So I will start off by explaining my title
because I will probably mention when we started it later on. So Elder Smith and
I are doing this thing called the Purification Challenge. It is where you come up with a list of things
you want to improve on or stop doing. After that, for the next 40 days you work on
all of those things on the list and you start the first day off with a fast. The goal is to improve yourself and to improve
in the strength of the Spirit. Also, a
little bit about my companion Elder Smith. He is from Washington, but for a year before
he left, his family has lived in central California. We also have a lot in common. He loves sports and we have a good time every
day. He is super fun and is a good
missionary. He has been out for about 14
months.
Tuesday I had my last day at the Richard's farm. I am sad to have to leave it. Good memories. Later we went and saw Dan. Then we saw Zach and taught him about the Word of Wisdom. I got to say goodbye to them too. Then we went over and visited with some less-actives. We gave the husband a blessing too. That was about it.
Wednesday was a fun day. So we got up and drove 2 hrs. to Knoxville and said goodbye to Elder Bingham and then I got my new companion. I also got to see a bunch of friends and my son, Elder Thomas. Then we drove down to Chattanooga which was another 2 hrs. We were headed to do some work, but got notified that a Sister accidentally took the keys to her old area's car. We had to drive all the way back to Knoxville and get the keys. We stopped in at the Mission Home and got some dinner so I got to see it for the first time. I also got to say goodbye to some of the departing missionaries. It's weird to think that the Sisters I came out with are going home now. Then we drove all the way back to Chattanooga and passed it to a place called Dalton, Georgia to deliver the keys. We got back home around 9:45pm - 8 hours in the car was fun.
Thursday we started off doing a Home Teaching visit to a less-active. Then we did a lot of finding and we found 3 new investigators. We also get to go play basketball on Thursday nights with a bunch of non-members and less-actives with some actives.
Friday we had District Meeting. It was my first one in a long time where I wasn't in charge of it. This was also the day we started the Purification Challenge with a fast. We got a few potentials and a new investigator. It feels like normal to be back in the Ghettos again. I love it. That night we had a lesson with a recent convert and we went through the introduction to the Book of Mormon. It was a much better lesson than we thought it would be.
Saturday we did some weekly planning. Then we went to a few lesson appointments, but they fell through unfortunately. We did have a sweet lesson with a guy named Clyde. We taught him the Restoration. He accepted a Book of Mormon and told us he was going to study it and cross reference it with the Bible. Then we were going to have a lesson in Downtown Chatt at the church building there. I was so excited to go back there. I suggested we ride the bus to save miles. It was Elder Smith's first time riding a bus. As we were on the bus, our appointment canceled on us. Well that made me sad, but we are going to ride the bus there again when we reschedule the appointment. That night we had dinner at a member’s home with one of our investigator families. We had a lesson afterwards and we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We also committed them to come to church. The awesome part was that missionaries have been trying every time they teach them, but because of schedules they couldn’t come. However, recently things have changed and they are now available.
Sunday that family came to church. We were so excited for them. Also Elder Smith gave as awesome talk. He said that half of it, he had no idea what he was talking about, it was just the Spirit. Well, because of his talk we got a referral from a member after church. That was awesome. The rest of the day we did some finding and had a lesson with the recent convert again. We are doing the new Member Lessons with her. We are also trying to teach her non-member daughter at the same time.
Well, I have only been here for a few days and I already have learned a ton. One quote I want to share that came from Elder Smith's talk is, "Satan is voting against you and Christ is voting for you. You are the swing vote." It is our choice that determines which side we are going to let win. Are we keeping the commandments and doing our best to live them, or are we trying to find loopholes to get around them and trying to see how far we can go before we are in trouble? Do we live the Gospel that we have been blessed to have in our lives, or do we take it for granted and not think much of it during the week? We must be fully committed to the gospel. Standing firm in it. Standing takes both feet and saying I am 100% in this, no matter what. The choice is up to us who we will let win in this election, no one else. Who will we choose? That is my little thought for today. I will end in the name of He who I pray we all choose, even Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder Ellison
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| Dan |
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| Br. Richards |
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| Goodbye My Son, E. Bingham |
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| All Packed Up |
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