So this week has been spiritually uplifting and elder O'Hare and I have been growing and stretching ourselves spiritually and finding much success not because of our own efforts, but because we have humbled ourselves and asked in faith for the Spirit to be our senior companion in this companionship.
To answer some pressing questions in the beginning my flat is very nice and sort of big in a sense, hard wood floors that make it very cool in the mornings and a lot of space to do our exercises in the morning. South end on sea side is a very interesting place, you get a little of everything here. where I am is next to Essex college and we meet a lot of young people just trying to figure out life for themselves, a lot of agnostic people.
I am in a very old ward that has been there since the early 60's maybe even 50's, our bishop has challenged us as missionaries and as a ward to double its congregation in a year and a half which elder O'Hare and I have humbly taken and challenge ourselves every day to fulfill this vision. We found ten investigators in the first four days of our companionship and they are all doing well, I am working on a philosophy that in the first 2 weeks of the companionship we find as many people as possible in any way possible. Then we nail down the solid ones and teach them throughout the transfer and set their baptismal dates on the last Sunday of the transfer.
Just the other day to get as many investigators as possible I was on a full bus ride home when I was spiritually prompted to get up and talk about the book of Mormon. I talked to elder O'Hare on how he was feeling and he responded 'tired'. so I got up, went to the front of the bus and waited for everyone to get seated, it was a full house (25 people maybe) and I prostrated myself in the front of the bus and raised the book of Mormon in the air and declared "My name is elder massey and as a representative of the church of jesus Christ I bring you a message about happiness and how you can become closer to god" then the spirit took over and I taught the book of Mormon. I then said in the name of jesus Christ amen and got off the bus 3 stops too early so we had to walk a little bit.
The president has put us together for a few basic reasons. Too many missionaries have been just introduced to the area and they were spread thin on responsible trainers to train them, so the president had to find two responsible missionaries to train one another. He trusted us enough to train one another and it has been a very spiritual growth experience. We have been blessed for success as a companionship, a few days before I came elder O'Hare received a call from a Bridget. her first words to him were 'I have been trying to find the true church and I think its yours, so please come over and talk to me about it'.
So elder O'Hare and I have been teaching her and her family and she has been prepared by the lord for us, she just wants to learn and follow jesus Christ. before she called us she fasted fifteen days to find the answer to her question on how to guide her family better (she just has been recently divorced and wanted to guide her children in Christ) she received her answer at the 15th day by seeing a sort of vision of Christ and called us the next day.
She basically teaches herself, we leave a pamphlet and she reads in while we are gone. we then come back and she says I have prayed about it and I know it to be true. I don't feel like I'm doing any work because the lord has already prepared this harvest and all I'm doing is putting her in the waters of baptism. her son is also getting baptized this November 6th so that will be two people entering into the fold of god in my second transfer.
I feel so happy and almost proud, but I understand that I am only an instrument in this work and the lord has carried me. all I have to do is continue to seek and obtain his word and continue in my good works to find these prepared people, which are many. Everyone told me that this place was not ready for the message but they are and it is a blessed land, I can feel great things coming along.
I ask everyone to pray that I stay humble and that I continue to pursue the will of the lord. every day I ask the lord in every personal prayer 'what lack I yet' and with real intent I pursue what I lack and strive to improve it, I also ask 'help my unbelief' because fear and doubt can not and will not dwell in the presence of faith which is the power that drives the lords work. I love every one of you and pray for you each night, please watch over my family like you already have been doing and help them in any aspect you can because I am no longer there to do it. i love you and miss you
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Benji J. Massey
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