Hey Everyone!
This week has absolutely flown by... I can't believe July 4th has already passed! But, this first transfer is just about over - but I get to stay here in Ponca City with Elder Rasmuson! So, we're going to kick Ponca City into overdrive this transfer, and our goal is to work as well with the Bishop and Ward Mission Leader as possible.
Anyway, this awesome week has flown by with some great lessons, incredible miracles, sweet studies, awesome meetings, and fantastic people!
So we'll start with the great lessons... We've taught a couple people the Plan of Salvation this week, and it's been super awesome to hear some of the questions people have and the hope that they receive as they recognize how many questions that awesome Plan answers. We taught this awesome younger couple on Monday about the plan, and it was super cool with them to see how they recognized the changes it could bring to their family. Then on Friday we taught the Plan of Salvation to a minister for another church and it was interesting to see the differences on our perspectives on that awesome plan. When we were teaching that lesson we were on exchanges though, so I got to lead out that one and help focus it on his needs. It was pretty sweet to be able to do that for the first time! Also on Friday we got to teach the Word of Wisdom - still on exchanges - and the Elder I was on exchanges with hadn't really taught it before either. It was still a great lesson as it was pretty much just us testifying of the benefits it has brought to us and the member that was with us (who was Baptized in January and had been chewing until about then) helped a ton.
Then there's the incredible miracles that we've seen this week! One of my favorites from this week was with our Bishop. So, a family we have been teaching for a little while now that's been to church the last few sundays has been having car troubles for the last week or so. They found out Saturday that the car battery was the issue and we visited them Saturday night with the Bishop. In a sweet act of charity - nobody asked him to, and the idea hadn't even occurred to anyone else - he volunteered to go up to Auto zone for them and exchange the part that they had thought was the issue and figure out if the battery really was the issue. He came back instead with a new battery, and wouldn't let them pay him back. It really showed me a good example of how kind people here are to their neighbors, and it helped us recognize how awesome our bishop is (not like we didn't already know it... but it was increased quite a bit). We had a super cool experience yesterday - a miracle even - when we visited a fellow named Clarence. We taught him the restoration, and he received it incredibly well. He brought up the point where if he wasn't interested in our message, or if he didn't trust that we would tell him the truth he wouldn't have even let us in, so it was cool to see how willing he was to believe in our testimonies. Something I've been working on myself is recognizing spiritual gifts - in myself and others - and he really does have that gift of believing the testimony of others, it was neat to see how quickly he was willing to read from the Book of Mormon and find out from himself, but he also stated multiple times that he already believed it was true based on our testimonies and that fact that it talks of Christ.
In addition to those sweet lessons and miracles, I've been learning a ton in my studies! Since my last email to you guys, I've read through Alma 36 - 3 Nephi 10, and picked I think a scripture from each of those chapters that has stuck out to me. A couple of my favorites - and the insight I had with them - are following:
- Alma 37:35-37 -> These verses have been a great help to me as I've grown up in the church and the counsel from Alma is priceless to counsel with the Lord in all they doings and to learn the commandments in thy youth so that you can align your will with his.
- Alma 40:11-13 -> These verses discuss the state of a soul between death and the resurrection, and it's pretty cool to have a clear and simple knowledge about that when so many people don't
- 46:12,16 -> These verses involve two different titles - the Title of Liberty and the title, or name, of Christian given to those who believe in Christ. Something that stuck out to me was that both titles still apply today, and are something to rejoice in and strive to be worthy of.
- Alma 48:17 -> This scripture has always hit me pretty hard, as it reinforces the concept that Satan only has control of us so far as we let him, and if nobody were to let him control them then the very powers of Hell would be shaken. It's pretty cool to think about ;)
- Alma 56:46 -> From this verse I recognized that the reason why you do something is almost as important as actually doing it. It reminded me of the principle Christ taught about being someone who does something for the praise of men or to draw nearer to God.
- Helaman 5:9-12 -> This was our scripture of the week last week, and something I really love about it is how this counsel from a parent to a child influenced them many years after Helaman's death, and how that eventually impacted thousands of Lamanites.
- Helaman 14:11-13 -> These verses showed me the purpose of prophets in a pretty simple and distinct way.
- 3 Nephi 1:20 -> This verse shows that the words of the Prophets will always be fulfilled... so listen to them
- 3 Nephi 3:7 -> I've heard of some missionaries who mistake and use this scripture instead of 1 Nephi 3:7... so consider the impact that might have on an investigator ;)
- 3 Nephi 7:15-26 -> It stuck out to me how it took more than a year of miraculous things happening through Nephi for people to recognize that he was a man of God, but it eventually lead to many people being baptized
So that pretty much sums up some of the awesome studies I've had this last week - it's pretty sweet... I'm trying to finish reading the Book of Mormon before the end of this week (this transfer basically), so I think I can do it if I keep this pace up. But, we have definitely had some awesome meetings in addition to all that other stuff going on. For one, our new mission President - President Walkenhorst - did a mission tour and stopped by our zoneon Thursday morning. He is a pretty awesome guy - and just about 7 feet tall... like literally. It's kind of crazy how tall he is. But aside from that he is incredibly spiritual. Something he really focused on while he was here was that we are his "Fellow servants in Christ" and because of that we all have the same purpose - to Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel. He really emphasized that our God is still a God of Miracles, as stated in Mormon9:15 (and quite a few other scriptures). He gave us a pretty good chain to use in relation to that:
1 Nephi 17:50,51 -> 2 Nephi 26:12,13 -> 2 Nephi 27:23 -> Alma 23:6 -> Mormon 9:11 -> 3 Nephi 8:1 -> Mormon 9:15 -> Ether 12:9-24 -> Moroni 7:27-40
He also talked about the importance of having Virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly (D&C 121:44,45) and how that will give you the confidence to call upon God for miracles. The cool thing is that it can also apply in life in general - not just missionary work. As long as you stay obedient to the commandments of God and work hard, he will bless you with the miracles that are according to his will.
Anyway, that's about it for this week! I hope you are all doing fabulous, and I really do hope you enjoyed reading through this and that it uplifted you in some way...
Love,
Elder Jordan Nielson
No comments:
Post a Comment