Elder Junk's Washington DC South Mission Blog: 9-25-2017

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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