So this week turned into a really good
week. We had 13 lessons this week.
Our teaching pool is starting to grow
slowly, but surely. We also froze
on multiple days when we didn't have the car. My face and fingers were numb. It sucked when we were tracting. The wind is the only part of it that is
bad. Other than that it was good. We have transfer calls this Saturday so
I shall see if I stay or head off somewhere else. Transfers are next Tuesday as
well. My ponderize scripture this
week was Doctrine and Covenants 84: 85 "Neither take ye thought
beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure upon your minds continually
the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that
portion that shall be meted unto every man." So while ponderizing this scripture, I
obviously saw the main part of knowing what to say in the very moment,
but there was something that I noticed that was a little better. It is right in that second line about treasuring
up the words of life. The words of life
are the scriptures. When we treasure up the words of life, we not
only continually read them like we are supposed to, but we memorize
them. When we memorize the
scriptures, they will be on our thoughts regularly. They can be there immediately to get
rid of an evil thought. We will
constantly be rehearsing God's words to us throughout the day. In a devotional about temptation I have
heard, it talks about how Jesus, when he was tempted three times by
Satan, said three scriptures to counter Satan's attacks. He had memorized these scriptures and when
evil and temptation came from Satan and he said them, Satan had no power
over Him. Satan couldn't do
anything in response because he was subject to those words because he is
subject to God and those are God's words. So I have been working on not only
reading and studying, but also memorizing scriptures that I can use to
kill temptation when it comes. I
encourage all of you to try it as well.
Monday we didn't do too much on P-day. We did have a great lesson though for family home evening. We shared the "Hope of God's light" video and talked about the importance and why we need a Savior.
Tuesday we did some service on the farm in the snow with the other two sets of Elders in our district. We are now rotating missionaries around the zone to go to Bishop's Storehouse so we don't go as often. Later, we had a heart-breaking lesson with Devante. He told us he wasn't interested anymore and didn't want to be baptized. Our hearts were just breaking throughout our entire conversation. His grandma, Sister Cousin, was so devastated. I feel really sorry for her because she wants her whole family to come towards the gospel and yet she and her husband are the only ones. I know though that if she has faith and keeps setting a good example, her whole family will one day be living together in the gospel. We then had a lesson with Roger on the Word of Wisdom. He had no problems with it really, except coffee, but he said he would give that up. He is just awesome. Then we saw a couple less-active members afterwards.
Wednesday we did exchanges. Elder Ihler came here and I went to Springfield with Elder Draper. He is from Alaska. We had some good times. He is pretty cool.
Thursday we tried people all day, but no luck. We exchanged back later and then went over with our Ward Mission Leader and had a lesson with Roger. He hasn't had coffee since our last lesson. We went over some more commandments. Then on the way back, we were driving on a straightaway in a convertible Jaguar. Our Ward Mission Leader works for a Jaguar mechanic shop so he gets to drive a bunch of sweet cars to make sure they are working right or figure out the problem etc. I will just say it has a very tiny back seat. I had to lay across all three seats to fit and it was still snug. Luckily it wasn't too cold tonight because he put the top down and then went from 0 to 65 in like 5 seconds. It was so cool!
Friday we found a potential investigator during tracting and then we helped Bro. Cousin with his car for a bit. Then we went out with Justin and contacted some referrals and one of them wants to learn more. This family is Latino and they love soccer, which is awesome. They were really nice too.
Saturday we had a very powerful lesson with Bro Blaylock. We bore our testimonies multiple times and you could just feel the Spirit in the room. We had asked him if we could reveiw the discussions with him and so we went over the restoration. We then tracted for a long time and found 2 potential investigators. It was cold, but luckily no wind.
Sunday was Valentine’s Day. There was a snow warning during church so church was cancelled. It didn't even snow really. It was mainly just really cold rain. We were just laughing about that for the whole day. So because church was cancelled, we went to another church. We went to the First United Methodist Church. It was good. We then did a bunch of walking, froze our butts off, and had no luck, unfortunately with anyone.
Well this week I have been listening to some talks by Hank Smith and John Bytheway. Each of them are great funny speakers and teachers. In these talks they share all these great scriptures and some of them I have read before and didn't notice some things the first time. In one of the talks it says to read the scriptures so that you can see the tear stains on the plates. Another one goes through and talks about what you would do if you got to meet all of the prophets who wrote on the plates. I have recently thought about that a lot. I want to be able to see the tear stains on the plates and get to know these people individually and know how they felt as they went through these experiences. My scripture studies definitely could be better. I may not be super focused and fall asleep sometimes or whatever the case may be. So I made a goal to change it and do better. I have started this week to really focus in on what I'm reading. I imagine myself right there with them going through these experiences. I imagine myself even being them and writing these things down. I imagine how they felt as they wrote down their feelings. I think about how the people were, whether they were evil at this time and how sad the prophets felt for them. Or how much happiness and peace they had because the people had it too when they were looking towards God. Since I have started doing this while reading the scriptures, I always have a different feeling then when I read any other book. That feeling is the Spirit, and since I have changed the way I have read my scriptures, I have felt the Spirit so much stronger as I read. I can actually picture myself right there with them. It is my goal and hope to be able to feel somewhat the same things that these prophets did. I hope to be able to feel those feelings as it talks about the way their people were in such a way that I can feel like they were my people, my brothers and sisters. I encourage each of you to look at the way you are studying your scriptures and think, " Could I be getting more out of these things than I am?" When I see today’s Prophets and Apostles recount a scripture reference, they tear up many times. They have “seen the tear stains on the plates” and know who those people were and what they felt. I know that by doing this, the Spirit will be stronger and will teach us more, and we will come to have an even greater love for God, the scriptures, and the much more. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Have a good week everybody.
