So this last
week we had very few lessons, but most of the ones we had were good. We added up our solid investigators during
weekly planning and we have 4. 4! Some people have dropped the lessons and we
are having a hard time finding new people to teach. It is really frustrating. It is hard to find people who are interested
in the Lord’s message and who will take the time to truly seek Him in their busy
lives. I was really frustrated towards
the end of this week because we make a lot of plans, but nothing seems to go
through. Then we are just sitting there thinking,
“What do we do now since all of our plans have failed?” I have been praying really hard that soon the
work will start picking up again and we will start finding a lot of new
investigators. This is just a down
moment in the work and it will always pick back up over time, in the Lord's time
since this is His area. So my ponderize
scripture is Genesis 39: 8-9 "But he refused, and said unto his master's
wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath
committed all that he hath to my hand; there is none greater in this house than
I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his
wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" So this is Joseph talking to Potiphar's wife.
I got this scripture from a talk by Hank
Smith called Temptation Killers. Through
this whole thing Joseph recounts everything that he has been given by Potiphar and
then instead of saying sin against Potiphar, he says against God. I like how it starts out with “but he refused”,
and then finishes with asking how can I sin against God? This is something we should all have engraved into
our hearts and minds so we can remember those very powerful words in times of
temptation. When something comes up that
is evil, we can say these words in our heads immediately and then be able to
turn away from it. Satan and his
followers are all around us, tempting us left and right. We will all fall into some of these
temptations, but we will fall into less of them if we think of these words. As we read the scriptures and look towards
Christ, we can jump over those holes of darkness, as well as have the strength
to "rock climb" our way out of the ones we have fallen into. Our Savior gives us the strength we need to
overcome these things because He knows how we need to do it. It comes in many different ways, but it is
always there. We just need to humble ourselves
enough to ask for help as well as recognize that we need it.
Monday not
much happened although we did chase a skunk. Yes that's right, a skunk. Maybe not the smartest thing, but we did and
luckily it ran away from us and didn't spray us. But that was the first one that I have seen
that was alive and not squashed into the pavement. So it was pretty cool.
Tuesday we worked in the Bishop’s Storehouse. Then later we tracted into a guy named Robert. He let us right in and we both prepared ourselves for the imminent bashing because this never happens. But luckily nothing happened and he was a really cool guy. He even offered to buy us pizza while we talked, but we politely declined. We had a great conversation and then he showed us what he did. He took us into his back shop which now I was like, “Oh boy, we just shared all this and now he is going to just come down hard core.” But my fears diminished as I saw what was inside the shop. It was tons and tons of baseball bats. He said he had over 10,000. He sells them to companies. It was pretty cool. It also rained a ton that night and we got soaked head to toe. We walked in sopping wet at the end of the night.
Wednesday we had District Meeting and after that we tried to contact a former investigator. As we were walking on the road, some people called us over because they thought we were JW. We were there for like 30 seconds and when we started walking away, a cop pulls up with his lights flashing. He opened his door and asks us what was going on? We said they just called us over and that was it. He then went over and talked to them while we went on our way. Not a minute later, about 7 more cops/firefighters/ambulance all showed up at this one house. We were so curious as to what was going on that we passed by about 4 more times to see, but nothing went down as far as we know. It was pretty crazy. Later all of our plans fell through so we went to a Wednesday night service at Christ's Church. They weren't too crazy and the sermon was good, just boring.
Thursday we got to work on the farm. We mainly did inside stuff because it was a little chilly outside in the morning. Later we taught Devante the Gospel of Jesus Christ and set a baptismal date with him. We set it for February 20th. It was so sweet. Then we went right after that and taught Roger the same lesson. It was good except he was a little tired.
Friday we went out and tried a few people with a member, but had no success. We did have one lesson with a less-active member, but that was it. It was a very boring evening.
Saturday we had no lessons, so nothing to report.
Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday, which I am super bummed that I couldn't watch. Also happy 17th to my sister. So Roger came to church today which was awesome and he is planning on coming next week too. We then went to a Church of Christ evening service so we could avoid getting destroyed by football fans. All of our other plans fell through again.
This week, like I said earlier, has been a little frustrating, but I know that just like on a jump, you have to go downhill first before you can spring up far beyond where you started. I know and have faith that in the Lord's time, things will spring back up and we will have much more success. Our investigators we have now are awesome, the frustrating part is that there are so few of them. I know we will start seeing changes here shortly. This is just a trial that I am having which is teaching me some things that I need to know at this time such as patience and trust. There are many more, but those are the two big ones that I see. This is the Lord's area, and I know that He is going to take care of it and His people. Just like you see throughout the scriptures, the people aren't always ready at certain times, but then some start to listen. Just remember that in your own life. When things go down, they will always turn back up in time if you stay on the Lord’s side. I love you all and hope you have a great week and a happy Valentine's Day Sunday. I wonder who my valentine will be this year? Oh yeah........ The scriptures. Good bye y'all.
Elder Ellison
Tuesday we worked in the Bishop’s Storehouse. Then later we tracted into a guy named Robert. He let us right in and we both prepared ourselves for the imminent bashing because this never happens. But luckily nothing happened and he was a really cool guy. He even offered to buy us pizza while we talked, but we politely declined. We had a great conversation and then he showed us what he did. He took us into his back shop which now I was like, “Oh boy, we just shared all this and now he is going to just come down hard core.” But my fears diminished as I saw what was inside the shop. It was tons and tons of baseball bats. He said he had over 10,000. He sells them to companies. It was pretty cool. It also rained a ton that night and we got soaked head to toe. We walked in sopping wet at the end of the night.
Wednesday we had District Meeting and after that we tried to contact a former investigator. As we were walking on the road, some people called us over because they thought we were JW. We were there for like 30 seconds and when we started walking away, a cop pulls up with his lights flashing. He opened his door and asks us what was going on? We said they just called us over and that was it. He then went over and talked to them while we went on our way. Not a minute later, about 7 more cops/firefighters/ambulance all showed up at this one house. We were so curious as to what was going on that we passed by about 4 more times to see, but nothing went down as far as we know. It was pretty crazy. Later all of our plans fell through so we went to a Wednesday night service at Christ's Church. They weren't too crazy and the sermon was good, just boring.
Thursday we got to work on the farm. We mainly did inside stuff because it was a little chilly outside in the morning. Later we taught Devante the Gospel of Jesus Christ and set a baptismal date with him. We set it for February 20th. It was so sweet. Then we went right after that and taught Roger the same lesson. It was good except he was a little tired.
Friday we went out and tried a few people with a member, but had no success. We did have one lesson with a less-active member, but that was it. It was a very boring evening.
Saturday we had no lessons, so nothing to report.
Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday, which I am super bummed that I couldn't watch. Also happy 17th to my sister. So Roger came to church today which was awesome and he is planning on coming next week too. We then went to a Church of Christ evening service so we could avoid getting destroyed by football fans. All of our other plans fell through again.
This week, like I said earlier, has been a little frustrating, but I know that just like on a jump, you have to go downhill first before you can spring up far beyond where you started. I know and have faith that in the Lord's time, things will spring back up and we will have much more success. Our investigators we have now are awesome, the frustrating part is that there are so few of them. I know we will start seeing changes here shortly. This is just a trial that I am having which is teaching me some things that I need to know at this time such as patience and trust. There are many more, but those are the two big ones that I see. This is the Lord's area, and I know that He is going to take care of it and His people. Just like you see throughout the scriptures, the people aren't always ready at certain times, but then some start to listen. Just remember that in your own life. When things go down, they will always turn back up in time if you stay on the Lord’s side. I love you all and hope you have a great week and a happy Valentine's Day Sunday. I wonder who my valentine will be this year? Oh yeah........ The scriptures. Good bye y'all.
Elder Ellison
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