Sorry I missed you yesterday, we were too busy celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day to email since the library was closed! We had a pretty solid week, with lots of things working out and just a fantastic time each day! Since we don't have a whole ton of time today to email (since we have things to do!), I'll just make a buzz list in bullet form and see how that works out!
- Delicious food each day (spiritual and physical)!
- Awesome video that we used for a dinner message! (Sharing your beliefs)
- Another awesome video! (Our True Identity)
- Alma 8:26: "And now, [Awesome people], because thou hast fed me and taken me in,thou art blessed..."
- One of my favorite videos! (You Know Enough)
- Service Opportunities!
- Sweet Discussions!
- Exchanges with Elder Toiava!
- Family History work is awesome!
- Awesome studies!
- Baseball Analogies in sacrament?!?
- Commandments are a blessing? Mosiah 2:22-24,41
Well... I don't know how much I like this format anymore, so I'm going to talk for a minute about a few things that I feel like talking about. I guess you really don't have to read all this if you don't want to, but I'm putting the effort in to write it, so I hope you get something out of taking a few minutes to read it! So anyway one visit we had that particularly sticks out in my mind was with a super nice lady named Susan. She has a giant family, like 22 or 23 grandkids or something like that, and we were out with a member who also has a very large family and so once we got there they instantly started talking about their families. It eventually led to the member sharing his conversion story and testifying and then we talked a bit about the plan of salvation and it was a super spiritual experience. It really showed me the impact that members of the church can have with people and the pull they have that us 20 year old punks just don't have. For example at one point she turned to him and talked for a minute about what we had just said regarding our life on earth, and they had a short discussion where the member bore testimony about some of the church doctrine and resolved her concern (it was something related to experiences and stuff I didn't know anything about). So, it was a super powerful experience for me and the entire lesson was just a sweet chance to bear testimony of the things that I know - like families being eternal, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that our life on Earth is a privilege that not all of Heavenly Father's children got to have.
Another cool experience was on Thursday when we felt that we needed to go visit a member family, we were able to have a short chat with them and right as we were about to share a message some guys that they were expecting a little later in the afternoon showed up and it was super convenient since we got to help with that exchange and then had a good spiritual thought with them. Then right after that we went to visit a family and it turned out that while we were there one of her friends pulled up and we got to meet her! It's just been a week that's truly shown me how important timing is and that the Lord will work things out to bring as many of his children back to him as possible! It reminds me of a couple scriptures in the Book of Mormon: "20 Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee. 21 Touch not the things which are sealed, for I will bring them forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of men that I am able to do mine own work" (2 Nephi 27:20-21). Those verses plus this sweet quote from President Kimball have really emphasized to me why it's important for me to be on a mission right now: "...Jesus trusts his followers enough to share his work with them so that they can grow. That is one of the greatest lessons of his leadership. If we brush other people aside in order to see a task done more quickly and effectively, the task may get done all right, but without the growth and development in followers that is so important. Because Jesus knows that this life is purposeful and that we have been placed on this planet in order to perform and grow, growth then becomes one of the great ends of life as well as a means."
So I hope you guys have a great week! I know that the Lord is able to do his work, but that he allows us to help so that each of us can grow and become more like him! Love y'all! Have a great week!
'Til Next Time,
Elder Jordan Nielson
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