March 2, 2020

I Went Sicko Mode

Well I didn't think I'd do it, but here I am. I'm proud of how far I've come! I'm gonna keep it short and sweet. 

I hit 7 months so that's pretty dang exciting! This whole mission thing is flying by! 

The other day we were knocking and we knocked on this one door and this dude opens and I start doing my thing. He cuts me off by yelling what I thought was German in my face. I had a feeling he knew what I was saying so I just kept going. He kept yelling what I now know was Danish in my face. I just sighed and said some church words like Jesus Christ and Book of Mormon and then in a last ditch effort I said "can you understand me" to which he responded he couldn't in German. So clearly I knew he could understand so I called him out naturally. I asked how he understood me and he knew I had him beat. He sighed and then finally said "no hablo ingles" Now I am by no means fluent in Spanish but I can get along so I just was like, “oh esta bien amigo! Hablo español y somos misioneros de la iglesia de jesucristo y tenemos un mensaje. Now he really knew I'd pinned him. So accepting defeat he says in perfect English. I'm not interested man. Uh ya no duh. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out lol. But he did say he respected me for not giving up and for what we are doing. 

Then on the way home we were walking back to our apartment and on the walks in the past we've seen this one dude who always ignores us when we say hi, but this time I decided I'd talk to him. Well we were getting close and I said hi to which he muttered hi back. I stopped and asked if he had a minute for us to talk. His response was unlike anything I've ever seen. From about a foot away from my face he turns and yells at the top of his lungs some jibberish. From what I heard it sounded like KEESTER EGG HAMILTON I DON'T EVEN HAVE A COAT!!! To which I gave a simple alrighty then and we hurried on our way laughing our heads off! 

The last story is also a little funny but also has some spiritual aspects. So we've been going to what is called an Oxford house with the Sisters. An Oxford house is a place where a bunch of guys live who are all trying to get over alcohol and drug addiction. All of them have spent time in jail and/or prison where they get to know the bible REALLY well. So the first time we went we had about 7 or 8 guys there and we were just talking and sharing stories and scriptures and experiences and it was really amazing! The second time we introduced the Book of Mormon and taught from it. Unfortunately we only had about 3 or 4 guys who showed up there. They seemed to be into the Book of Mormon which was exciting! Then the other night we went back and one guy had lots of concerns with the Book of Mormon. He kept saying the Bible was the only word of God. It was interesting he kept saying the Book of Mormon backs up the Bible but not vice versa so... he kept talking about Matthew 23 or 24 or something where it says to beware of false prophets. Anyway he kept saying he only needed the Bible so naturally my mind went to 2 Nephi 29 and before I knew it I had asked him if we could read it. The sisters and my comp just stared at me in horror but it was too late. So we read it. Not sure how he took it, but we're going back tomorrow so I guess it could've been worse! He's super solid though and has a real desire to learn! Good times

Well missions are fun. They are hard. Most days feel exactly like the one before it which is wildly unfortunate but that's how it be sometimes. I wouldn't trade the experiences I've had for anything though! Love you all! 

Warmest regards,

Elder Nixon