Hey All!!
Being a missionary is a tiring work.. But it's a fulfilling work. I've never felt so tired in my life, but I've also never felt so full and complete in my life. It's a weird mix, but I have come to love it.
This week we had a super cool experience, we were in an area called Middle River and we were just trying by some potentials and Formers in that area. While walking around we saw a man getting out of his car and we went over and started talking to him. He seemed to be a pretty well off man and he was from Africa. As we talked with him about we slowly introduced the restoration of Christs Church. And usually when you are talking to someone about the gospel, you can tell by the face they make at you if they one, understood it, and two, if they like what you said. Well as we were talking to him, his faced remained dazed and confused as if he was bored. The conversation was going nowhere and it was just a casual street contact. As I sat there and thought of what I could say to spice things up a bit, a random thought came zooming through my head! It had nothing to do with the Saviors earthly ministry or the first vision, but I said it! I asked him what he thought would happen to him and his family after they died? I asked him what his worries were about death? Holy cow.. As soon as these questions were asked he opened up like a book!! When the Apostles and prophets tell us that people everywhere ask these questions to themselves: "Why are we here? Where are we going? And where were we before we came here?" and it kind of sounds cheesy when they say it.. But it's sooooo true!! People seriously ask themselves this ALL the time. Anyways, after we asked him these questions he told us about how 2 years ago he was in a church building and he was an usher. While standing there in front of the podium he literally just dropped dead and hit his head on the way down to the ground. The people in the church ran to him, checked his pulse and his heart beat and they found none. The ambulance came and got his body and took it away and they all thought that he was dead. He said that while all this was happening he literally felt his spirit leave his body and that his spirit was placed in a dark place. A place where he couldn't find a way out and he said that he felt so confined and lonely. He said while standing in this dark place he saw a group of people, and they were all standing in a circle. As he walked over to them, he saw that there was a ray of light coming down and touching the ground in the middle of this circle of people. And these people were all trying to get to this light but they couldn't do it for some reason. He then told us that one of the people turned around in the circle and looked at him. He said that the person that turned around was his deceased grandmother that passed away 10 years prior to this event. He said that he asked her if he was dead, and she responded that he was dead and that he was a spirit now. She the beckoned him to come over to the light so he could wait with the others to get this light. He then said that he was taken out of this dark place and all of the sudden he was in his body again, awake and he was kicking and screaming.. And boom, here he is living today. Now... I'm not exactly sure what the spirit world experience will be like, but if it isn't something similar to people stuck in a spirit prison type of place waiting for the light of the Gospel I will be very surprised. When he relayed this experience to us we were blown away because it sounded a lot like the spirit world. We talked to him about the spirit world and how it was a phase of God's plan for us before we are resurrected and judged. He told us that he has been trying to figure out what this meant for 2 years. We promised him that our message would answer every question that he had about his experience. We should be going back to teach him this week, so hopefully it goes well! This is the second time in two weeks that The Lord has shown me the importance of following spiritual prompting with exactness. It has been amazing to learn and experience these things!! God's children who are not blessed with the knowledge that we as members of His restored church have, are searching day and night for the simple truths that we enjoy each day. It’s so crazy to think that so many people wake up every day not knowing where they or their loved ones will go when they die. It BLOWS my mind and sometimes makes me sick tot honk that people deal with that stress EVERYDAY. This scripture really rings true to me when I think of things like this. "8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise" - 2 Nephi 2:8
The rest of our week was the usual missionary/Baltimore life! Many drunk people, crazy bus rides, lots of high fives and knuckle numbs, and tons of people to talk to!
Thank you for the love and support! I am loving life, and I have loved being a missionary. I love and miss you!
Love, Elder Welling!
Being a missionary is a tiring work.. But it's a fulfilling work. I've never felt so tired in my life, but I've also never felt so full and complete in my life. It's a weird mix, but I have come to love it.
This week we had a super cool experience, we were in an area called Middle River and we were just trying by some potentials and Formers in that area. While walking around we saw a man getting out of his car and we went over and started talking to him. He seemed to be a pretty well off man and he was from Africa. As we talked with him about we slowly introduced the restoration of Christs Church. And usually when you are talking to someone about the gospel, you can tell by the face they make at you if they one, understood it, and two, if they like what you said. Well as we were talking to him, his faced remained dazed and confused as if he was bored. The conversation was going nowhere and it was just a casual street contact. As I sat there and thought of what I could say to spice things up a bit, a random thought came zooming through my head! It had nothing to do with the Saviors earthly ministry or the first vision, but I said it! I asked him what he thought would happen to him and his family after they died? I asked him what his worries were about death? Holy cow.. As soon as these questions were asked he opened up like a book!! When the Apostles and prophets tell us that people everywhere ask these questions to themselves: "Why are we here? Where are we going? And where were we before we came here?" and it kind of sounds cheesy when they say it.. But it's sooooo true!! People seriously ask themselves this ALL the time. Anyways, after we asked him these questions he told us about how 2 years ago he was in a church building and he was an usher. While standing there in front of the podium he literally just dropped dead and hit his head on the way down to the ground. The people in the church ran to him, checked his pulse and his heart beat and they found none. The ambulance came and got his body and took it away and they all thought that he was dead. He said that while all this was happening he literally felt his spirit leave his body and that his spirit was placed in a dark place. A place where he couldn't find a way out and he said that he felt so confined and lonely. He said while standing in this dark place he saw a group of people, and they were all standing in a circle. As he walked over to them, he saw that there was a ray of light coming down and touching the ground in the middle of this circle of people. And these people were all trying to get to this light but they couldn't do it for some reason. He then told us that one of the people turned around in the circle and looked at him. He said that the person that turned around was his deceased grandmother that passed away 10 years prior to this event. He said that he asked her if he was dead, and she responded that he was dead and that he was a spirit now. She the beckoned him to come over to the light so he could wait with the others to get this light. He then said that he was taken out of this dark place and all of the sudden he was in his body again, awake and he was kicking and screaming.. And boom, here he is living today. Now... I'm not exactly sure what the spirit world experience will be like, but if it isn't something similar to people stuck in a spirit prison type of place waiting for the light of the Gospel I will be very surprised. When he relayed this experience to us we were blown away because it sounded a lot like the spirit world. We talked to him about the spirit world and how it was a phase of God's plan for us before we are resurrected and judged. He told us that he has been trying to figure out what this meant for 2 years. We promised him that our message would answer every question that he had about his experience. We should be going back to teach him this week, so hopefully it goes well! This is the second time in two weeks that The Lord has shown me the importance of following spiritual prompting with exactness. It has been amazing to learn and experience these things!! God's children who are not blessed with the knowledge that we as members of His restored church have, are searching day and night for the simple truths that we enjoy each day. It’s so crazy to think that so many people wake up every day not knowing where they or their loved ones will go when they die. It BLOWS my mind and sometimes makes me sick tot honk that people deal with that stress EVERYDAY. This scripture really rings true to me when I think of things like this. "8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise" - 2 Nephi 2:8
The rest of our week was the usual missionary/Baltimore life! Many drunk people, crazy bus rides, lots of high fives and knuckle numbs, and tons of people to talk to!
Thank you for the love and support! I am loving life, and I have loved being a missionary. I love and miss you!
Love, Elder Welling!
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