May 22, 2014

May 12 to the 22nd

Good evening family and friends,

I wasn't able to get onto email last Monday because we had our temple trip. Thomas Whitney will be taking us down, the Elders Quorum President.  This past week we have had a lot of fun stuff going on. Monday was preparation day, we had a zone activity in which played a game called Tron, I think I told you about it already. It is like dodge ball with glow in the dark glow sticks that you wear it was pretty fun. (Interruption from Elder King... he is checking the dinner calendar.) We had some solid lessons, Sara is solid for the 21st of next month. We moved up her date because she is so solid. She is the one that her dad is a Lutheran Minister and her Mom and Dad don't support her at all. They have been giving her this anti-Mormon garbage and other stuff which is so ridiculous and dumb, but she is awesome and doing great. She has a supper strong testimony and keeps moving forward. She is reading the D & C which tells you how amazing she is.
We will be having a baptism this Saturday. Her name is Courtney, she is a member referral also. She is solid as ever and she will be getting baptized Saturday at 4:30pm, it will be a lot of fun. We have also been working with a girl named Cicileo and a man named Leo. We also found a new investigator named Jesus, we took him on a church tour and it was supper powerful. We challenged him to get baptized and he accepted, we challenged him to a date and he accepted. It has been amazing how he has accepted so easily to be baptized. Jesus wanted his best friend to baptize him, who wasn't a member. We explained about the authority of the priesthood and who is able to baptize him. He said that he felt like God has been leading him to our church, it was really cool. We need to follow through with him. We will be teaching him in a members home and keep moving him forward in the right direction.

Wednesday last week we had leadership training, and so yea, we um, we had great leadership training, it was spiritual just like they always are.  We had...her name is...what is her name?  Her name is Liz Wiseman and then she is a multiplier, meaning she goes around the world and she gives this multiplier training on like working with the genius and other people and like the natural genius and like all of these super crazy things and she's a good friend of President Gelwix.  I guess she's a member of the church.  And she came to our mission and we received just this marvelous training on multiplying in leadership and how it advances and I don't know, it's just awesome.  Her name is Liz Wiseman and so...just learned a lot from her.  So that was really cool.  Also, President wrote in my journal.  Um, I looked at it today and it's just the same stuff he always puts, or he always tells me, but it's cool, he wrote in my journal, there we go, can check that one of my bucket list or whatever maybe.  It was really awesome.  So then, just been...we've been really stressing lately, always have been stressing a lot, just working with our member, working with our members, helping our members, and so that's what we have been doing a lot of the time.  We went on an exchange with the zone leaders over Friday and Saturday and that was really good.  Um, taught a lot of people, a lot of lessons, and so hopefully we can be able to continue to help them move along, these, our investigators. We um, we also, we have a less active, his name is Mack Heard I think I told you a little about him.  He um, he plays football at MJC, that's the Jr college, and he recently got hurt and so, he used to be inactive and everything but since his injury the Lord's humbled him and he wants to serve a mission now.  And so he, we were actually inspired to go talk to him, we didn't even know he got hurt or anything, and so he's like one of our best friends now and he's going to be coming to the branch and is a huge strength.  So that was a really cool miracle.

The next cool thing that happened was Sunday.  We had the most members that we've seen her yet in Modesto YSA second branch.  We had around 40 to 50 YSA come to church and we had a lot of investigators and, well, total there was probably like 4 - 5 non members there and the rest were members but it was just awesome, we really moved them along, then we taught Courtney of course that Sunday night.  We had dinner with her and her fellowship family and everything, so that was really awesome.  This work is so stinking awesome.  Then next week came along, of course we didn't email you on Monday, taught a couple of lessons and then we had FHE with our members, I don't know, we had a good turnout.  Couple of non-members there, couple of our investigators.  And then Tuesday we actually had Zone Conference.  And so it was actually up at our Stake Center and it was amazing, super great, it was about internalizing the atonement, um, like how to develop an atmosphere of revelation, like revelation through kneeling prayers, being able to be more unified with our companions, solidifying dates that we have, it was really cool, I actually read a conference talk out of the Ensign which I urge you all to do.  You should be reading out of the Ensign, all the conference talks and continually reflecting upon them.  But I read the one actually on pornography, pornography something, it was written by a woman.  It was like the third talk of the Saturday after...or morning session or something.  But it was super good.  It talked about how like having a  Christ focused home and like how vital everyday scripture study is with a family, like family scripture study and like family home evening every week.  I was reflecting and like, dang, that is something we could of done better. So yea, I was just thinking about it and I think that would be a great talk to review and being able to reflect like what more could we do, like how can we improve to be able to become better, so...  Some inspired thoughts for you that you can take or leave.

So yea, like I was saying, like zone conference it was great.  Hopefully this will be my last voice recording, well not hopefully cause I know mom likes to hear my voice.  But um, yea zone conference was amazing.  The point that I wanted to quickly talk about was internalizing the atonement.  Now I'm going to go over what was a very long discussion and a long training.  But, ponder upon these six points in which we learned to internalize the atonement into our lives.  The first is, I must understand my true relationship with God and understand his true nature.  Number two, I must understand the plan of salvation.  Number three, I must accept Jesus Christ as my savior.  Number four, I must repent.  Number five, I must endure to the end by following the example of Jesus Christ - the emphasis on, by following the example of Jesus Christ.  And then number six is, of course, repeat steps one through five.  I thought it was a super good training and it was really inspirational.  Um, and so, yea, I just hope you can be able to, shoot, where is it?  Yea, you can be able to do a study on that and be able to receive positive feedback from yourselves.   Sorry, I'm trying to look at my notes again, I just lost my page.  Um, so ok, sorry, so I wanted to also give you some scripture references for each of the six steps.  So the first one the scripture reference is John 17:3.  The second one is Alma 24:14.  To the third point is Mosiah 3:17.  To the fourth point is D&C 19:4.  To the fifth point is 2 N 31:16.  And the sixth point is Mosiah 4:10.  And so, um, yea, just being able to do that scripture study for yourself and being able to see the blessings that come from it.  Truly internalize it and it will bless your life and you'll be able to see so, so much more.

So, the last think I just wanted to say is like just how grateful I am for all of you and being able to be there. Um, wonderful things have happened this past week and we're just really seeing miracles in our area and I know it's thanks to your prayers of faith and also just all that you're doing.  I truly thank you, um, I know the gospel is true, it has blessed my life so much and continue to let it bless yours.  Always be ready to give your best and always just know that I truly do love you and I am grateful for you and your examples in my life.  We are going to the temple tomorrow, Tomorrow is Thursday.  And that is one of the greatest things.  I hope that you are making time to go to the temple.  And to be be able to just get out of the world and go to a house of the Lord in which you can truly feel the power of the spirit there.  Of course you should be able to feel it more often every day.  But, I truly know that temples are there for a reason.  Of course they're there for a reason, right?  But, we need to go as often as we can and not get behind on it but put God first and everything else will be able to follow through.  One of my favorite quotes that I have heard this last week is by Bruce R McConkie and it is on the Atonement, it's going back to internalizing the atonement.  He said, "The atonement of Christ is the most basic and fundamental doctrine of the gospel.  And, it is the least understood of all our revealed truths."  Isn't that interesting?  That is so interesting to me.  That it is the most basic but yet it is the least understood.  The atonement changes us and it continues to do so.  Let it continually change us and transform us to become the person who is truly our true identity.  I love you so much, have a great ok, continue to live the gospel every single day.  Love you.