What am I looking at?

            What am I looking at? I think as I look down at this pile of little green rolls that look way too much like poo for anyone to be comfortable.  My companion and I, Elder Palmer, are sitting in the small living room of Sister Hanson, an old lady that we go visit every week. We are serving in the Washington park area in the Denver Colorado South mission. Washington Park is about 5 minutes outside of downtown Denver and is very diverse and interesting. I had the same thought about our apartment and pretty much the whole area when I first got there as I did about the little green poop rolls.

            Our apartment was on 6^th and Lincoln which is in one of the normal parts of the area. It’s not nice, but it’s not too shady either. When we pulled into the parking lot, I got kind of scared. I wondered where I was and if this was really where I would be serving for my first area. Our apartment was red brick building across the street from a big old cathedral style church. The surrounding area looked a little run down. When we walked into the apartment it had an ancient smoky smell. We got in the elevator and it turned out to be the scariest elevator I have ever been in. We dropped my bags off and started the craziest time of my life, from getting cursed at by old men, to getting kissed by a homeless man. Washington Park has a lot of different areas. There is the really nice area where all the rich people live, then there are the historic districts where there are a lot of old historic houses where people who have a pretty normal income live. Then there is the run down scary places where the people who live there are just trying to make it. The whole area has a rundown feel except the new rich areas. Broadway is the main street going north. It has lots of shops, places to eat, lots and lots of bars, and marijuana shops. There are lots of interesting people on Broadway, mostly drunk or homeless.   

            My trainer and I had many crazy and amazing experiences in Washington Park. We got to meet a lot of interesting people. Like Frank, the homeless man that had a home. We met him walking his dog. Frank had long greasy gray hair, a neck brace, and some pretty ragged clothes. He told us that we could meet him at his house and talk to him later that day. When we knocked on the door, his dog came running and started barking like crazy. Frank opened the door a crack and let us in, holding his dog back. Frank’s apartment smelt dirty and really smoky. He had one chair and a little desk that he had a whole bunch of stuff on and lots of beer cans. Frank had been homeless for most of his life, but he had recently won his apartment through a program for homeless people. He didn't have a lot of furniture, so we sat on the floor when we would teach him. Frank smoked and drank a lot, we asked if we could help him quit, telling him how much it would help him. We tried so hard to help him, we did everything we in our power, but he wouldn't do the things that we asked of him. He told us that it was too hard and that it wasn't his time. Unfortunately, we had to drop Frank. I wanted to help Frank so bad, I wanted to see him clean up his life and accept the gospel, but he choose not to. This taught me a good lesson, we won’t always be able to help everyone that we meet, but we can try our hardest. 

            The most special and spiritual experience I had in Washington Park was with Brandon Morelock. He hated missionaries and the church. When we first started talking to him, the only reason he was even looking at the church was to prove his girlfriend wrong. He thought it was very dumb and silly. As we talked to him, the spirit worked on him and started to change his heart. He started talking to the bishop and one day told us that he was going on a trip to the Arkansas wilderness with nothing more than a journal, book of Mormon, and a bible. He was going to find the truth. He said he would be gone for 2 weeks and when he got back he would tell us what he found out. 2 weeks passed by painfully slow. Finally, Brandon came back and told us some of his amazing experiences. He went from not believing in God, to knowing he was there. He could feel God protecting him from the evil spirits trying to get to him. He came back with a changed heart, but he had some big problems with Joseph Smith. He didn't believe that Joseph did it for the right reasons. As he read the Book of Mormon and started to pray about it, he was starting to gain a testimony of its truth. However, he was still unsure about Joseph Smith. We listened to a talk with him, Profile of Prophet by Hugh B Brown. After we talked to him about it, he asked us about the baptismal interview questions, which surprised us. We told him that we could go over them with him. The first question, “do you believe in Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ?”  “Yes.”  “Do you believe in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon?”  The answer that he would give would change all of our lives forever. “YES!” The spirit flooded the room and smacked us all in the face it was so strong and powerful, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. I had seen a true change of heart. The spirit had changed Brandon forever. He was baptized on August 13, 2010 and was recently called to be the Elders Quorum president.

            These two experiences helped me to see that just because you see something on the outside, doesn't mean it’s bad on the inside, just like the grape leaves. That’s what the green poop rolls are really called and they have rice and vegetables on the inside of them. They are very good for you. Just like Washington Park. When you first  get to the area, it looks scary and rough and not a fun place to be, but when you get to know the people and learn about the area, it is a very special place.