Ever WONDER about the blessings that come from a Ward Family?

Ever WONDER about the blessings that come from a Ward Family?

I have been thinking about the blessing of a ward family.
I guess I am a slow learner, but I just realized that many of our blessings come wrapped up in side of our struggles.
Having three members of our family serving full time missions at the same time, is a wonderful blessing…it also brings many struggles.
The most obvious is financial. We have been blessed abundantly by so many of our fellow ward members. There  have been small donations made by retired people on fixed income (remind you of the widows mite?). To very substantial donations by those who have more. Each is a very precious, and sacred sacrifice to me.
Another less obvious, but still difficult struggle, is the vacancy I feel at Holidays and for family traditions. The ward is helping to feel my sad heart. My family typically has what we call the Family Band. Most of my family members play musical instruments, and at Christmas time we dust them off and play Christmas songs together. This year, with three of our band members serving missions, and other family member living out of state, I was feeling an emptiness. And then one of the Young Women in the ward got the idea to put together a Young Women’s Orchestra. She is so kind that she said even the leaders could be included. We will be playing songs at the ward Christmas Party. The Young Men were feeling a little jealous and so they put together a Young Men’s Band. It may seem a small thing to many of you, but to me, it means the world! It is a tender mercy from My Heavenly Father, when I was feeling so sad.  A similar tender mercy was on the 4th of July. When everyone pitched in and helped with the block party. I was left in tears that night. I thought, “I think this is what Heaven must be like.” Thanks
This line of thinking, brought to remembrance a long list of other blessings, and tender mercies …all given through the kind hands of my ward family. I will try to list them all, but please forgive me if I forget a few.
*64 years of Primary teachers (that does not even count Sunday School)
*12 years of Cub Scout den leaders
*9 years of Young Women leaders (that means 9 Girls Camp and 5 Youth Conferences)
*13 years of Young Men/Boy Scout leaders (8 High Adventure camps, 5 Scout camps, and 9 Youth Conferences)
*swimming lessons for me and my children
*”doctor” and “nurse” visits to ask vital question like, “does this need stitches?”  “do you think it’s broken?”
*19 years of Visiting Teachers
*19 years of Home Teachers
*shoulders to cry on
*arms to give me hugs
*meals
*friendly smiles
*prayers offered in our behalf
*fasting
*friends
*love
*putting our names on the temple prayer rolls
*faithfully fulfilling your calling (it makes mine easier)
*helping me teach my children to work (putting up with crooked lawn mowing, and broken sprinkler heads, so that I can teach them how to do a job well and be proud of their efforts)
*allowing our family to do service for you, so that my children can feel the Spirit service brings
*patience
*forgiveness
*visits
*sharing of testimony
*holding my hand during the really heart breaking times, so I won’t have to be alone
*notes to remind me, “Heavenly Father loves you!”
*restoring crashed computers and deleted SD cards
*writing resumes
*editing my writings
*transportation emergencies
*helping with math homework that is too hard
*plumbing emergencies
*hospital visits
*car repairs
*lending of tools
*Priesthood blessings
**pretty much filling in all the gaps that I would never be able to do on my own
And the list could go on and on
I think about the covenants we make in the temple to live the Law of Consecration. In a very practical way, I think being a member of a WONDERFUL ward like this one helps us practice.
Our ward seems to have more than our fair share of medical and physical trials at the moment. My mind was brought back to another time about 16 years ago when the trial was the loss of several babies. I think of how our ward grew through that time. Apparently we are headed into another growing season. While I don’t look forward to it, I look forward to going through it with all of you by my side.
Thanks again. I have been truly blessed by My Ward Family.
Love You All

Some WONDER-ful News about Burdens

I went to the temple this morning. I had many friends and family members on my mind. The very first thing I did was go to the prayer roll and write down a few names of those I know are facing struggles. I decided to do some Initiatory. As I sat there pondering the trials we face in life, one phrase in a long list of blessings stood out to me: “that they may bear the burdens that may be placed thereon.” I began to ponder on this phrase. I thought about those I love who are dealing with burdens now. I thought to myself, why do some people seems to have burdens that are so heavy, with no end in sight?
That is when the Spirit began to teach me.
One line from one of my children’s Patriarchal Blessings came to mind: “He knows the circumstances under which you will grow and develop.” I think this is true for all of us. Jacob 5 :22 “…Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, …I have nourished it this long time,…” The challenge for us then, is to realize that some of our burdens are put there by a loving Heavenly Father, to help us grow and develop. The next part of the challenge is to look around us at how He is nourishing us in these ’poor spots of ground’.
The second thing that came to mind was an essay I read years ago by Sister Sherri Dew. She related a personal experience regarding burdens vs. baggage.
She was in New York for a meeting. She was staying on the 44th floor of a hotel when the fire alarms went off at 3:00 a.m. She admits that in a moment of “vanity” she decided to quickly gather her things and carry everything with her down all 44 floors. (She did not want to look bad for her morning meeting.) “It was a grueling 1232 stairs straight down” carrying 40 pounds of luggage. She says, “Burdens have the potential to exalt us, but baggage just weighs us down and wears us out.” She lists some things that she feels are baggage or may become baggage. She warns us to leave them behind:
Sin that have not been repented of, natural man behaviors that we aren’t ready to give up, worry, jealousy, guilt, unforgiving hearts, anger, regret, pride, resentment, the desire to retaliate, fear, and insecurity.
Sometimes we feel so overwhelmed with all the things we “have” to do. I thought about a talk in April 2014 General Conference by Sister Linda S. Reeves. She teaches us how to create a Christ centered home. She learned this powerful lesson years before:  “It is OK if the house is a mess and the children are still in their pajamas and some responsibilities are left undone. The only things that really need to be accomplished in the home are daily scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening.” There are really only a few things that we “have” to do: Scriptures, Prayer, FHE. The other things will fall into place. There is a time and a season for all things. I am in a different season than most of you. I am able to go weekly to the temple, 10 years ago that was not an option. I was needed in the home.
We feel the pressure to grow our own wheat, harvest it, grind it, and then make our own bread.
Do genealogy.
Help at the school.
Have a spotless house.
Volunteer at the local hospital.
Clean children, who never make mistakes.
The list goes on and on.
I think December is the perfect time for us to re-evaluate our “to do list”.
Last December our family was finishing up Lisa’s mission preparation (she entered the MTC on December 18). It changed our focus from all the things we “had” to do (Christmas cards, neighbor gifts, teacher gifts, treats, baking, decorating, wrappings, buying, etc.) to what really mattered….being together as a family and thinking about the birth of our Savior. It was one of my favorite Christmas’s in a long time.
So here is the second challenge, prayerfully look at your life and see if you have baggage you are carrying around.  Let’s get rid of it. Let’s cast our burden on the Lord (Matthew 11:28-30), and ask Him to make our burdens light (Alma 33:23, Mosiah 24:14-16)

Wonder what crazy, funny, adventures #1 is having in Arkansas?

