Evidence Schmevidence

Hey! We had a good week down here in Colorado, got some snow which was nice and right now the weather outside this library is beautiful. So we really can't complain. Got to do some cold weather tracting which always makes you feel really good afterwards. You know what they say, "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven" and we have experienced the blessings of heaven this week.

To start, we got to teach one of our part member families this week. And, usually if anything comes up our appointment with them is the first thing to go. It's never really been a priority. But this week the non-member of the bunch had to go to the hospital for something and we weren't sure if our appt was still good. But it did work out and we did manage to teach that night, even though it was late and they were super tired. Our investigator admitted that she felt good when we came over and shortly after we left and that was a fantastic opportunity to testify of the holy Ghost and it's power to testify of truth. It didn't result in a baptismal date, both Elder Robledo and I weren't feeling it. But it was a huge step in the right direction and a great testimony builder for everyone there.

I also went on exchanges this week in the town of Calhan. Look it up. It's tiny. And far away from everything, kind of like Sanford but it has lots of businesses (thrift stores, antique stores, illegal weapons stores). So we go to visit this guy Scott. He was interesting, loved the movies about Joseph Smith and certain scriptures in the Book of Mormon just stood out to him. Well one of the Calhan elders made a bet with him that if the Giants won the super bowl he would have to come to church....Ok so I know that it probably wasn't the best thing, but sure enough the Giants win and Scott did come to church...and loved it. He's had a rough life and I left him with a scripture before we left the lesson and apparently it really got him thinking. Alma 41:10. But not the "wickedness never was happiness part". A different part. So that was pretty cool. We talked a lot about how the church isn't a country club, it's a hospital and if you feel like you don't need to go, you need to go more than ever. The idea of "Why can't i just do church in my home?" well you can, but why do first aid in your house, when you can go to a million dollar facility specifically designed for the purpose. All for free.

And then during that cold tracting, this lady tried to bash with us. She came outside just to blast us for our "non-biblical" belief that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are separate. We just bore our testimonies and left. Something that I'm slowly starting to figure out is that no matter how much we explain that the Trinity results from a non-biblical creed as acknowledged by many non-LDS scholars, and not the bible, it wont help anything. Now I share this, because a few more houses down, a "one more house" scenario we met this Hispanic Jehovahs Witness family. Now, I know their doctrine, I know what's up, and I know to get the heck out of there if the warning signs go up. Well Elder Robledo asks them if we can set up a bible study with them. I look at him like "you gotta be kidding me..." but luckily I was on exchanges that night. Apparently it didn't go so well. It was 2 hours long. If that's any indicator. The big problem was they wanted Elder Robledo to prove everything with the bible, and when he would back stuff up they would just interpret the scripture differently...Well silly Elder Robledo set up another appointment for this Friday so he could have me there. I'll give it one go, but the idea we have is to defend our church. Let them bring anything they have to the table against Joseph Smith and we'll defend (thus keeping the spirit as we aren't being antagonistic) and then they'll back us up to the wall of faith. Hopefully we can help them read the Book of Mormon. They thought it was Joseph Smith's prophecies and all about him. Hey. My closing message to all is that your testimony can not be based on things that can be "proven". It must be based on personal revelation. One thing they said was that they knew the bible was true because it had been "proven" to them with evidence. That is not going to withstand the gates of hell. The Rock of Revelation is what will. Hey, the Book of Mormon is true. never forget that.

Elder Gibb