Trying a different approach

Today for P-Day, we went fishing ( for those of you former Zone Leaders, yes, fishing's approved). We went to the Gypsum Ponds, more accurately known as Gypsum Puddles. At first we were excited, because fish were literally jumping out of the water every few minutes, but our enthusiasm quickly died when it became apparent that leaping out of the water was their own way of saying, "This bait looks and smells like irradiated Silly Putty-- go get something else!" After 4 grueling hours, we hadn't even had a half-hearted nibble.

Suffice it to say we will use different baits next week-- hot dog, gummie candies, actual worms, pieces of bread-- anything but the goop stuff we've been using.

Anyways, as I sat, pole in hand, surrounded by uninterested fish, I got to thinking about the similarities between our wasted P-day fishing excursion, and our usual missionary work. We learned today that in fishing, if one approach isn't working, you need to try something else. Our 4 hours of persistence with the same bait got us nothing but a sunburn.

Likewise, in missionary work, you get so into the rut of your own personalized "script" and memorized door approaches that it becomes really awkward to try something new-- much harder than taking off the goop and skewering on the worm-- but surely it must be worth the effort. I believe the Spirit taught me that I need to experiment with and improve upon on my door approaches and teaching techniques.

So there's some personal revelation I received on how to better "save" people. Ironic that my altruistic revelation came while trying to impale an innocent creature with a barbed piece of metal wrapped in deception. Oh well, the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Hope you all have a good week! If you go fishing, make sure to bring a variety of bait types, and if you share the Gospel, don't memorize it-- let the Spirit guide.

--
Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission
999 E. Tufts Av.
Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113