I'm staying in Maumelle.  G is doing well. We are going to see her on Tuesday. We invited her to church and she was excited to come! We invited her to baptism, and she's thinking about it. We'll see what happens. She is also trying to quit smoking. YAY! We taught her the Plan of Salvation yesterday through 2 Nephi 9. It was pretty sweet. It made a lot of sense and she was all like : " how come nobody else knows this?" It was pretty sweet. :) 

So here's my week run down. Monday was boring.  Tuesday, um.....not much. We met with D and taught him about the priesthood and to help him prepare for it. He was a bit unfocused :/ We are working on it. We had dinner with them and when they dished us up, they gave me like a spoonful. I guess I can lose weight that way? Well, the mom got on a rant when she was serving Sister T and she just kept serving her! Sister T even moved her plate away and said she was good, but she kept going, so her plate was completely full! I busted up laughing and the little girl asks what's so funny and I just say she is so cute! Aren't I terrible? Wednesday, we cooked with B. I made the bacon broccoli salad. It was really good and B loved it! :) We saw G. She's doing really great. :) She's  a miracle and an answer to a prayer. :) Thursday, we cleaned an entire house in 2 hours. It is a crazy house! We folded all her laundry, put it away, cleaned up the upstairs, downstairs, and did the dishes. It was very much needed. Really, it was just my OCD freaking out and it needed to be done. We went to a lady's house. Her name is E. She watches this little girl who is absolutely adorable! She is probably about 7 months and she has red hair! So funny story about her. We were teaching her and I was bearing a beautiful testimony about faith, but then she had to go answer the phone and gives the baby to Sister T. HAHAHAHAHA! We aren't allowed to hold babies. ;) Well, she's bouncing around with it so that it won't cry and then E comes back in. E doesn't take the baby back, though, and now the baby is fine! So the minute the baby makes a tiny noise, she hands it back and says that she wants her. OH MAN! I was dying! Friday, we had a meeting. This was my favorite part:   

President  was teaching us about virtuous thoughts. So he had a glass of water and that represented virtuous thoughts. He had a missionary come and hold their hands in a cupping shape, representing our mind. He would pour the water in and tell the missionary to not let any leak out. Of course some would leak out, so what happens then? Our hands are empty, so you just pour more water in. The missionary is trying their hardest to keep the water in, but it still leaks out, little by little. What causes it to leak? Sin, temptation, etc. Some is under our control, but others is not. We can't control what is on billboards, T.V., internet, and things we hear, but we can control is we let it dwell in our mind or not. Sometimes, we try our hardest (like the missionary trying to not let the water leak out), but we make mistakes. That is where the Atonement comes in. We can repent and become better. But virtue is a continuous process. Just like D&C 121:45. Just like how you have to keep pouring water into the hands of the missionary. That is what I learned.

On Saturday, we went to the U.S.S. Razorback with the C's. The story is in all my awkward selfies. Oh dear. I was worried we were going to get escorted out because we couldn't stop laughing! We were taking all kinds of pictures. Sunday was pretty good. I got a nap and we had dinner with the G's. They feed us WAY too much rice. :P but it's still really good.

Answers to your questions: The best thing you did that prepared you for your mission? A 30 day Book of Mormon read and mission prep. Yes it's early in the morning, but it's great! It helped so much! And do the training online. :) Something I wish I had done to prepare more? SLEEP! J/K. Um....probably...um...can't think of anything at the moment. The greatest lesson I have learned so far on my mission? Diligence, patience, and love. You can NEVER give up, even when the going get's rough. There is always something good at the end, and even if you get frustrated with people for not keeping commitments and whatever, still love them :) That's all I got.

Hey mom!

Sister N is my new companion. She's really fun! We are laughing all the time! :) G is a struggle. :( Her daughter won't let her come to church or be baptized. :( But she still lets us come over and read the Book of Mormon with her. She needs prayers. :) I don't know what else to do for her. We are working on finding and less-actives. It's a work in progress. I'm proud of you for following the spirit. :) It is always nerve wracking and you just want to die, but it's good at the end. That's how I feel about less-actives, but eventually it works out for the better.  I've been studying a lot of Isaiah. Not the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi, but actual Isaiah in the Bible. I almost like it better in the bible because it has it all there, not just parts. It's got me thinking a lot about the Second Coming and how it's right on our heels. We have GOT to be prepared!  The times are coming and now is the time to prepare.

Now, onto the specifics of the week. Monday, Sister T went home, so I was companions with Sister F and Sister M. It was a lot of fun. :) Tuesday, we saw a couple of Recent Converts from Sisters before me and we also saw G. That's when she told us the whole thing about going to church. :( It was a bit sad. Wednesday, I got Sister N. We are having a ball! She is so much fun. I haven't had fun in a long time. :) I haven't laughed in a long time. She is definitely an answer to a prayer. We just went around and had her meet people in the ward. Nothing super exciting. Thursday was just a bunch more members and less-actives. We did have dinner at the G's. It was SO GOOD! She put veleeta cheese, rotel, cream of chicken soup, and chunks of chicken in a crock pot and let it melt/mix together and then poured it over rice and we ate it with doritos. It was the best meal ever! It was so good! I want to have it again. On Friday we had weekly planning :p I'm definitely looking forward to the day of not having to do that anymore. We saw G again and she asked us to come over only once a week. :( We also had Mexican food. It was delicious! Saturday was boring. Nothing much happened. We had to fix the car, so that was exciting...not. But it was out of the norm, so I got to see new places. Sunday was good! The Bishop talked about the love God has for us. It was pretty emotional. We also saw D. That family is struggling! Prayers for them, too, please! We also saw the G's AND......they are moving on Saturday to Oklahoma. :( I'm super sad about that one, but I think they will be happier there. They struggle with being here. It will be okay. I can still write them. :) That was pretty much my week. Nothing super crazy.

