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
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| Flashback to the Beginning of His Mission |
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