so fast and so excited and had so much energy I almost feared it would overwhelm her frail body.

Well, we continued and had much more sucuess. A lot of no's, including a whole bus stop of like 8 people where nobody even wanted to acknowledge us. As I walked away I looked at them all again, and in one last effort asked them all at once, "Ninguem quer?" meaning, "Nobody?" I was so sad. But we kept working.

By the end of our three hours, we had given out nine copies of the book of mormon, got information for four people who would talk to the missionaries, and could have given away one more copy but we ran out. My companion and I had purchased extra copies to give out since the MTC only gave us each two. Another missionary who has been excelling with the language (He was already fluent in spanish) asked us how we did, and when my companion said we gave out 9, he asked out of how many companionships. Just ours. He was astonished.

Needless to say, Heavenly Father guides his servants. I saw things in that three hours that made me very sad, but also we found people who had been prepared by the Lord for us. I am so glad to be a missionary!

All the best!

Elder Viglione

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6