You guys might not get as good as hand written letters this month. Our P-days are shortened to 2 PM so that we can reach our goal of 100 baptisms and confirmations and 100 re-activations in the month of November. I'll do my best, but no promises. That is the life of #1 this week as a missionary. Wish I had more to say. This looks like a lame letter....:( but it's all I got. Love you so much!

My birthday was pretty good. Sister N decorated the apartment and I opened my box from you. It was AWESOME! I told everyone about it. They had no idea I was such a nerd! We had district meeting that day and after ward the Elders surprised me with a cake. It was really good. The S's gave me a hand crank music thing that plays happy birthday and a Maumelle cup and stuff. We got home and visited a couple of members and people didn't keep their mouth shut and so I got a bunch of birthday wishes from members I've never met before. It was cool though. A bunch of people from Batesville, called/texted to say happy birthday. It was a really fun. I had cake and confetti soup and focaccia bread for my dinner at the M's. It was awesome. Then we went over to Sister S's for MORE cake! So I'm all caked out. MAN! But it was great. The G's came over wtih two confetti cannons and exploded them in the house. HOLY COW! You should have seen it!  Well, the next day, I received revelation on what to do with all the confetti. I am very positive it was revelation because it was during study time. We took it over to the Elders apartment and put it in their house. It was great! And then they got us back with the car. The wrapped it up in 5 rolls of plastic wrap. Yep. But it was hilarious.  We saw G on Thursday. She needs prayers. She doesn't know what she wants. She has a plethora of excuses. I don't know what else to do for her and it makes me sad. We are seeing her again Thursday to see what is going on. Friday, we were finding less actives and part member families. We found a couple of them, and we will be seeing them this week, too. And we helped the G's pack.  We are probably going to be helping them today, too.

There's a talk I found I want you to read. It's by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. It's "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence". It's really good. I found only part of it this morning during study. I'm going to read the rest of it this afternoon.  I really like 1 Nephi 4:6 as well. But look at verse 7: "Nevertheless I went forth......." He still went even though he didn't know what was going to happen. That takes a lot of faith. Even though it was hard. Even though he was scared. Even though he was alone, HE WENT FORTH. Just a thought. Good job being a missionary, mom! That is how you do it. If only the members here were like that. It's a work in progress. :) I love you so much! You are always in my prayers. Keep the faith. Be strong. Show now fear. Move forward.

I can't remember if I told you, but last Sunday, we got the Elders back....sort of. We put vaseline on the door handles. And we were so excited! But then they went on splits with the other Elders in our district, but we were like, no big deal. It will be good, but then, they were giving the ward mission leader a ride home.....yep! You guessed it! We got him, NOT the Elders. But it was pretty funny. And that is the end of my pranking career.Monday,, we had FHE with the S's. It was so much fun! I haven't had a real FHE in a long time. We discussed the Gospel and then played a game. It was a lot of fun. Tuesday was pretty chill. Not much happened there. Wednesday, we cooked with B, and then we had exchanges, so I went to Morrilton with Sister C. It was a bunch of fun. It a nice break from Maumelle. You will not believe what I had for dinner though. Is everyone holding on to their chairs? You ready? It was....dun....dun...DUN!!!! OYSTER STEW!!!!  I had a very tiny, teeny, weeny, little scoop. I had to think that what I was eating was potatoes, never mind that it was chewy, slimy, and downright disgusting. If you like fish, you would have liked it. Any who, thank goodness for napkins! I only gagged 5 times, but those 5 times it got pretty close. They had scones for the bread. I ate that last so that I didn't have that flavor in my mouth any more. But you would have been proud of me. Thursday, I came back to Maumelle. G put herself on pause. She doesn't want to visit with us anymore. :( Pray that she gets an answer about the church and that she can find a way to church. A (a less active we work with that has MS and smokes) won't quit smoking. :( She needs prayers, too. Hopefully she'll be ready this week. We were supposed to go to Zumba on Thursday because everyone at it is a non member, but our dinner got burned and started late, so we couldn't go 

:( but we will be able to go this week. WEIGHT LOSS, HERE I COME! :D Friday was pretty awesome. You will not believe what I found in a lady's freezer! We went with a member to clean out a house for sale. Pretty much just take what we needed, because it needed to be cleaned out. We got a lot of food. Anyways, I was cleaning out the freezer when I came across two grocery bags. Do you want to know what was inside them? Thankfully wrapped in layers of grocery bags and zip lock bags? RACCOON PELTS!!! You better believe I was freaking out! It was so gross! Who the heck puts raccoon skin in the freezer!!? Crazy people from Arkansas, that's who! You better believe it smelled gross, too. Oh man. I bet #2 and #3 haven't run into that on their mission! But holy crap was I freaked out. I threw away everything in the freezer and fridge. I'm not letting anyone eat anything from there that could have been tainted by Raccoon germs. Nothing notable happened Saturday and Sunday. Just the primary program.

There is one thing I did learn, though. It's about Patriarchal Blessings. By the mouth of three witnesses, I was told to read my Patriarchal Blessing (the Spirit, the Elders (blessing), and Sister C). You'd think I'd learn by now to listen to the spirit, but apparently not. I had to have two other people tell me. Any who, so I read my blessing. Not just read though, but truly feasted. Looking for answers. I'm going to be honest. I had never really "studied" my patriarchal blessing. I would just read it every once in a while and think about it, then put it away for another day. So this time, I really studied it. I took it out, prayed, and wrote down impressions I received. Whenever Patriarchal blessings were talked about and people would talk about things that was in theirs, I would always joke that mine wasn't super specific. That mine was just very general. How wrong I was. I wrote down the whole experience in my journal. I also know that a Patriarchal Blessing if VERY important and we shouldn't just brush it off. It is directly from Heavenly Father. It is promised blessings to us if we continue to be righteous and keep the commandments. How important it is to continue to study from it! It is scripture. Revelation from God, for the individual. I promised that I would study it every week. That's what I learned.

