Sister Stratford and I are trying to kill the dead stack. How can you kill something that is already dead?, you might ask. Let me explain. The dead stack is old contact cards that are often found in missionary apartments. Missionaries go contact a bunch of people, and use these little cards to write down their name, number, sometimes address. If they're really on the ball, they'll make some more notes on the other side to remember the date, where they met, etc. Often, it is difficult to get in touch with people, or maybe the cards go astray, and somehow or other you end up with stacks of old contact cards. What should theoretically happen is that the missionaries try several times to contact the person. If they try a bunch of times and can't get them, or if the person says they're not interested/too busy, they can write them into a form that lists "potential investigators" (i.e. people that later missionaries could call to see if they would like to meet). Then the cards get ripped up, and the information is condensed and organized. The dead stack happens when cards never make the transition into the potential investigator form. In order to kill the dead stack, you basically have to do what the original missionaries might have done, except it takes a long time because you have all of their cards, plus any contact cards that you fill out yourselves. Thanks to Sister Stratford's super-awesome organization system, we are nearing success. Calling dead stack can be very interesting, especially cards that are a few years old. Most people just say they're too busy; sometimes they say they'll call us back (I would really love for that to happen someday). However, you never know if someone in that stack is looking for the thing you want to give them. One of the women we are currently teaching, who plans on being baptized in Octobor (Zhou Jie Mei), came from the dead stack. Killing the dead stack is just like knocking doors or contacting over the phone, and they're all sort of like a treasure hunt for the people that want to talk to you. Who doesn't like a treasure hunt?
This transfer our mission is focusing on chapter 4 from Preach My Gospel, which is titled something like "How can I learn to recognize and follow spiritual promptings?" (Preach My Gospel is a book produced by the church to help teach missionaries how to study, develop teaching skills, and present the doctrines of the Gospel...basically how to be a missionary. Members who are not full-time missionaries are also encouraged to study from PMG.) This emphasis is just what I need right now. I was studying from chapter 4 the other day, and I saw this statement on the very first page, "God loves you and all His children. He is anxious to support you in your practical and specific challenges." I think it's so great that the omnipotent, omniscient creator of the universe cares about my practical and specific challenges. Because I believe that God wants to guide me in the details of my life, I'm not afraid to pray about all those little things, and to try to apply the principles of the Gospel to any problem, however small. I have a lot more to learn about how to do that, but I think it's a great doctrine.
