Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Back To The 80s 10-31-16

I was super happy this week because we were back in the 80s.  It felt so nice.  I wish all of you guys in the colder areas could feel this because it is fantastic.  We also had a great week of missionary work and teaching people.

Monday we went and played disc golf.  That was pretty fun.

Tuesday we had Zone Training Meeting.  It was really good.  We got to learn how to work with the members better and how to set and reach our goals or vision.  President Griffin also taught us why we have rules and what they can do for us.  He played a song for us that I am going to ask the name of so I can get it back home.  After that we headed back to our areas and got to work.  We did some finding that was close to campus, so we talked with a few college students.  We also knocked on a Fraternity and a Sorority house.  Only the Frat house answered.  We also accidentally tracted into a religion called the Twelve Tribes of Israel.  They were just starting their service and they invited us in and we got to watch and listen for a few minutes.  They invited us to come for a dinner and gave us "coupons" for a free meal at their restaurant.  They were super nice.  We talked to one of the guys a couple days later and he said that him and some of the other members used to be Mormon.  So that is pretty cool. 

Wednesday we did a lot of tracting across the river and we found a couple potentials and new investigators.  We then had a dinner and lesson with the 9 year-old.  It was an all right lesson.  After that I took Elder Thomas to his first non-Mormon church.  We went to the Church of Christ, Scientist.  There was hardly anyone in there.  The reason for “scientist” is because they say it is the study of Christianity and Christ.  The lady that started their church also wrote a book about the parallels to science and the scriptures.  Out of this book, there was a statement this lady wrote that said, "There is no error in science."  Elder Thomas and I looked at each other with a confused look on our faces because the answers to science now are different than they were a year ago and will change again in another year.  I'm pretty sure science does have error because it isn't a set truth.  Anyway, they also had testimony meeting and we sat there for 30 min. while 3 of the 6 people that were there gave a quick testimony.  That was some serious silence and quiet.

Thursday we met with a couple investigators and also contacted some referrals.  We also decided, since we were in the area, to go stop by Jarvis's house since we hadn't seen him in a while.  He was HOME!  However, he had gotten some bad news on Tuesday after two weeks of tests and lab reports.  He has some serious health issues that I won't go into, but he needs prayers.  He told us that he does want to be baptized and he needs to be, but he just doesn't know when he will be able to because of this news.  So we are going to work with him on that.

Friday we met with Olivia and Rebecca.  We went over the importance of scripture study.  We then did some more tracting across the river.  After that we had dinner with a member and we had vegan spaghetti.  It was pretty good.  We then went to a lesson at a less-actives home and talked about tithing. 

Saturday we did some weekly planning.  After that we went to a 20 minute wedding of two of the members in our branch.  Both are fairly new members too so it was cool.  I wish I got the picture we were in, but maybe I will get it at some point.  We then saw Yetta and we taught her the Plan of Salvation.  She really likes the things we teach her and how we teach it so she can understand it.  We invited her to a soft baptism commitment and she agreed.  She is going to be doing some surgery soon and after that is when she will be able to start coming to church and then eventually get baptized.  She has so much faith that she will be healed.  Afterwards, we did a bunch more tracting around campus and knocked on another Fraternity and they took a pamphlet.  Hopefully that will go somewhere.  We found a lady named Gracie and we are going back next week.  Towards the end we found a college girl that said her two roommates would be here Sunday and they all could use a message about Jesus.  They unfortunately weren't home when we went by Sunday, so we will have to try again another time.

Sunday not too much really happened.  Nothing too exciting other than church.

So I will share with you one of the things that I learned this week.  This thing I learned deals with trust and love.  We can all love someone whether it be romantically or just as a loved one.  These loved ones can include family, friends, leaders, etc.  We all have at least one person in our lives that we love this way.  Love brings a bond between people.  We can also develop Christ-like love for people.  Even people we don't even know.  As I go out and meet people every day, I continually think to myself, "Wow! I love this person."  And all of that is coming just from talking with them and I don't even know them.  As this love grows stronger and into a bond, we start to grow trust.  Trust is much more than love.  As we love someone and get to know them, our trust in them grows.  There are many people in my life who I have this trust in and it all started as I grew to have love for them.  This trust builds an even sturdier bridge.  To know that you can trust in someone to do something or say something or confide in is amazing.  As family we should be able to trust each other.  A self-dependent family is one that doesn't have that trust in each other.  Friends can trust in each other for shoulders to cry on or to know that they will always have that friend to back them up no matter what.  Leaders can have trust in us to do the right thing and to do the things they would want us to and we can trust in them to not lead us astray.  Trust is something that is earned over time and starts as we love one another.  We can still love someone, but may not trust them.  This can be a struggle in some situations.  That is why trust is super important in any relationship, especially in one where there is love for one another.  As we trust others, we don't have to worry about whether they will turn on us behind our backs or not follow through because love will be there.  They will not have those desires, but will only want to help you.  These are just some of my thoughts as I learn about trust being an important part of a loving relationship.  I leave these things with y'all in the name of the one who loved all of us first and enough to be our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.


Elder Ellison

Flashback to the Beginning of His Mission

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