Before I get into my thoughts about that, as well as some stories from the week, I just want to say 1) Roll Tide! and 2) Go Aggies! Honestly, watching Alabama play (which I have done a miniscule amount of so far this season) has been pretty boring. They literally have no competition. Every single team that they play they destroy. I'm looking forward to the Auburn, LSU, and possibly Clemson and/or Georgia games because they might actually be close. But we'll see. I was also so pumped to hear that Utah State spanked BYU. Nothing could have made me happier at that moment in time. So if you exclude everything else from the week, it was still good just based on a couple of football scores haha.
Alright, General Conference. It was another historic one. 2-hour church is definitely going to be an odd change, but I know that what we were taught was true. Gospel learning should be home-based, and church-supported, not the other way around. It's going to take some getting used to, as well as some responsibility on our part, but it will be great in the long run. Something that one member said right after that announcement was that with more freedom comes more responsibility. I have often heard and discussed with people about how the gap between true believers and non believers (or even passive believers) is becoming ever wider. I feel like this is one of the changes that will widen the gap even more. The Lord is coming soon, and we all need to prepare for it. That takes work. Lots of it. I hope that we will all heed the words from the prophets, both ancient and modern, and do everything we can to prepare to meet God. We have been given lots of counsel to help us do that. Let's follow it.
Also, I got a new companion this week. Haha probably should have mentioned that earlier. His name is Elder Lyons and he's from Meridian, Idaho. We have so far had a good time working hard and doing good. It's definitely been a grind this week, knocking lots of doors with seemingly little success. Elder Vanderhoff was sent off to Hamilton, a town in northwest Alabama. In the weeks before his departure, we dropped nearly everyone in our teaching pool just due to lack of progression and interest, so Elder Lyons and I are hitting that grind to find new people to teach the gospel and help come unto Christ. It's tough, but we are working hard. Haha I am definitely putting Elder Lyons outside his comfort zone, and sometimes that makes for some awkward experiences. But he is doing great, and I enjoy working with him.
One of my favorite talks from Conference was from Elder Uchtdorf, "Believe, Love, Do." He taught about how living the counsel found in those 3 words will help us through almost anything we will face in life. "...if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong..." That is belief. "And though I have...all knowledge,,,and have not charity, I am nothing." That is love. "If ye love me, keep my commandments." That is action. Elder Renlund also talked about how we have agency to choose to make the right decisions and to follow the Savior. It's our choice to believe, love, and do. When we choose those things, we receive blessings from heaven, and we help others to do the same. I'm looking forward to following President Nelson's counsel and studying all of the messages of Conference again, especially that talk. I hope y'all are as well.
This week we have met lots of interesting people. Our main approach for the week when we met people was that there is a prophet on the earth today, and we have the chance to listen to him this week. It blows my mind how often people just don't care. Like, let me say it again: we have a PROPHET! He speaks to God, God speaks to him, and then he tells us what God wants us to know. Wouldn't you want to listen? Most people just shrug it off and reject the offer to listen to one of the Lord's servants. I'm not sure what goes through people's minds. Anyway, we did meet one lady this week named Kim who seemed really interested. I'm not sure if we used that approach on her, but we were able to teach her briefly about the Restoration and give her a copy of the Book of Mormon. She seemed excited to read and to meet with us again. We will be seeing her this week.
Some time in the recent past I told y'all about Cora. She was also somebody who was really interested when we first met her, but we haven't seen her since. We have been by twice, once we talked to her brother and he gave us a specific time to try again, and the other time nobody was home. Pretty disappointing, but that's missionary life sometimes.
We also met a man this week while tracting who was 97 years old. I was very impressed, because he didn't look it (kind of like President Nelson). Anyway, we started talking to him, and he told us, "I only believe in one church - the church that Jesus established when he was on the earth." I said, "Awesome, us too! In fact, that's the church which we represent, the Church of Jesus Christ, the same one that he established during His lifetime." The man just said, "I go to a Primitive Baptist church," and then he basically just walked back into his house while we were still talking to him. Again, I'll never understand why people believe what they believe, or do what they do based on (or not really based on) those beliefs. I'm just thankful to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is exactly what it claims to be - the Lord's Kingdom on the earth. It is very literally His Church, and it is true. Whether people listen or not, I'm grateful for the chance to share this wonderful truth with others.
Daniel is still looking forward to his baptism on the 20th. We saw him in between sessions on Sunday, and we talked to him about how he enjoyed conference, and also about some stuff about his baptismal interview, as well as post-baptism stuff (like callings and serving in the Church). I asked him, "Do you understand the significance of being baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as opposed to any other church?" He honestly didn't give a definitive answer. He did mention the priesthood, but it sounded like he just didn't quite get it, which had me worried. I explained a couple of things briefly, and after that he seemed to comprehend fully, but that answer that he gave just put a little thought in my mind like, "I'm not sure if he's ready yet." After we talked for a minute though, that thought seemed to fade away. It was just a weird experience. Anyway, we invited him to read through all of the pamphlets, starting with the Restoration, and going all the way through to the ones about Temples and serving in the Church. That should be a good review for him to just be reminded of the basics. We all need that sometimes, especially someone like Daniel, who is relatively new in his knowledge of the restored gospel. We'll review as necessary to make sure he's ready, but everything should be shaping up well for his baptism as planned.
Alrighty, well this was a good week. We are definitely grinding to find new people to bring into the waters of baptism. At this point we don't have a whole ton to work with, but we are optimistic about a couple of the people we met this week, and I know that there are others out there, we just need to find them. I'm so thankful for your thoughts and prayers, and especially for the chance we had to listen to God's servants at General Conference. I hope we can all do everything we can to heed their counsel, for the Lord has promised, "whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." Trust in that promise, and live for the promised blessing of heeding their words to be fulfilled. I know they will.
Love y'all! Have a great week!
Elder Beach
#RollTide
#6-0
#GoAggies
My new companion, Elder Lyons.
The many faces of Elder Maness.
Elder Maness' companion, Elder McKeon.
No comments:
Post a Comment