Reading over this brought back a few memories. Much of the focus was on how you needed to focus on the needs of the investigator. There was something in the manual earlier about adjusting lesson lengths, but you can also change the order of the information. Some people will need more background information. It requires listening well, and if that seems daunting, there is always inspiration for help. That requires listening too.
The first memory was V. He was an investigator in Modesto. He had been studying for about a year, but he was not taking it really seriously, and therefore not progressing. They got him to start reading the Book of Mormon, and he did start progressing, but then he got hung up on tithing.
This was not surprising. When you grow up doing it all your life, it may not seem like a big deal, but it can be a huge adjustment. Beyond that, a lot of the refugees really saw their worldly circumstances go down when they fled Laos. V had been a doctor; when I met him he was working security in a meat plant.
It felt impossible that he could consider paying ten percent of his income to the church. He thought he could do it later, if he saved up for a while, or maybe he could do a smaller percentage, but it was just too much. That's where he was when I met him, just after I transferred to Modesto. The sisters had filled me in, but I think this was the first time I met him, and we were having this talk, and I suddenly knew what to say. I still cannot convey it right now.
He was understanding it wrong. He wanted to be have better financial means, and then he could obey the commandment, but that was the blessing that would follow him keeping the commandment. That's the gist, but I can't tell you what words I used. I know I told him what he needed to hear, and I know I said it in Lao. I just as surely know that it was not really me.
The Lord worked through me, and maybe it was easier for me, because he was new to me. Sometimes you get into ruts with people who aren't progressing. Missionaries will refer to some as "eternals", and there are reasons for that, but labeling them may blind you to the answers you need.
I can't say those sisters were blind to him though, because they were the ones who got him reading the Book of Mormon, so they had gotten him to one point, and others who stuck with V while he was not taking it seriously, they played a part too. It's just important to keep your heart open so you can play your part well.
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