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| The Elders in my district |
June 6, 2016
Well when I said that the heat was here last week...it REALLY
got here this week...it was HOT this past week, like high 90s and even 100s on
Saturday. The heat is a good conversation starter however – we can all agree on
how much we don't like it.
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| Exchanges with Elder Handley |
But aside from the heat, things are doing well! This past week we had lots of appointments
fall through – which is never fun, but that’s what missionary work is all
about! We had a few great lessons this week with the Luciano family, and it
looks like we are going to be planning a wedding!! I never thought that I would
plan a wedding on my mission, but here goes nothing! We found out a few weeks
ago that the Lucianos weren't married, even though they have been together for
7+ years. We had a great lesson on
Friday night with the family, and we took a super solid member with us. We put
our bold pants on – haha! and told them that they need to get married, and that
they are living in sin when they aren't married. We focused the lesson on the atonement
of Jesus Christ and how much he loves us, and that is why he gives us
commandments such as the law of chastity. It was really a great lesson, and it
was cool to see the spirit work on them. They committed to get married, and so
now we are going to move forward with those plans. They were pretty excited
when they found out that the branch can basically do the wedding for them, so
now we just need to sit down with them and the Branch President and choose a date
and time and everything. So the Luciano family is progressing, slowly but
surely.
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| One of the young men in the branch. His hair is the coolest thing ever... this is what I wanted back in the day! |
Francisco is doing well, also. He made it to church again yesterday,
and enjoyed it like usual. This week we taught him about temples and he was
ecstatic about it! He literally started clapping his hands when we taught him
about eternal marriage. I've really been looking forward to teaching him about
temples because I knew that he likes church and everything, but he also loves
his fiancée a lot, and so what better way to put the two together than a temple
marriage! He said that his fiancée had
mentioned temples to him before, but he didn't know what they were so he just
ignored it. (It is actually really funny because his fiancée doesn't speak much
Spanish at all, and he doesn't speak much English, so we don't know how they
communicate…but they love each other and I guess that's all that matters!) Francisco is ready to be baptized; he is just
waiting for Emily to come back from her trip to Fiji. She is on business over
there and was supposed to be back by now, but the project is taking twice as
long and she has also been sick, so she hasn't been able to work. So it might
be a few more weeks before Francisco is able to get baptized.
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| A BEAUTIFUL ski boat we found... we went up and knocked on the guy's door and although he likes his boat, he didn't like the gospel - haha! |
Our lesson in Elders Quorum yesterday was about conversion and
what true conversion really means. It was a great discussion and I am grateful
for the things that were discussed. A story was shared about how a man went to
church every week and was "active" in the church, but still wasn't
converted. This conversation led me to ponder this topic, and I think that the
difference is in the heart. Every one of us can go through the motions and
attend church each week, but until we let it get into hearts, we will never
change.
I love the scripture in Mosiah 5:2, "And they all cried
with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken
unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of
the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our
hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good
continually."
The people of King Benjamin were converted because the Spirit of
God touched and changed their hearts. So how can we get that change in our
hearts?? I honestly don't know the quick
and easy answer, and I think that the answer is different for every person. For
me I think it is a process that includes a few different things:
1) Steady Scripture Study. There is absolutely no substitute for
daily nourishment from the scriptures. I LOVE reading the scriptures. I love
talking about them and digging into them and having discussions about what we
can learn. I know what it means in Alma 32 when it says "and it begins to
be delicious." The scriptures are delicious to me now. I haven't always
had a desire to study the scriptures, before my mission and even at the
beginning I didn't enjoy reading them, I did it because I knew it could only
help.
2) Sincere personal prayer. I think that out of all the prayers
I’ve ever said in my life, 90% were just cuz thats what we do before we eat,
start class, or go to bed. But if we really take time to think about what we
need Heavenly Father's help with, and then ask for that in prayer, it is 100x
more powerful. We can even ask for a stronger desire, or a stronger conversion
in our heart, and he can bless us with those things.
3) A humble realization in your heart of the good things that
the gospel brings. I have never been so grateful in my life for the gospel
until this point in my life. Looking back, I can't imagine where I’d be without
it, and I can't even imagine losing it. When we all think of the mountain of
blessings that the gospel gives us, this strengthens our testimonies. Like can
you imagine living life without the Word of Wisdom? I can't! If we have a hard
time thinking of the blessings, then we need to go back to step 2 and pray and
ask to recognize the blessings more. When we come to realize that truly every
good thing comes from God, then our humility and gratitude in our hearts
increase.
I know that this church is true, and that the things it teaches
are true. I know that Jesus Christ stands at the head of it.
Have a great week! I love you guys!
Love,
Elder
Todd
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