Pray for J. She is a new investigator. We are seeing her tonight. Pray for the spirit to be there, she will recognize what we are saying is true, and commit be be baptized. Also pray for M. We are seeing him tomorrow. We found him because I liked the color of his door for his house. Pray that he will feel that what we are sharing is true.

That was my crazy week. Love you so much!! Can't wait for next week!

Wonder what lessons #2 is learning in Florida

 It was a weird week, Elder P was sick the whole week and we ended up spending three days in the apartment with him just laying on the bed all day. I felt bad for him, I was super bored, but at least I was healthy! I read about 100 pages of the Old Testament, watched 8 hours of church videos, read 3 or 4 sessions of conference, drew a ton, sat around and pondered a ton, etc. It was hard. I had to find ways to keep myself busy for about 45 hours in all, and I couldn't watch movies or read books or play games...... it was a challenge, I'm glad its over :P

     We haven't been able to get in touch with any of the people from last week, here in our area, people get their phones turned off all the time and with a sick companion, you can't go see them. we have the car this week so we can see a lot more people. Oh the joys of sharing a car!!!! Full bike was interested work in Winter Park, I like having a car share.

    That's exciting that Mc is going on a mission! I think that will be great for her and especially for her family. Missions are awesome! Its still weird for me when I hear about major changes going on at home, sometimes I feel like home is another dimension and I half expect everything to just go on pause until I return back to the home dimension.

    Sounds like you did have a crazy weekend and some miracles. I had a great weekend too, I went on exchanges with another elder of the district and we were able to get to some hard work! His name is Elder B, he is 25 or 26, he has his own personality for sure! I loved it! We were biking around on the streets and whenever we saw someone that wasn't smiling he would stop and try and make them smile by telling a dumb joke or having a frowning contest with them.  I was laughing the whole day, I think he does a really good job at being real as a missionary. A lot of missionaries are robots and don't add any of their personalities to their work. I really like that about Elder B. We taught our investigators this Saturday since we had to cancel the others because Elder P was sick.

    I have been reflecting over my mission a lot this week, I realized that I'm coming up on the final stretch here. I still have 7 1/2 months, but that's really not that long. Before you know it it'll be Christmas, then Easter, mothers day, and I'll be home. I've realized that I have changed a lot since I've come out here. Really good changes that I'm happy about. The Atonement makes that all possible. Miracles happen when you turn your will over to God. Going on a mission helps young people to learn how to do that and help them to. The rules aren't constraints for me anymore, they have become something I understand and don't resent at all. When I wake up and start doing missionary work, I'm not thinking about what I'd rather be doing, in effect, sacrificing what I want to do for what I know I should do. It is becoming waking up in the morning and wanting to do missionary work, my will is starting to become more aligned with His. I've been out a long time, and other missionaries have started telling me that they look up to me, missionaries that have been out for a short time, it surprises me because I don't think I'm that great, but as I pondered about it last night, I realized I looked up to the priests when I was a deacon, and when I was a priest I didn't feel like I was worth looking up to. I think its because the more we go along and try to become better the more we see what we need to work on, the more light there is in a room, the clearer you will be able to see the clutter, dirt, and cobwebs. I hope that makes sense. It reminds me of a quote. "the more you know, the more you realize that you don't know." The deeper man has looked into outer space, the more we discover how vast and mysterious it is.

    I share experiences of our family being provided for financially with people. I have a testimony of what It says in 3 Nephi 13: 25-34,

To close, The thing that best prepared me for a mission was going to college away from home for a year, I wish I had a habit of scripture study before my mission, and the greatest lesson I have learned on my mission is that of Charity. I have learned a lot about charity, Without charity, we truly are nothing, and because God loves us so much, we also must love and show kindness to those around us.

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 Car week was nice, we were able to see a lot more people and get more lessons. It was a good week overall. I've learned a lot this week about recognizing and following the promptings of the spirit. We had tons and tons of appointments and plans fall through, but almost every time we did, Elder P or I would feel a prompting to go see a specific person or go knock on a specific door. Sometimes we didn't really see anything come out of it, but many times we would contact someone that was interested or with a few we were even able to teach them a lesson on the spot and make plans to see them again. None of the promptings were really in my face or anything, they came as just thoughts. Its hard to discern one of your own thoughts from a prompting of the spirit sometimes, but I find that when I act on those thoughts, I am then able to discern if it was a thought or a prompting.

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    I'm loving it out here in Ocoee, I hope that I can stay here a long time, transfers are in a week so we will see what happens. Elder P and I are still getting along great and doing great work together, he is awesome! I love being his companion, I think he will be an assistant here someday. I keep talking him up to president, he doesn't want me too, but i think he'd be a great leader.

   I finally gave a talk again this week, my last time giving a talk was my first Sunday in the mission field, 17 months ago :p I was very happy to get the opportunity. In typical fashion, I got the call Saturday night at 7pm, but it all worked out anyway. Here is the talk I gave. Its about Tithes and Offerings

Tithing and offerings- October 26, 2014 

     

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to you. This subject is one that is very important to me, and near to my heart. I am basing this message on 3 Nephi 13/ Matthew 6 which is commonly known as the sermon on the mount given to the people of Nephi and the Jews, respectively.

In verse 31-33 Jesus says, 

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

This principle is what I feel impressed to speak on. It is this principle that has carried me many times from despair, to hope, from fear to faith. 

I remember well when president Monson made the announcement in October 2012 that they were lowering the age for missionary service from 19 to 18 for young men. Everyone for the next month or so repeatedly and relentlessly asked me, so when are you leaving on your mission? I did not have the financial means to go on a mission. To keep a long story short, I had a lot of humbling experiences that taught me that I needed to keep the commandment to serve a mission. 

     With very little money, and not knowing how I would have the means, I left on my mission 17 months ago. Many miracles have occurred. I have a brother and a sister that have since followed me out into the mission field and are sharing the gospel with our brothers and sisters and have had much success. I too have been an instrument in bringing others into the Gospel.

