Tuesday, September 2, 2014

September 2nd, 2014 - Happy Labor Day!

Hey Everyone!
Happy Labor Day!... Well... yesterday. But, because of that we're emailing today instead so I hope none of you were too thrown off by that! Also, I don't know how many of you have heard of "The Purge", but because of that on Saturday our mission president decided it would be better to be safe then sorry so we got home at 7pm instead of the typical 9pm. Luckily nothing really happened that we know of, but we did hear a couple cop cars go past. Anyway, this week was pretty good with some good visits and some awesome new people that we've gotten to start seeing. The first one, Douglas, is getting ready to move to Duncan and start his own non-denominational church there. While the other, Brad, is an associate pastor at a large Methodist church here in town. We met Brad on an exchange with Elder Toiava and it was getting close to the end of the night. We had run out of things to do and Elder Toiava suggested that we knock a few doors and see what happens. The second door we knocked on was Brad's, and he let us right in which was pretty cool. We didn't have time for a full visit, so we answered a couple of his questions and ended up talking about the Articles of Faith and got through a couple of those before we had to leave, so we left him with the card that has those on there. Anyway, it was a pretty sweet experience.
Also this week, I've listened to a couple awesome talks in addition to the Book of Mormon reading I've been doing in relation to the challenge from Little Oscar to read it in 3 months. I'm on 2 Nephi 33 now, but like I mentioned in a previous email I've already thrown my favorite scriptures at y'all often enough, so today I'll talk about a couple cool quotes. The first is from Bishop H. David Burton, who used to be the presiding bishop of the church. He said:
"In spite of all of this, my young friends, we need not fear nor take counsel from our fears. The scriptures remind us that if we are prepared, if we are obedient, and if we are members of the Lord’s Church, we need not fear what the future holds. “The righteous need not fear” (1 Nephi 22:22; see also Alma 1:4; D&C 10:55). What manner of men and women we will be, in part, will be influenced by how well we handle the fearsome and unforeseen aspects of life. Realizing that real life is made up of struggles, problems, mistakes, opportunities, and lessons, please remember the old Chinese proverb that says, “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” Stated in the Lord’s terms, “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11)."
I love this quote, particularly the points that I bolded as they're pretty clear. The principle that we shouldn't take counsel from our fears, but instead from the Lord, has been something I've noticed a lot in my life since oftentimes I fear various things and as a result of those fears either will or will not do things I should. For example, I don't particularly like talking to people for no reason other than to talk with them, so sometimes I find myself struggling to obey the Lord's command to "Open your Mouths" but I strive to follow the Lord's counsel that "Open‍ your mouths and they shall be filled, and you shall become even asNephi‍ of old, who journeyed from Jerusalem in the wilderness."
Another talk I've particularly liked from my studies this week is from President Hinckley that you can find here: Talk! He tells a story that I wanted to share with y'all that was pretty entertaining. He says:
"A hurricane had hit the West Indies, and a bricklayer was sent to repair the damage. He wrote to the home office as follows, and I hope you can get this delightful picture:
Respected Sirs:
When I got to the building I found that the hurricane had knocked some bricks off the top. So I rigged up a beam with a pulley at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple of barrels full of bricks. When I had fixed the building, there was a lot of bricks left over. I hoisted the barrel back up again and secured the line at the bottom, and then went up and filled the barrel with the extra bricks. Then I went to the bottom and cast off the line. Unfortunately the barrel of bricks was heavier than I was, and before I knew what was happening the barrel started down, jerking me off the ground. I decided to hang on, and halfway up I met the barrel coming down and received a severe blow on the shoulder. I then continued to the top, banging my head against the beam and getting my finger jammed in the pulley. When the barrel hit the ground it bursted its bottom, allowing all the bricks to spill out. I was now heavier than the barrel and so started down again at high speed. Halfway down, I met the barrel coming up and received severe injuries to my shins. When I hit the ground I landed on the bricks, getting several painful cuts from the sharp edges. At this point I must have lost my presence of mind because I let go of the line. The barrel then came down, giving me another heavy blow on the head and putting me in the hospital. I respectfully request sick leave.
Life is like that—ups and downs, a bump on the head, and a crack on the shins. It was ever thus."

That's a great story... but the real quote I wanted to share from that talk is this one: "My dear young friends, never lose faith in yourselves or in your capacity to do worthwhile things. And call upon the Lord for help that your minds may be enlightened and your understanding quickened. Then go to work with that assurance inside of you that somehow you can do it." It's pretty clear cut, so just keep trying to apply that in your lives and I Know it'll all work out eventually.

One last highlight from this week before I let y'all go. On Wednesday a young woman, Mandy, was baptized and it was a super awesome spiritual experience for quite a few of the youth. The spirit was so strong, and then the youth got to sing "Come Unto Christ", which y'all should check out here: Video!

Lastly, there's a sweet article for y'all to check out here: Article! Anyways, that's all I got for this week. Have a fantastic week! Love y'all!

'Til Next Time,
Elder Jordan Nielson

No comments: