Friday, February 20, 2015
Make it Stop!
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
That's how extreme it is!
The twig was cancelled, sad day. It was really just too cold though! It was -15 with a wind chill of -30, and it was just bad! Things just get colder and colder here! I used to like wearing my awesome coats, jackets, and sweaters, but now I’m sick of them... Today's 10 degrees, and I have to say it felt pretty nice to walk outside. That's how extreme it is! I suppose I can't complain... I could be in Norway or Russia, or even Boston for that matter
This week was nice! Despite being cold, we were able to still able to get a lot done. I went on exchange in Warren, PA, and Elder G is a highly dedicated walk elder. However, Warren is an area with a car because it needs one. We walked probably 12 miles to try approximately 4 people. We went all over. It was definitely the most I'd done in a while! I guess it's good to stay in practice, but it was not a super enjoyable experience at the time... We also had training on obedience with President Johnson at Zone Training, by which I take it that there have been problems lately with disobedience... Not to worry. Your faithful and obedient son is continuing on in the strait and narrow path. Cool quote though: " Obedience is heaven's first law, and order is itShoppings result," -Amalia Aubacher (President Johnson’s grandma.) It's true. As we obey, for the right reasons, things fall into place in the right way and at the best time. So yep! Keep the faith!
So I can't remember if I told you this, Brother H, a member in our area, is a martial arts and weaponry master, and he's started teaching us basic principles and fundamentals of self-defense on Pday. (There is nothing else to do here.) Gotta say, I am really enjoying it. Learning a ton. Here's some food for thought. He was teaching us some techniques, but made this observation. Learning a bunch of rote techniques for highly specified situations will get you nowhere. Better is to learn the principles, the way things work, and then allow that absolute truth to govern how you react in a situation. Ex. rather than mastering a specific parry/punch combination for every attack, understanding how force and energy work in the body to redirect and then counterstrike in the best way. The gospel parallel is this- rather than memorizing all the rules and then living them to the t, understand the gospel. Understand the fundamental truths as to how things work, and then allow this knowledge and the Spirit to help you to make the best decision in any given situation. The most annoying missionaries are the ones who live the white handbook perfectly but fail to really show compassion, charity, or inspiration. The way to really live the gospel is to understand, then act. And I think that goes for social interaction, or business, or really anything. If you understand how, and why, something works, that is way better than memorizing routines or steps. It's leadership vs. management. Food for thought.
Love,
Elder Wright
Friday, February 13, 2015
Monday, February 9, 2015
"If you find yourself lacking in happiness, simply increase the amount of your obedience."
I'll tell you a bit about my Saturday and Sunday, since that was ward conference for us. On Saturday we were down in Westfield, which is about a 30 minute drive, where a lot of the people we visit live. We have started doing service at the library there, I’ll take pictures next time because it is the nicest library I've ever been in: Marble floors, large ionic pillars, the children's library downstairs is bright, engaging, and well-stocked. Also, it has a much simpler sorting system than Dover’s library. Plus, Elder S enjoys the library service, as opposed to Elder B, who suffered through it.
We then drove to Jamestown for the Saturday night session, it was nice. We split into smaller groups and had breakout sessions where we discussed tender mercies in our lives. Then came back together and had some more discussion. It was unusual, not really sure what I was expecting, but there was a very nice spirit to it. Also J and R, two of our investigators, came, which was a great thing for them. That night we spent the night in Jamestown, due to the long drive back to Fredonia, which was fun, I got to talk more with Elder B again. He has this little magic trick called Sherbinkam which he drives his companion crazy with, I was in on it, so that was kind of entertaining-he couldn't figure out the trick.
Ward conference was very inspiring. Stake President M had a little anecdote, a simple formula: C+O=H. Commandments+Obedience=Happiness. "If you find yourself lacking in happiness, simply increase the amount of your obedience."
Also in Priesthood meeting the stake presidency counselor gave a very well-done lesson on the plan of salvation, he touched on three things that will allow us to remain on the path and progress to return to our Father in Heaven: Prayer, Scriptures, and Service. As a missionary, we tend to teach all our less-actives that the Big 3 are Prayer, Scriptures, and Church. And while that is true, I have realized that there are a bunch of "active" members who do those things but are still, for lack of a better word, jerks. But truly altruistic service is a thing that lifts us beyond our own and makes us closer to others and the Savior. So that is true! Service! But don't stop coming to church!
L is still doing really good, his mom bought him a suit and so now he looks pretty spiffy coming to church! He is on track to get baptized the beginning of March, which is awesome! Unfortunately, his cousin D, has hit a roadblock. He told his dad that he wanted to get baptized and his dad won't permit it until he is 18. He is fine with him coming to church, but doesn't feel like his son is capable of making a big decision like that. Which is really frustrating. But he's still coming to church, and he bought himself a suit! So now he looks pretty spiffy! Just 2 1/2 years and then he can get baptized!
Yay! :(
Yay! :(
Well that's the week. Love you!
Elder Wright
P.S. This last week was ward conference, so no twig! I miss it! Back to the twig this week.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
But that is the missionary life. And overall, despite all that, it’s a pretty good one.
Yeah the work is going great here! The snow just keeps coming, though. Pretty over it at this point.
Church in Jamestown yesterday was awesome! Fast and testimony meeting was probably one of the most spiritually powerful meetings I have attended in my life. R got up and bore her testimony about how though even her baptism has been postponed; she still knows this church is true. Then J, another of our investigators, bore her testimony of how the gospel has changed her life. (She also gave a shout out to us, calling us "my missionaries"). Sister W, a returning member, bore her testimony for the first time in her life! Plus several other members from our area got up to bear their testimonies about missionary work! The Spirit was powerfully present there, and I could feel it so strongly. The fire alarm actually went off in the middle of several testimonies (some crazy kid kept pulling it or something), leading Elder B to quip, “Well, the second hymn in our hymnbook reads "The Spirit of God like a fire is burning'". That was a really special experience. The church is true!
Last week, we tried to do the repentance object lesson with this guy named K that we found. Anyway, don't know if you know this object lesson. A bowl of water is you. Every time you sin, you sprinkle pepper in the water and it looks yucky. The power of repentance is dish soap. You put a drop on the tip of your finger and touch the surface of the water and the pepper blasts away. Anyways, back to the story, K doesn't have any condiments in his cupboards. Nothing in there but beans and squid. :P So Elder S. tried using ground-up coffee, which doesn’t work, because it sinks and disperses in the water. I was about to scrap the idea but found some canary food, which worked well enough for the purposes of the lesson. I still think it maybe went over K's head though...
At this point, we have a lot of investigators, it's a pretty tough process just leading them and helping them get through their individual problems and concerns and get to baptism. One thing for sure is, the devil does not let up on them! As soon as you start moving towards baptism, you are out of neutral ground. Multiple investigators are facing massive family backlash. Some are struggling financially, with health, whatever. It is really frustrating. And really hard to see. But that is the missionary life. And overall, despite all that, it’s a pretty good one.
Love,
Elder Wright
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)