Mail:
Elder Carson Lewis Junk
Washington DC South Mission
5242 Lyngate Court
Burke, VA 22015
On Sep 25, 2017 1:54 PM,
"Carson Lewis Junk" <carson.junk@myldsmail.net>
wrote:
Hey everyone, another great week down! It was a pretty crazy one
and I'm dead tired but am continuing to make small steps towards improvement.
I'm enjoying this wonderful mission experience even through all the hardships
and rejection. I think in my "greenie" mindset I expected everyone to
flock towards me and hear the message we have to share but I am coming to a
realization that it's a little (lot) different than that. Either way, I love
the mission and am thankful for each day to be out here and doing what I love
and have grown so passionate about this incredible gospel.
Starting off the week, On Tuesday we had an exchange with the Zone
Leaders in Annandale. It's pretty crazy, you only travel north a half hour out
of Woodbridge and it feels like you are in a completely different country on
the opposite side of the World. Annandale has a very large Korean and
Vietnamese population and as we were biking pretty much everyone we talked to
was from South Korea, Vietnam, or Mongolia. It's awesome that my mission offers
so much diversity and I am truly thankful getting to talk to everyone coming
from completely different backgrounds and lifestyles. I guess there used to be
a Korean speaking mission in DC South but unfortunately it wasn't very
successful so they shut it down a few years ago. Now it is just English,
Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. It was fun being able to go with Elder Mix. He
is a super cool guy from North Carolina and is 2 years older than me. He
instilled in me some great principles and wisdom and I learned a lot from him.
Two things he taught stood out to me BIG time.
1. If you set too many
goals you won't be able to accomplish them. He told me to focus on 1 or 2 small
simple goals and that if you master them it will help immensely. He told me
about a time on his mission that he was focusing on 12 goals and eventually not
even one of them got accomplished. I really liked that and I have already
shifted my focus to a simple goal.
2. Talk to everyone. Not
only talk to everyone but share the gospel with them. I think I can work on
that big time. I don't have a problem with talking to everyone but I think I
can improve and do a much better job of while talking to everyone, centering
the conversation on the gospel and the spirit. Even though it is a great thing
to get to know who you are talking to, I can do better at sharing the gospel.
That's the whole reason I am here is to share the message about Jesus Christ!
We ended the night playing some ping pong in the apartment and it was super
fun.
So in my group E-mail last week I shared with you all a picture of
some text messages from a good ol' basher with some ridiculous questions. We
had an appointment with the mysterious text messaging man on Thursday and it
was nothing less than a complete disaster. We arrived to the man's house who
told us his name was Pastor Santos. He was this little dude from El Salvador
who had a giant mouth. Pastor Santos was actually very nice at first and shook
our hands and got to know us a little bit. I was thinking, 'Hey this won't be
too bad.' Then it went downhill incredibly fast. He told us we couldn't say a
prayer with him to open the lesson since we pray to a quote "different
Jesus." He intensified and explained his whole purpose for having us over
was to prove us wrong and prove that we were liars and complete frauds. On top
of that, Pastor Santos had a Spanish book on his table that translated to
"50 things wrong with the Book of Mormon." Elder Roper whispered over
to me that we needed to get out of there quickly. The first question he had was
nowhere near to anything we believe or in our doctrine, so he got on his
computer to look up anti Mormon references to supposedly prove that we believe
something different.
This guy was a jerk and started yelling at Elder Roper and I
claiming we have never read The Bible nor do we believe it to be a word of God.
He would look at us and yell liar and then say something bizarre about The Book
of Mormon. Elder Roper and I were very offended. Especially me, as I have been
studying a lot out of the Bible in Jeremiah recently. Who was this guy to tell
us we have never read or prayed about the Bible. Elder Roper had enough of this
oompah loompah blasphemist and got up and left the apartment. This guy was
still following us out of the apartment and this is when I had to finish him
and end it. I recited some of my favorite scriptures from The Bible including
Jeremiah 1:5, John 6:38, James 1:5, and Galatians 5:22 (which this man did not
have) and I left him with my testimony of The Bible and The Book of Mormon
being the word of God. This guy was still following us! I turned to him and
asked "Sir have you read The Book of Mormon cover to cover?” He responded
with yes I have. So I proceeded to say if that's the case then you can name 3
people or prophets in The Book of Mormon for me, can't you? Pastor Santos said enthusiastically
that he could and said, Joseph Smith!.....I told him "sorry but he was not
a prophet in The Book of Mormon nor was he alive during that time and the Book
of Mormon it isn't about Joseph Smith. I gave him another chance and he didn't
say a word and didn't name anyone else. I finished and said, "Sir you are
the liar as you have not read a page from The Book of Mormon." It was
over, we finally got out of there.
Elder Roper and I were pretty mad for wasting our time with Pastor
Santos. As
we were biking home a truck pulled over next to us. This guy in the truck
said he was a member over in Warrenton and loves missionaries. He hands us a
bill and says "Get something nice with this" and drives off. The guy
gave us 50 Dollars! What a blessing and we were in shock. It was so awesome and
if I ever serve in Warrenton I am finding him and thanking him. The gospel is
true!
I am sorry for the long “bashing” letter and story, but I tell you
this because I look back at it and think it hilarious. If anything, he's just
strengthening my testimony. Here is a man who spends all his time focusing on
anti-Mormon material about a book he has never read. Why...? I promise to all
of you that The Bible and the Book of Mormon are the words of God. They draw us
closer to Jesus Christ. With the Bible, The Book of Mormon works hand in hand
and draws us closer to our Savior. I would invite all of you to read and study
from The Book of Mormon. Ponder how you feel while reading it and focus on
Jesus Christ throughout it all. That was just a funny story and I promise there
is so many great experiences and blessings I have seen on the mission. I had a
great opportunity to give a talk in church yesterday and I love the ward, area,
mission, and gospel. We have been helping an 8 year old get ready for baptism
and there is nothing better than this gospel and seeing it light up her eyes. I
love all of you and have a great week!
Love,
Elder Junk
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| Carfax picture - Some will understand |
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| Elder Mix with his arm on my shoulder. Elder Norton and Roper (it's funny they went on exchanges because they were companions before) |
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| Pettus family who I love. They fed us an incredible meal and then sent us home with a whole cooler of food! |
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| Christmas came early - I'm saving some to open later |
