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| Elder Ash and I with Elder and Sister Snow |
December 7, 2015
Hey everyone!!
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| 4 homies |
Being a missionary during the Christmas time of the year is a
total blast. There is so much excitement and buzz around with everyone; it
makes missionary work even more fun. The other day I shot Laura (from Sun
Valley) a text and asked to go and borrow the same Christmas tree that I used
last year from them, and they said yes, so we went and picked it up from them
and set it up at our place!! We got our
house all decked out with lights, and with the lights that Mom sent me, we have
even more!! So it really feels like Christmas at our place.
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| Exchanges with Elder Baker |
We had a good week this past week, we went on two exchanges, one
of which I spent a day back in Cold Springs. That is always lots of fun, to go
and see how the area changes and progresses. I was with Elder Bramall, who goes
home next week, so he taught me a lot about all the things he learned the past
24 months. I also spent a day in Reno in Spanish, with Elder Baker. We had tons
of fun also, teaching and preaching in Spanish! On the day I spent with him, it was SUPER
windy in Reno, so there was stuff flying all around us. It was really pretty
crazy, but it made for some good conversation starters with people out on the
streets!
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| Dog presentation |
On Friday we had our monthly MLC meeting, and it was fantastic
as always. The east side Zone Leaders drive into Sparks the night before and
stay with us and with the Elders that live next door to us, and so that is
always fun to have company for the night. Then the actual meeting itself is always
great and very spiritual. We had a local member come in and bring his dog and
give a presentation about obedience. His presentation was really good and it
really hit home to me of the importance of obedience. I feel like I have
learned a lot on my mission, but probably one of the biggest things that I have
learned is the importance of being obedient. He taught us that dogs hate being
on leashes, because it restricts their movements. So he has to trust his dog
that he will be obedient to him when he calls him back or asks him to sit or
whatever.
He told us of one time he was out walking his dog, (without a leash)
and the dog wandered off into the road, right in front of a big truck. The
owner yelled out to him, and the dog began to ran towards him, right into the
path of the truck. The dog obviously was not aware of the danger of the truck
coming right at him. At the last second, the owner decided to do a certain
whistle, which the dog understood as "sit", and as he whistled, the
dog sat as he had learned, and the truck wizzed by him just inches from the
dog's nose. If the dog had not listened, it would've certainly been killed. The
same is true for us in life. We don't always see the dangers that lie in our
paths, so when we are asked to do something, or the Holy Ghost tells us not to
go somewhere, we NEED to listen. I know without a doubt that I want to be
obedient to the Gospel for the rest of my life. When we are obedient it brings
us confidence and a surety that things will get better. When I have gotten along
great with my companions it is because we both have the same goal in mind to be
exactly obedient, and so we can help one another fulfill that goal. I want that
same thing to happen with my wife, to be able to help each other be obedient to
ALL of the commandments. This to me is the most important thing, and nothing
else matters when it comes to marriage....especially when it comes to choosing
an ETERNAL companion...because eternity is a long time!! But his training with
the dog really strengthened my testimony.
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| Singing at MLC |
Also at MLC, President Perry (2nd counselor in the mission
presidency) gave a great training on a pattern that is found in Joseph Smith
History verses 10-20 about receiving answers. It was awesome. He is a scriptorian
and he always digs way deep into the scriptures and pulls stuff out of it. His
trainings get me excited for my scripture classes at BYU, to really dig into
the scriptures. By the way, on a side note, I LOVE hearing about what people
are studying in the scriptures, so please give me frequent updates on what
everyone is studying and learning, I love getting different perspectives on
scriptures and stories the way that you see it.
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| With Elder Snow and his wife |
This past week we had Elder Stephen Snow of the Seventy come and
tour our mission with his great wife. It was awesome. Last week after we
emailed, we zipped down to Carson City for the first meeting with 3 zones. We (meaning
Elder Ash and I and President Chesnut) had no idea what Elder Snow wanted to do
with the big meetings, so we were just flying by the seat of our pants. We got
there and Elder Snow STILL hadn't told us what the deal was, so about 10
minutes before the meeting started, he told President Chesnut that he wanted
Elder Ash and I to take about 30 minutes at the beginning of the meeting, and
then President and Sister Chesnut would take about 45 minutes combined, and
then he and his wife would take the rest of the meeting....so Elder Ash and I
had to whip up a quick little training in the 10 minutes we had because we had
NOTHING prepared....so we quickly found a few scriptures and came up with a
quick activity and then roll with it. It was weird because I felt tons of
pressure to perform well in front of Elder Snow, but at the same time I felt
lots of peace and comfort from the Holy Ghost. Our portion went well and Elder
Snow said he enjoyed it a lot. We asked him how we could get
better, and he
told us we needed to be louder, so the next meeting we trained at with him we
talked much louder haha. But He and his wife gave some great training on
working with members and how to find new investigators. It was awesome. Then on
Monday night, we went up to President Chesnut's house and had dinner with Elder
& Sister Snow, President & Sister Chesnut, and all the senior couples
in the mission. It was WAY cool, to have dinner with a general authority!! At the end of dinner we shared a spiritual
message (as we ALWAYS do after a dinner) and had them all role-play with one another. So that was fun...I felt
TONS of pressure, though!!! But we all know "there is no growth in the
comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone,” so we were only growing. The
next day, we basically had the same meeting, but with three different zones.
Then President and Sister Chesnut and Elder and Sister Snow drove out to Elko,
and had a third tri-zone meeting, but we did not attend that meeting. We had
the Zone Leaders out there give our portion of the meeting. But it was very
cool to spend time with a general authority like that. I am certainly very
blessed, and I treasure the time I had with him.
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| Me and Elder Ash |
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| Our apartment - ready for Christmas |
During this time of the year it is very easy for us to turn
inward and focus on ourselves and what we are going to receive from Santa or
from others. However, I know that as we turn outward, and focus on who we can
help and what we can give others, we will have a far more enjoyable holiday
season.
"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that,
though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his
poverty might be rich."
The Savior Jesus Christ never turned inward. He had many
opportunities to do so, but he never did. This is something I need to work on,
because I often get caught up in what I am going to receive. However, I am
grateful for the time I have as a missionary because it allows me to focus on
giving to others instead of turning inward.
The Church is true. Our Savior Lives. We have a living prophet
on the earth. We can live with our families for eternity because the Priesthood
of God has been restored to the earth. Because of this, we have no reason to be
sad or fear, but to be happy and rejoice!
I love you guys!!
Love,
Elder
Todd
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| One of the teenagers in the ward took this dorky pic of us - haha! |
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| A house in our area....totally decked out for Christmas!! |
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