A Week Like The Pioneers 12-21-15

This week we walked all over kingdom come.  It was really cold and windy too.  It is supposed to rain this week - I will take cold & windy over cold & rainy.  Luckily we have the car this week.  I have experienced a “first” this week.  For the first time ever I don't like and am sick of all the treats you get at Christmas.  I feel like I will be super fat after the holidays.  We are overloaded with goodies.  Ugh! 

So this week’s ponderize scripture comes from my daily reading and for some reason it stood out to me so I thought I would ponderize it.  It’s a little odd because it doesn't seem like a scripture that would catch your eye, but it did. The scripture is Luke 11: 9-10.  "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened up to you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." So it is pretty simple, which may be the point. I think we get the idea that in order for us to ask God things or receive answers, it has to be really hard and complex, but it doesn't.  This scripture is written twice in the Bible.  I wanted to break it down a little.  Ask. I thought that it was interesting that it was capitalized even though we all know that it shouldn't be based on its placement in the sentence. Asking is a very key part. The Lord wants us to ask for things. It is the only word that is capitalized in this scripture which may hint towards its importance. If we ask for things, we are going to be given an answer.  Now our part is to ask, His is to answer, and then ours is to accept the answer, no matter what it may be.  Seek. We can ask for things all we want, but the Lord isn't going to just give us the answer on a silver platter. We have to go out and do the work and search for the things we want, and then we will find it.  We need to stop being lazy, even if our searching is mostly on our phones or computers, and do some work. We also need to show our obedience. He is not going to bless us with things we want, if we aren't obedient to what He has asked of us.  Knock. I think this goes along with seek.  When we knock we are right there at the door, and there is always going to be a light on in God’s house with someone there who will always answer.  So we ask for things, which leads to seeking and searching them out, which leads us to the door where we knock.  I think the knock at the door usually comes at the end of our journey.  When we knock, we have showed the Lord that we have made the effort and worked to find our answer.  Then He will open it unto us.  Sorry this was a long explanation, but as I have been asking for things, I have seen that my questions have been answered through this process.  A lot of it comes from reading the scriptures.

Monday was P-day and we played basketball and two-hand-touch rugby. We then went on exchanges for the night and I went to Springfield, which is the other half of our ward, with Elder Ihler who is also from Idaho too.  He is from Malet, or something like that.  About 45 minutes away from Pocatello.  We had a couple lessons with two guys who are really close to baptism.  We had a good time on the exchange.

Tuesday we went to the Bishop’s storehouse and exchanged back.  We then tracted a bit and found one potential investigator. We then went out with a member to have a lesson with Amanda, but she wasn't there when we showed up.  She didn't get back until we were about to leave, so that was a bummer.  We did get to talk to somebody while we were there who may be interested in learning more.

Wednesday we contacted a few people, but they all said to come back another time.  That is the one thing that sucks about the holidays.  Everyone is so busy that they don't have time to listen.  Most of these people tell us to try back after the holidays.  That is 2 weeks of nothing, so we are hoping we will at least get to have a few lessons.

Thursday we tried a lot of people, but again, no luck.  However, later while we were walking to our dinner appointment, a lady pulled into her driveway nearby and started walking towards us.  My first thought was that she was going to offer us a ride, but she asked me if we had a phone number.  So then my next thought was that she was going to get mad or turn us in or something.  I gave her our number and then she told us that she had a friend, named TJ, that wanted our phone number.  So that was cool because we got a referral just from walking an hour to dinner. Our dinner was with Springfield Elders as well and it was an early Christmas dinner at a member’s house, Sis. Durham.  They gave us a bunch of goodies and a stocking full of gifts.  My favorite was a reindeer Christmas tie.  That was so nice of them.  I also got my package from home today.  I got Nanaimo bars, which I was super psyched about.

Friday it was freezing cold.  It evened snowed little flurries in the morning when we helped some members clean out their basement.  We didn’t have any luck the rest of the day until right before dinner.  We had a lesson with a member’s grandson, which went well.  He told us he wants to learn more, so we are going to meet with him some more.

Saturday - not much to report on except for another cold day.

Sunday we had church and no luck the rest of the day.  It turns out that I am giving a talk next Sunday though.  It is supposed to be about 10 minutes long.  Oh Boy!  The topic is Feed My Sheep, which is a good one, but I think it could be a little tricky for a missionary to give it because it may come out sounding like I’m lecturing or shredding into the congregation about doing more missionary work.  Even though there is always room to improve, I’m hoping it won’t come across like I am criticizing or judging at all.  I know I will find a way to be able to talk about the things the Lord wants them to hear. 

So that was my week. I hope your shopping, planning and gift wrapping has all gone smoothly, but also full of remembrance of the real reason we celebrate Christmas.  I wish you all a merry Christmas and a safe holiday for those of you in snowy conditions.  Boy, I am NOT going to miss that this year.  I think Christmas is supposed to be in the high 60s for us, which will be nice.  Haha. Talk to y'all next week.

Elder Ellison

Pre-Christmas Dinner

Rockin' The Christmas Ties!