The other missionaries

On Friday, as we were, literally, heading out of the house to go to the library, there was a knock at the door. Two men were standing there with Bibles in hand, ready to share a message. I'm not looking for another religion, but I do appreciate a nice message and I can empathize with what these "missionaries" are doing so I nodded my consent. There was a younger one and an older one. I had Sommer in my arms and Laine and Cannon ran out the door around me. Ridge sat/hid on the couch by the door. So even though it was obvious that I couldn't really have a meaningful discussion, they felt like I needed a short message. It was the younger one's turn to do the door approach and he launched into his discussion with a scripture, I think it was in John about God is love, and then the question, "do you ever wonder why God allows so much suffering in this world?" There was more to it, but that was the basic idea, quite gloom and doom. He liked my response, something along the lines of God gives us all agency in this life and men make their own decisions and they can choose right or wrong and that God doesn't cause suffering, but the decisions we make can cause suffering for us and others. He was so excited about my answer that he read a scripture further along in the chapter that was a summary of what I had said. Then he offered me a free Bible study guide, not just a pamphlet but a book, which I declined since I really wasn't interested and I didn't want him to get his hopes up and then come back to see what I thought at another time when I didn't really have the time to talk.

If I were Eric while on his mission I would have taken the study guide. In one of his areas they had a competition to see who could get the most J dub literature. Each item had a point value, the hymnal garnered the most points, which Eric actually acquired because one day they tracted out a study group and he asked if they had a hymn book that he could have. They happily gave him one. So he won. There you go Lance, more mission advice.


So at this point I was ready to go and thought that the discussion was over but I had to answer one more question because I had said I was happy with my own religion and didn't want the study guide. Basically, how will God make everything right? This is where I failed the door approach test. I said the 3rd article of faith in my own words. I saw his face drop and he closed with, "well, we've had a nice discussion here this morning." I'm not sure what they believe about how God will make all the suffering right but with that little discussion I had the chance to reaffirm what I know to be true, that Jesus Christ is our Savior.