     It is not cheap to provide for 3 missionaries in the field. My parents knew this beforehand, and knew that my dads income and supporting family at home did not budget out right. but they never had any doubts. The miracles are endless that have occurred. Doctors bills have been paid off by unknown hands, they have found envelopes with money in them that were "doorbell ditched" to us. Families have gone to my bishop at home and anonymously contributed to my brother, sister and I. Last Monday I received an email from my family and they told me about people that showed up to my house 2 weeks ago. They showed up to my house and knocked on the door, my dad answered and they said, " You don't know us, but God told us that we needed to give this to you" and they left. After they left my dad opened the envelope to find $1014 inside. Many tears of joy were shed.

    These acts of kindness and deliverance remind me of these verses of 3 Nephi 13

1 Verily, verily, I say that I would that ye should do alms unto the poor; but take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven.

2 Therefore, when ye shall do your alms do not sound a trumpet before you, as will hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

3 But when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth;

And also verses 25-30

25 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked upon the twelve whom he had chosen, and said unto them: Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin;

29 And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith.

Many spiritual blessings have come as well, my family is spending more time together, my 14 and 12 year old sister and brother have found jobs, and are helping provide for the family and learning the value of money and work, my dad has opened up to more work opportunities, my parents are coming closer together, we are learning to be humble and allow others to help, we have a better relationship with our Heavenly Father

Now I was asked to speak today on tithing and fast offerings, don't worry brother Nielson, I'm bringing it back. Faithfully and Willingly paying tithes and offerings is easily comparable to my experiences which I have shared with you. We act in faith, holding nothing back, with no regrets, and we give the Lord our means in order to build his kingdom, and help lift the heavy burdens carried by our brothers and sisters who are poor in heart, and poor as to things of this world

To build the Lords Kingdom on earth, the lord has given us the law of tithing. Tithing is giving 10 percent of what you earn to the lord. Elder Bednar from the quorum of the twelve taught,

"The honest payment of tithing is much more than a duty; it is an important step in the process of personal sanctification. To those of you who pay your tithing, I commend you

To those of you who presently are not obeying the law of tithing, I invite you to consider your ways and repent. I testify that by your obedience to this law of the Lord, the windows of heaven will be opened to you. Please do not procrastinate the day of your repentance

I testify spiritual and temporal blessings come into our lives as we live the law of tithing."

A recent convert from my last area was young, inexperienced, poor as to things of the world, and very new to the gospel, he's been a member coming Up on 6 months now. He did something that inspired me, he earned 5 dollars for helping some older neighbors by mowing their lawn, he didn't want to get paid, but they insisted. He took every penny of that five dollars and gave it to the Lord. There is something he understands about tithing and offerings that we all should understand.

To lift those around us that are less fortunate, the Lord instituted the law of the fast.

Bishop Dean M. Davies, second counselor in the presiding bishopbric said,

"Caring for the poor and needy is a fundamental gospel doctrine and an essential element in the eternal plan of salvation.

Prior to His mortal ministry, Jehovah declared through His prophet: “For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land."

As followers of the Savior, we have a personal responsibility to care for the poor and needy. Faithful Church members everywhere assist by fasting each month--abstaining from food and water for 24 hours--and then giving to the Church a financial fast offering equal to at least the value of the food they would have eaten

Complete fulfillment of the law of the fast occurs when the fast offering is made to the Lord’s agent, the bishop."

Isaiah’s words should be prayerfully considered and taught in every home:

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the quorum of the 12 apostles said this last conference,

"Given the monumental challenge of addressing inequity in the world, what can one man or woman do? The Master Himself offered an answer. When, prior to His betrayal and Crucifixion, Mary anointed Jesus’s head with an expensive burial ointment, Judas Iscariot protested this extravagance and “murmured against her.”

Jesus said:

“Why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work. …

“She hath done what she could.”

“She hath done what she could”! What a succinct formula! A journalist once questioned Mother Teresa of Calcutta about her hopeless task of rescuing the destitute in that city. He said that, statistically speaking, she was accomplishing absolutely nothing. This remarkable little woman shot back that her work was about love, not statistics. Notwithstanding the staggering number beyond her reach, she said she could keep the commandment to love God and her neighbor by serving those within her reach with whatever resources she had. “What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean,” she would say on another occasion. “But if we didn’t do it, the ocean would be one drop less [than it is].”9 Soberly, the journalist concluded that Christianity is obviously not a statistical endeavor. He reasoned that if there would be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety and nine who need no repentance, then apparently God is not overly preoccupied with percentages."

We should not seek for attention when we fast, Jesus taught in 3 Nephi 13:17-18

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face;

18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

When I was 8 and my parents started making fast, and I would whine and complain, often, I would leave my scriptures home, and take my scripture bag with a pack of graham crackers in them and sneak to the bathroom to munch on a few every once and a while. :) (NOTE TO MOM: I always wondered if you knew, there was a lot of things I did as a kid that were against the rules that I thought I got away with.) We shouldn't fast this way.

You will often not know all the good you do by paying tithes and fast offerings, but the people who recieve aid because of you will be grateful to the unknown hands that lifted them up, and will pray for the blessings of heaven to come upon you and your family forever.

Anyone who knows the blessings of tithing and fast offerings would be foolish to forgo those blessings for any reason.

Bishop Davies continued:

"Brethren, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are a covenant-making, commandment-keeping people. I cannot think of any law, any commandment, which, if kept faithfully, is easier to keep and which provides greater blessings than the law of the fast. When we fast and give an honest fast offering, we contribute to the Lord’s storehouse what would have been expended on the cost of the meals. It does not require monetary sacrifice in excess of what would be expended normally. At the same time, we are promised the extraordinary blessings, as previously noted."

In closing, I will read 3 Nephi 13: 19-21

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Let us faithfully pay our tithing and offerings. I bear my testimony that any sacrifice we make to keep Gods laws, is well worth it. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

I hope you like it. There was a brother after church that forced an envelope in my hand, I told him I didn't want to take it, but he forced it, telling me that God told him to do it. I took it and I don't know what to do with it, should I send it home to you guys or use it for mission stuff here or give it to fast offerings or something? IDK. I prayed about it, I'm not sure, I feel like I should keep it here, but I don't know what to do with it, if God told him to give it to me, I want to be very careful what I use it on or give it to or whatever God wants me to do with it. Its $40. Am I just being ungrateful or prideful? I don't know, these are just the thoughts floating around in my head when I think about it. 

