as of September 11, 2013

Thursday, May 8, 2014

April 21, 2014 – Why waste your time Bible bashing with people?

Dear Mom, Dad, Lauren, and Ian,

I'll talk more about the title of this letter later, but worry not! I, fortunately was not a victim of Bible bashing, nor did I participate in it. Because, de la verdad, honestly, it's really dumb. But anyway, I have a lot to tell about the week! And about what I missed to tell last week.

So like I said, last week, I've been transferred out of the lovely Punta Cana to go into the capital, Santo Domingo. Well, just outside of the capital. Really, just outside of the city is a LOT of rain forest with buildings in between. I personally am not a huge fan of big cities. Too much noise and too little space for me. But in my area, called Los Tres Brazos, it looks like those poor villages in Brazil like you see in the movies. There's just enough space for me to feel comfortable.  ^_^ I'm also training another missionary now! In terms of a missionary, I have a son! And like my trainer, or my papa, he's from Guatemala. His name is Elder Herrera. He's a really good missionary, very well prepared. But I'll help him as much as I can these next 3 months.

So, Easter for me was pretty similar to Christmas; nobody is very enthusiastic about it, but it's a pretty cool excuse to drink. Well, maybe a little more so than Christmas. People like to go to the beaches for Easter, or as they call it here, Semana Santa so the majority of the people are gone. But the people that stick around drink all day for the whole weekend. The AP's called and told us that for the weekend we had to be back at the house for safety. But at least our downstairs neighbors fed us. They're so awesome!!! We ate a dish with rice and a fish called Bacalao, it's a dried salted fish. Does that sound familiar? They aren't members, but they know all about missionaries because, one, they’ve had missionaries as neighbors for years, and two, one day an Elder left his mission manual at their house and they all read it. So they know all our rules! lol! They are Catholic, but the youngest son is working on getting baptized! He came to church with us yesterday.

But yes, everything is going pretty well so far. ^_^ Now, I'm going to talk about why it's silly to bible bash. It started when I went to a service project with the Zone. I was talking with some missionaries from my zone and sharing stories. Two missionaries went back and forth about how they met people that constantly fought with them about the bible, and all the scriptures they used to prove the person wrong and the missionary right. But they said something interesting. They said that even though they had all the right scriptures, the people still continued to fight with them. Now don't get me wrong, I have respect for these Elders and their knowledge of the Bible; it's something all Elders should have. But we should be careful about how we use that knowledge of the scriptures. We use our knowledge to teach, not to contend. Jesus Christ never contended with anybody during his ministry, even with the Pharisees who always tried to confuse and contend with Him, with no success I might add. As His representatives, we missionaries should be no different. Besides, Bible bashing is a waste of our short and precious time. There are three main kinds of people you meet as a missionary; those who want to learn, those who don't, and those who want to contend. Those who want to contend couldn't care less about what we have to say to them, even if it is the truth. They simply don't care. You can use all the right scriptures to answer all their confusing questions, but what you say goes in one ear and out the other. All they want to do is confuse you and fight with you. I personally have no intention to entertain these kind of people. I'll spend the little time I have to talk with people who will sincerely benefit from what I have to say.

Sorry! That's much louder than how I usually sound! I'm just pretty serious about this subject. :P But anyway, that's about all I have for this week. I'll write more of my awesome adventures this next Monday! Happy Easter Guys! Love you!


-Elder Froude

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