Elder Ellison
Monday we didn't do too much on P-day. We did have a great lesson though for family home evening. We shared the "Hope of God's light" video and talked about the importance and why we need a Savior.
Tuesday we did some service on the farm in the snow with the other two sets of Elders in our district. We are now rotating missionaries around the zone to go to Bishop's Storehouse so we don't go as often. Later, we had a heart-breaking lesson with Devante. He told us he wasn't interested anymore and didn't want to be baptized. Our hearts were just breaking throughout our entire conversation. His grandma, Sister Cousin, was so devastated. I feel really sorry for her because she wants her whole family to come towards the gospel and yet she and her husband are the only ones. I know though that if she has faith and keeps setting a good example, her whole family will one day be living together in the gospel. We then had a lesson with Roger on the Word of Wisdom. He had no problems with it really, except coffee, but he said he would give that up. He is just awesome. Then we saw a couple less-active members afterwards.
Wednesday we did exchanges. Elder Ihler came here and I went to Springfield with Elder Draper. He is from Alaska. We had some good times. He is pretty cool.
Thursday we tried people all day, but no luck. We exchanged back later and then went over with our Ward Mission Leader and had a lesson with Roger. He hasn't had coffee since our last lesson. We went over some more commandments. Then on the way back, we were driving on a straightaway in a convertible Jaguar. Our Ward Mission Leader works for a Jaguar mechanic shop so he gets to drive a bunch of sweet cars to make sure they are working right or figure out the problem etc. I will just say it has a very tiny back seat. I had to lay across all three seats to fit and it was still snug. Luckily it wasn't too cold tonight because he put the top down and then went from 0 to 65 in like 5 seconds. It was so cool!
Friday we found a potential investigator during tracting and then we helped Bro. Cousin with his car for a bit. Then we went out with Justin and contacted some referrals and one of them wants to learn more. This family is Latino and they love soccer, which is awesome. They were really nice too.
Saturday we had a very powerful lesson with Bro Blaylock. We bore our testimonies multiple times and you could just feel the Spirit in the room. We had asked him if we could reveiw the discussions with him and so we went over the restoration. We then tracted for a long time and found 2 potential investigators. It was cold, but luckily no wind.
Sunday was Valentine’s Day. There was a snow warning during church so church was cancelled. It didn't even snow really. It was mainly just really cold rain. We were just laughing about that for the whole day. So because church was cancelled, we went to another church. We went to the First United Methodist Church. It was good. We then did a bunch of walking, froze our butts off, and had no luck, unfortunately with anyone.
Well this week I have been listening to some talks by Hank Smith and John Bytheway. Each of them are great funny speakers and teachers. In these talks they share all these great scriptures and some of them I have read before and didn't notice some things the first time. In one of the talks it says to read the scriptures so that you can see the tear stains on the plates. Another one goes through and talks about what you would do if you got to meet all of the prophets who wrote on the plates. I have recently thought about that a lot. I want to be able to see the tear stains on the plates and get to know these people individually and know how they felt as they went through these experiences. My scripture studies definitely could be better. I may not be super focused and fall asleep sometimes or whatever the case may be. So I made a goal to change it and do better. I have started this week to really focus in on what I'm reading. I imagine myself right there with them going through these experiences. I imagine myself even being them and writing these things down. I imagine how they felt as they wrote down their feelings. I think about how the people were, whether they were evil at this time and how sad the prophets felt for them. Or how much happiness and peace they had because the people had it too when they were looking towards God. Since I have started doing this while reading the scriptures, I always have a different feeling then when I read any other book. That feeling is the Spirit, and since I have changed the way I have read my scriptures, I have felt the Spirit so much stronger as I read. I can actually picture myself right there with them. It is my goal and hope to be able to feel somewhat the same things that these prophets did. I hope to be able to feel those feelings as it talks about the way their people were in such a way that I can feel like they were my people, my brothers and sisters. I encourage each of you to look at the way you are studying your scriptures and think, " Could I be getting more out of these things than I am?" When I see today’s Prophets and Apostles recount a scripture reference, they tear up many times. They have “seen the tear stains on the plates” and know who those people were and what they felt. I know that by doing this, the Spirit will be stronger and will teach us more, and we will come to have an even greater love for God, the scriptures, and the much more. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Have a good week everybody.
Elder Ellison
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| Pre-Mission Photo With A New Caption |
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| Steele Honey - The Best In The World! Thanks Steele Family! |
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| Valentine's Day Package And My New Pink Hearts Tie = LOVE |
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| Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies From Home - Yuuummm! |
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| Farmhands At Work Again |
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