****************************   

 We have lots of baptisms coming up, the Ocoee Ward is blowing up! The other Elders are working with some awesome people and one of them is coming to church every week, yesterday he said he really wanted to be baptized. Elder P and I are working with some awesome people as well. We are working with a 17 year old girl named E, her baptism date was Christmas, but we read 3 Ne 11 with her and talked about the blessings of baptism and told her that she should not postpone those blessings. (she has been taught everything) She asked us when the soonest she could get baptized, and now she is being baptized in 2 weeks! We also have K who is progressing well and will be baptized in 2 1/2 weeks, and the P family that is excited for their baptism in 3 weeks, we have already taught them all everything. Please pray for them though that they will be able to make that covenant and endure to the end!

     This week starts a new transfer, Elder P and I are both staying!!! :) I am really glad about that, Elder P and I are working together great and are getting lots of great work done. I'm also glad that I get to stay in Ocoee, I'm loving it here and I hope I can stay here a long time, the rest of my mission would be nice, but that is not very likely I'm sad to say. Thus starts another transfer though! Time goes so fast now, I just got here and I'm already a transfer in. I only have 5 transfers left, I want to make sure to use them wisely.

         I'm learning a lot about accepting Gods will and Gods timing, its amazing for me to see how much really is not in my control, so the best thing to do is to just let it go. I love the poem you sent me in a letter at the beginning of my mission, I read it often.

     "as children bring their broken toys,

      with tears for us to mend.

      I brought my broken dreams to God,

      Because he was my friend.

      But instead of leaving him,

      in peace to work alone,

      I stuck around and tried to help,

      with ways that were my own.

      At last I took them back and said,

      "how can you be so slow?"

      "my child" he said "what could I do?

       you never did let go.""

     Anyways, everything is going great, 

***********************************

    This week was a good week, the weeks are flying by so fast that it seems like almost everyday is P-day. Its like "I just wrote you a letter, I don't have anything else to say!" Anyways, I guess I can find a few things to talk about :) So this week we had Stake conference and they made a new stake. We were visited by Don R. Clark of the 70. He was cool, I really enjoyed his messages.

     So E had her interview, the baptism is set up and all systems are go! Her baptism is this Saturday and we have invited tons of people so we are excited. Please pray for her that she can endure to the end and not let anything happen to anti her or discourage her!

    We met with a recent convert yesterday that hates another recent convert in the ward. Its all just dumb stuff and they are always talking bad about each other behind each others backs and fighting with each other. Its ridiculous.  Someone at the conference gave a quote from Gordon B. Hinckley that I though was just for me. He said that forgiving others is very hard, and that it is more a process and less an event. I feel good about all I'm doing to put the past behind and move forward, I don't feel like I'm held back by my past. Anyways, both the recent converts tell us to teach the other about humility and meekness and stuff. They both tell us that they will forgive when the other shows remorse for what they did. We are trying to help them, but we can't force them to let things go. If they are not careful they are going to destroy eachother and their families. "Blame keeps wounds open, only forgiveness heals" -Thomas S. Monson

    I'm striving to have a loving and forgiving heart. The Lord requires us to forgive and love all men, it is his job to decide who to forgive, we are told to forgive all.

    Right now I'm trying to think of something funny to write down that happened. We laugh a lot, pretty much all the time, but I don't remember what we laugh at. 

Wonder what #3 has been learning in Georgia

I have missed all the crazy stuff we do as a family.

This week has been are really good week in a way. I have been sick all week with a really bad cold. I have trouble breathing and my voice is super super low. But this week has been a really good week for faith. I noticed that as I went out and talked with people I didn't feel sick anymore. We contacted over 200 people this week. That is amazing. We beat all the rest of the district combined. The power of God really is there. We have also talked with many many people this week and we hope that we have a bigger pool of investigators to work from. All the people we have been teaching have fallen off the face of the earth. They won't answer phone calls, they won't be home when we try and visit. It's just crazy how many people just disappear. Something cool is we are starting to get back some contact with R. I tested him three days ago and he actually texted back. I also texted him this morning and he texted back to that as well. I am so happy that things are starting to work out down here. I love the people of Georgia so much. I also love you with all my heart and I know that I am doing the right thing out here. 

  

The mission is going amazingly. I am starting to feel a little better but I am still sick. Missions are hard mom and I don't really like hard. I can do it and be happy when doing it. I just look back and say: Man that was hard.

This week wasn't as good as last week. Things are starting to die down and we are getting more steady people to teach. I have even started to get contact back from R.

I love reading the scriptures so much and I get so much out of them. I am in 2 Nephi right now and stuck in the Isaiah chapters. I don't mind reading them they just get long. I do learn a lot from them though. 

I know that i am out here for a good reason. 

My story of this week is not about me. It is about Sister Mc. She is a wonderful missionary and I have had a good time getting to know her and serve with her. She also is crazy on what she knows. She has read the Bible many times, same with the Book of Mormon and knows a lot about religious history. I have gone to her for answers on what I read in the scriptures. This last week she gave us a call at about 10:30 P.M. crying and asked for a blessing. I didn't know what was wrong or what had happened so we went over. She told us she just got a call from the mission president and had learned that a really good friend of her's had just taken his own life. My heart dropped and my mind went blank. It's hard to comfort someone when you can't touch them and there is nothing you can really say. We gave her a blessing and left. I have prayed very hard for her every night since and something strange is happening. She is acting the same as she always was...happy to be a missionary and as smart as ever. I see this and I think of Christ. She is hurting deeply inside yet she is still working and trying to help the people out here in Albany. If you get the chance put here name in the temple please. She is a true example of Jesus Christ.

The mission is going really good. The only trouble we are having is with our investigators coming to church. 

R will text back when i talk with him but that is all. He is very hard to get a hold of. I pray for him to be responsive to the spirit but he is too BUSY for the church. He also says he is sick all the time so we can't come see him. 

We don't really have any investigators that will keep commitment right now. All we have is V who has changed over night. We gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him to read only a little of it. He has ready to chapter 12 of 1 Nephi and is still going strong. He told us that he wants it to be true and that it gives him a good feeling to read. we will be seeing him later tonight. I am way excited. 

