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| At the ward Trunk-or-Treat |
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| Our Halloween "Costumes"... Elder Freeman wore my name tag and I wore his - haha! |
Hello Everyone!!
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| At Lavanda's Baptism!! |
Elder Freeman and I have had a great week, once again! We are so
blessed. The biggest news is that Sister Lavonda was baptized on Saturday!! We
were super excited for her. The service went great, and Elder Freeman baptized
her. Then on Sunday, I confirmed her in Sacrament meeting. She was happy and
excited to be more involved...she already signed up to come out on visits with us.
The other big news is that Elder Freeman will be released this
transfer, and Elder Ash is going to be my new companion. Elder Freeman and I
both had interviews with President this past week, and he told us the news.
Elder Freeman has two more transfers, and so if he was going to go somewhere
else to finish his mission, this was the transfer to do it. He is pretty
bummed, because he wanted to finish as an Assistant and also finish in the ward
we are in, but the Lord has other plans!
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| Elder Freeman and I with Bishop Roelofs in our ward |
Elder Ash is a STUD though.
I haven't gotten to know him very well, but from the few encounters that
we've had at meetings and stuff, he's the best missionary in the mission! I
have felt that recently we've hit a plateau in our work, and I think Elder Ash
can help me take my missionary work to the next level. I am very excited to
work with him.
President Chesnut told me in my interview that I will probably
be in the office until my last two transfers as well...so I will most likely be
here in Sparks for a while. President and I had a really good interview
together. Though I spend lots of time
with him, I don't get much one-on-one time with him. I absolutely love
President Chesnut. I think the world of him, and I would follow him off a cliff
any day. I know he is inspired.
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| Exchanges with Elder HAN!!! |
I had the chance to go on exchanges with Elder Han again this
week!! We had a GREAT day together. We
had some awesome lessons, I don't know what the deal is, but it seems whenever
I go on exchanges, almost all of our appointments fall through, but then we end
up being really busy with other lessons and the Lord blesses us with great
success. This was the case on Wednesday with Elder Han. We had a great lesson
with the Montoya family, and the Spirit was SO strong. We taught them about the
Restoration, and the night before, the father of the family had stayed up until
3:30am researching the church...not all of which was favorable material, but he
was interested to learn more. So we taught them about the Restoration and at
the end the father (who is like a gang-banger and was caught up in some serious
fights and such in the past) got really emotional as he felt the Spirit. He
expressed that he and his wife want to strengthen their family and be better
parents for their children. He also told us that he didn't just want to join
our church and then stop going, but he wanted to become regular churchgoers.
The Spirit was the strongest in that lesson than I've had in a while. It was
neat to see Heavenly Father work on their family through the Spirit, and how
the Holy Ghost allowed him to feel comfortable and open up to us. We are
excited about that family.
A scripture that stood out to me this week in my studies was 3
Nephi 7:18. Nephi is preaching and teaching Jacob and his wicked followers. And
it says that,
"they were angry with him, even because he had greater
power than they for it were not possible that they could disbelieve his words,
for so great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ."
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| Carving a HUGE (108 lb) pumpkin for this guy |
He had so much faith and power that they were essentially forced
to believe him, and this made them angry!! I am so jealous of Nephi here. I
wish I could have the same faith that he does, to just walk up to anyone and
because of my faith the people are instantly led to believe in what I am
saying. I certainly have a long way to go. But something that I am trying to
get better at, and something that Elder Krey taught me, is to teach and testify
right off the bat to people that I talk to on the street. Instead of ask,
"Do you have a few minutes..." just dive right in and testify that
what we are sharing is true and will bless their life. This brings the Holy
Ghost to the location we are in and touches the person’s heart. Preach my
Gospel teaches the same concept. (BTW side note...Preach My Gospel is a great
tool for teaching the basic doctrine of the church. Too often we get caught up
in the little details that don't matter or don't effect our salvation. But
everything someone needs to know to be baptized is in Chapter 3 of PMG, so it
is a great study tool!!
Well that's about it for this past week. We will spend this upcoming week preparing for
the next transfer. It should be good fun.
I know that the Gospel blesses families. I know that I want my
future family to be centered on the Gospel because that is the only intelligent
way of doing it. I am grateful for my parents, and also their parents. I love
being a missionary and a full-time representative of my Savior Jesus Christ. I
get to see miracles and tender mercies all the time and each time it
strengthens my testimony of Him and of His church. I know that this is The
Church of Jesus Christ, and that he leads and directs Thomas S. Monson, who is
a prophet called of God. This is the Lord’s work, and I love being part of it.
I love you guys! Have a stupendous week!
Love,
Elder
Richman Dawg
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| Finished! |
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| With some of the young men in our ward at the Trunk-or-Treat |
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| The back of our car...getting decorated for Trunk-or-Treat |
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