On Friday it was snowing pretty bad and we were debating what to do in my area for the day. We decided that we should get snow shovels from some members and then go out and find someone's driveway to shovel. After we got the shovels it was still snowing so I thought it would be a good idea to go and check up on an old investigator to see how she was doing. She didn't answer and I remembered that there were some older members of our ward that lived in her neighborhood and so we went to see how they were doing and to ask if they would like us to shovel our driveway.
They were really glad to see us, and has us come in for sandwiches and something to drink. We shared a message and then told them that we were going to shovel their driveway. At first they insisted that we didn't have to and that one of their neighbors would probably come by and do it for them. We reminded them that there was three of us and we could get the job done in a matter of minutes. They finally gave in and told us we could do it. So we went out there and shoveled. She came out and said that she had been thinking about her neighbor who was also a bit older and would also appreciate it if his driveway was also shoveled. She told us where his house was and then specifically told us NOT to knock on his neighbors door because she was not to fond of Mormons and would definitely give us a rude welcome.
We tried the condo of the man our member told us to go see but he wasn't home. As we were leaving I had a feeling that we should try the neighbor that our member warned us about. I looked at her condo and could see her glaring at us through the window. She did not look happy to see us at all. I told the other elders that I had a feeling that we should still try and talk to her. They said that we could but that I would have to do the talking.
As we approached the door we saw her sit back down on her couch and turn on the TV. She didn't answer when we knocked. We waited a little while and then knocked again, just a little bit louder (in case she "didn't hear us") This time she got up and came to the door. She opened the door and very angrily told us, "I'm Seventh Day Adventist! I don't want to be a Mormon!" One of the Elders I was with responded with, "We're not here to try and convert you, we just want to shovel your driveway!"
Her whole expression changed and she swung the door open wide and said, "You look cold! Come in and warm up!" she told us that she was really concerned that the snow was getting too deep that she couldn't go out their and shovel it herself because of her health. We ended up shoveling her back porch and both her driveway and the driveway of the man we first tried because they were connected. She was really grateful and was really friendly to us. She gladly agreed to exchange phone numbers and told us that she would definitely give us a call sometime.
As we were walking away our member came out of her house because she was curious how the person we tried to see accepted us. We told her about the neighbor we saw instead and she was shocked about how well we were treated. She also told us that when she was getting the mail, she saw the old widow down the street trying to shovel her driveway and that we should go help because she was to old to be doing it herself. We drove over and we noticed immediately that the woman was really struggling. We pulled over and jumped out with shovels and said, "Hey, we'll do that for you!" Her whole face just lit up and she got really excited. We shoveled and while we shoveled we had a really good conversation with her. She was super thankful that we came by when we did. The snow was getting too deep for her and she didn't know anyone who would help. She treated us to something to drink and wanted our phone number.
We went home very tired (the snow was almost a foot deep) but I was pretty satisfied. If we never tried the first woman we never would have helped either of them.
Throughout the week we also contacted a couple in-active members who told us that they would love to have us over to teach their family.
We had a dinner appointment yesterday with members of my ward. apparently its a thing to melt cheese on your pancakes while they cook? It was a first for me, but I actually really liked it.
-Elder Rebalkin
Oh yeah, I reach my year mark this week :)