WONDERful week for the missionaries October 13, 2014

From Arkansas:

Finding is just finding. Nothing comes of it, but it's what we got to do. We talk to everyone and none are interested. Just planting the seeds. K is fine. He hasn't texted us back yet. Don't really know what is going on. You can pray for G. She is 59 years old and has ALS, or in other terms, Lou Gherig's disease (don't know how to spell it). She has had it for 12 years. She can't use her arms at all and the muscles in her face are shutting down, so she struggles talking, too. She can still walk. Her husband left her because she was "too much" and her kids are getting paid to help her, because they don't want a mom like that. It's really sad. We go and read the Book of Mormon with her for an hour or so. We are teaching her through the Book of Mormon. Every time we have to leave, she tells us to pray fast and go so she can keep reading. How sweet is that? She's pretty awesome. Funny story: We were with the Smiths and we were driving home from the church from General Conference. Elder Smith wasn't feeling very good and I wasn't super paying attention, but he changed lanes and I thought we were going to die. My life flashed before my eyes and I was like: "Aww, well I be darned. I better get on that repentance train quick, or else people will have to do all my temple work for me again." Which I know they won't, but it was definitely a wake up call for me.

We watched "Meet the Mormons". Have you seen it yet? It's pretty good. The beginning is funny. I liked the missionary mom. What got me was when she was telling her story "Just hold on. You're almost there. Just hold on". You'll understand when you see it. Bring tissues. You will probably cry.  Saturday, we read with G, and she's loving it. When we read with her last, we left her on 1 Nephi 4. When we got there, she was on 1 Nephi 11. Sweet, right? She is loving it a lot. She said there are pretty amazing stories in it and that she felt good when she read it. :) 

I've been studying in the bible about Samuel, King Saul, and David. I finished 1 Samuel today. It is so crazy how King Saul tried to kill David so many times, even after David said he wouldn't kill Saul. I also loved how Jonathan comforted David all the time. He kept him safe and loved him like a brother. He supported him. In the last two chapters of 1 Samuel, some crazy stuff happens. Saul and his three sons are killed and stuff, and David kills a whole nation in day, but I did find a verse interesting. In 1 Samuel 30:6, all the people are mourning because the city was taken captive. Even Davids two wives were taken. But the people wanted to kill David because he was being hopeful. He was being hopeful in the Lord because he knew the Lord would help him. I just thought it was crazy how quick people want to tear others down. That's what I learned this week. That's all I got. I love you so much and can't wait for next week! :)

From Florida:
Thanks for the email! The work is going along great. We picked up a few new people this week, we started working with D, T, and T. D has been taught by missionaries in New York for two years and never even went to church, we met her at a McDonald's and we taught her our purpose, we said that we want to be her friends and help her, but that we are only a part of the church and that the church and gospel offers many more blessings that the church does not provide. She got it and I feel good about teaching her, she understands now that our purpose is not to be "best buds" but to help her be baptized. T is a single mother that we ran into, her son is friends with a lot of the young women in our Ward and they sent us to see him, but we met his mom. Apparently missionaries that go to McDonalds a lot have been talking to her about the church for months and she has never taken any discussions. She welcomed us right in and we started teaching her. McDonald's is famous for the Golden Arches, but I guess now it will be for golden investigators! T is a referral from members in another Ward, she works at Denny's and some members had her for a waitress and they had a good experience with her
and invited her to meet with us. She was very excited to meet with us when we came over, we are going to see her again this afternoon. She works Sunday's which could end up being a problem, but she is awesome!
    Elder P and I are still getting along great and I love the area. I absolutely love the area and Elder P, we are getting along great and are seeing success. We do our best to follow impressions and are seeing miracles.
     I read a talk this morning that I think will help you with your problem! It is by President Monson in the October 2012 conference called "Consider the Blessings". Get out of your comfort zone too, outside of your comfort zone is the miracle zone!
    I read a conference talk everyday as well as my scriptures, I also read a really good message about Gods timing that helped me with the concerns I have about the future. It's by Elder Dallin H Oaks called
"Timing". It's in the October 2003 Liahona.

From Georgia:

No we did not eat the snake we looked for it but we could not find it.

Something I have noticed about my dyslexia is that if I am reading the scriptures it really isn't as hard to read. I see that as a true blessing. But if I read something that is not the scriptures it is much much harder than you would think. I had to read in Elders quorum and I couldn't really get a single word right. I tried for a couple of seconds and kept getting corrected so I just said, "pass" and didn't talk the rest of the meeting. 

I actually do have some people you could pray for. 

1. F. He is a cop down here and as we were contacting he saw us and called us over. "O thank goodness your here I have been praying for y'all to come, What one of you has a sandwich for me?" He is such a funny guy. As we got talking he actually did know that it was not just an accident that we met him and that he would really like to talk with us again. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would like to call us this week.

2. T and her family. We walked into her that same night as F. She is a 17 year old and she let us in to talk. We told her about the Book of Mormon and she said she would read it. We also told her about the anti's and that there is a lot out there. She asked us what she will hear from all the anti's and we told her that a lot of people say we have many wives. She then looked over at her dad who wasn't part of the lesson and asked if that was true. He said yes that people believe that about "US". I paused for a second because he said US. He is actually a member of the church. He hasn't been back for many many years and he never asked for his records to be moved. WOW

3. L and N. We ran into them the next night. We had a very good lesson with them and they said that they know that something has been missing from their life and this may be it. 

I had an amazing experience with giving C a blessing. He is a less active member. He has had a lot of health problems and a bunch of depression and guilt. So he asked me if I would give him a blessing. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life. My whole body felt like it was on fire and I felt like lava was being pored through my veins. It didn't hurt though it felt amazing. WOW. I want to have that feeling again so badly. Maybe I will have that spiritual witness again some day.

WONDER how #3 survived September

R is the same one reference in #2's letters. What are the chances of two brothers meeting the same man while serving their missions in 2 different states?

This week was a good week 

Well we have been teaching R and it seemed that he was really liking it but yesterday he told us that he felt that Mormonism isn't for him. But the funny thing is is that I don't feel that bad about it. We asked if we could meet with him one more time just to try and clear things up and he said yes. I don't understand how he can feel its not for him if he hasn't even tried it. He said that it would be okay for you to send him your testimony.

