That's right! I'm officially in Lawrence - the most heavily populated Hispanic area in the mission! I am the new District Leader for the Methuen District (which covers Methuen, Derry, and Lawrence - 9 missionaries total). I also have a new companion - Elder Blad, from Logan, Utah. There already is another set of missionaries - a trio - here in Lawrence, but they were told to take all the investigators from Lawrence and continue with them, and leave Elder Blad and me to start off fresh and find a new teaching pool - so here we go again, "shotgunning" an area; although this time, I'm the trainer :)
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| Elder Dusty helping a local weed the garden, New England-style. This must be why, in Joseph Smith's day, this was known as the "burned-over" district! |
Well, shotgunning and training is A LOT of work - plus it's all Spanish...and both of us are gringos....oh ya, and to to top if off - district leader responsibilities take a lot of time. BUT, I love it. I really do. I'm not complaining one bit, I just love it! I don't know if I've been this busy before in my whole mission, and just as Dad taught me, "a busy man is a happy man", I find so much happiness in this huge load of work that keeps me super focused. Plus it's pretty fun living in an apartment with 4 other missionaries, haha. We have a lot of good times, while still being obedient.
So we tried something new this week to find new investigators. We went over to a park in North Lawrence, picked out a spot, and drew out the Plan of Salvation with chalk. It was awesome! We basically just worked on it untill people came walking by, then we would stop and talk to them about it and try to teach and talk to them as much as we could. The Spanish was a little tough of a barrier, but we did our best. Overall, we got 1 new investigator, a bunch of potentials and contacts, and we had fun!
We're also focusing our efforts right now (as instructed in recent Zone Conferences) on teaching Less-Actives and Recent Converts, and then seeking to earn referrals from them - thereby getting solid investigators.
Being a Trainer again is great - I really get to use all that I learned from training Elder Busby and strive to be a better trainer this time. And I'm really enjoying being a District Leader, because even though it takes a lot of time, it's worth every minute to get to talk to all the missionaries in the District and seek out ways to help them in their work and their own lives. I am so blessed to have the opportunity of more responsibility and a new way to serve more. I'm just loving this work so much, and the continuing to see miracles everyday. I'm excited to tell you more next time about how we get a teaching pool!
From New England with love,
Elder Dustin Carr
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