week 57

 As a senior companion I often feel the burden that I need to be the one that knows what to do. My Trainee knows well that I am willing to listen to any suggestions he has. I recognize that when I got to the mission from the MTC everything I had learned I was not able to use, either because my companion was unwilling to listen or because there was no work in that area (note: my first area has still not had a baptism in over 2.5 years). So, I am very willing to listen to what my trainee has to say because by now I have forgotten everything from the MTC... well a lot from the MTC.


I find now that this new missionary is saying things word for word the way I said them with regard to my opinion about doing work. I very quickly had to get rid of the way of thinking that I need to know everything. I knew this was how it was going to be when I finally trained, so I have been preparing myself mentally for the last little while to be able to make changes in the way I do things. As of now, we have made many changes to the way the missionaries in this mission normally do things (having lessons that are an hour long) and doing things in a way that are better (sharing short messages at the door or having lessons that are much shorter) because then all these people we teach are far more likely to accept us the next time we pass by instead of acting like they are not home.

Now the work is picking back up in the area and we are able to teach. However, we are still trying to get a hold of everyone that we used to teach so they know that they don't need an hour of spare time for us. We can share things in a much shorter period of time.