I hope that next week i will be able to get him back. Please pray for him to feel the spirit and that I will know what to say. 

Well here is the scary part of my letter this week with tender mercy's. I had the possibility of dying 3 times this week but came out alive. The first story is that me and Elder S went to bed that night. When we got out of bed the next morning we went out into the hall and it smelt like smoke. We didn't think much of it because we have some drug users upstairs so we went to the Sisters to get our stuff out of their car. Much to our surprise when we were talking to the Sisters they asked us what we thought about the three fire trucks that were outside that night. Down at the other end of our building a fire had started. Luckily there was a water line in the wall that broke and put out the fire. Elder S and I being as tired as we were had slept through the whole thing. The next thing was when we where at the G's helping them with their house. Brother and Sister G were outside with us just talking when a lightning storm started. Me and Elder S thought it was the coolest because it just kept going and going. Then lightning struck at the other side of the yard and shook the whole house. That was way cool too. I was leaning against the metal trailer at the time. And then last night it rained so hard that we got a flood warning. That was cool. We went out and watched the rain. This is just part of all the crazy stuff that happens in our mission. we will try and be safe but we are boys.

       It is going so good here in Georgia. It is supposed to be getting colder but for now its still 10000. That's so cool that you sent a letter to R. he is actually having a lot of struggles and he said that he thinks the church isn't for him. I don't feel sad though. He said he would like to meet with us one more time so that we can clear things up with him. Please pray for that talk.

        The Sisters are Sister T and Sister M. They are actually next door neighbors from Utah. Sister T is actually dying this transfer here. (That means she is going home) They live in the apartment right across the street from us so we see them probably every other day. We use their car to go give blessings and to go get food. They also take our suits to church for us so that we don't have to bike in our suits.

     Thank you for the scriptures you are sending. they make me very happy each time you send them. I love the scriptures very much. I am actually trying to read the bible right now. I made a bet with a man in a chess game that I would read the bible if I lost so I am getting a head start just in case.

     I will try and be safe but I am my fathers son.

Thank you for your email this week and the insight you got from the story of the tree of life. At the moment I am reading the New Testament so that I know what's up with all the crazy people here.

This week has been a really good week. Our numbers always seem really low when we send them in but our spirits are really high. The reasons for our numbers being low is because of all the service we do. It has been a true answer to our prayers. We have had a hard time with members wanting to help us so we prayed that we would find opportunities to help them except us. OUR WEEKS ARE FULL. The ward has dumped so much stuff on us that we are doing service all the time. It is crazy how much we have helped the ward and stuff like that. Maybe we should of asked in our prayers that the ward would just like us instead of having to do all this work. haha

My chess match went very good. I won against JL and so he now has to read D&C. The reason we had him read D&C is because he thinks that the true church was destroyed when the government said no polygamy. He thinks the government is now running the church and that the real church ran up to Canada where polygamy is allowed. Weirdo. So hopefully by having him read the D&C he will realize the truth. Next chess game I will tell him that he has to be baptized. NOT REALLY 

We haven't been able to meet with R in about a month. I worry about him a lot and I hope that we can meet with him soon. I had an amazing experience teaching an atheist yesterday. He is a professor in English at a college down here. He also has been all over the world studying religion and has tried out many different kinds of religion. The reason he can't believe any of them, or the reason he thinks the bible can't be true is because it has been translated so many times. That was when I got the smart idea to ask him if he has also read the Book of Mormon. He told us no because he thought it had also been translated many times the wrong way. I then told him that it is a direct translation from a set of plates and that it was the most correct book. He said if we gave him the book he will read it. YA!

Well it has been a really good week this week and I am loving my mission down here in Georgia. I am working hard and feeling the love of the ward a lot more than when I first got here.

Well I would like to say things are going real good down here in the south. But sad to say it has been really hard. R won't meet with us. 

Alright so the hard parts of this week. first of all we had a stressful week with ______

Next I would like to be mad at M, a recent convert. The thing that makes me mad about her is she calls us everyday asking if we can come over and help her but we can't do that. We are busy doing the Lord's work. We can come over every once in a while but for now she says she needs us. 

Next R won't meet with us. Why would God put me here if I can't meet with R who loved #2 (my brother) to death??

And last we have the saddest part of my mission. We were tracting and a lady stopped us to talk with her. we started talking with her and she just wanted to prove we were wrong. We tried everything we could to try and help her see but she wouldn't. What made it so sad for me was that she was my sister, my Heavenly sister and she knew what I was saying was true but she still said no. As we spoke to her we would have people honk at us as they drove by. Kids coming home from school would stop and try and prove us wrong. People would stop their cars asking if the girl was okay talking with us. People would yell at us from their cars saying we only want people to come to our church but we won't go to their church. At that moment I felt all alone in the world and I knew that Elder S felt the same. I could feel the devil laughing at us and speaking in my mind... "you lose she is mine. I won I won hahaha." At that moment that I felt at my lowest point;  knowing there was nothing I could do or say all I could do was take it. I was filled with the power of God and I testified with all my heart that I knew the Book of Mormon was true. She still did not budge but I knew she knew that she was wrong.

Because of this week and that experience I am waging an all out war against Satan. He may have won the battle but the war is not over. I will be on the Lords side and he is with me and if I have to be alone to be on His side in this world, so be it.

I  know this church is true and that Jesus Christ lives. I know the Book of Mormon is  true and I know God loves us all. I know that Satan is a real being and I know that he will lose.

THIS IS A LETTER I RECEIVED REGARDING #3

My name is M G from Albany, GA. I am writing to let you know that our family is grateful to you for sharing your son with us. We as a family are inspired by his willingness to serve and spiritual strength that he possess. I as a mother know that those characteristics are developed by a loving role model. He is an awesome individual and missionary.

My husband has enjoyed working with him and has said many times that #3 and his companion are what our ward needs to bring back the member / missionary relationship. We believe that it takes special missionaries to do that here in Albany and your son is one of those.

He has a strong testimony and loves The Lord. He is such a special blessing to our family.

We know he is a greenie but we are impressed with his confidence and strength behind the gospel message that he shares. He definitely carries himself in a manner that would make is parents proud.

Thank you for raising a young man who does what is right and is just before The Lord.