This last week was a pretty good week, and a lot has happened that has increased my own personal testimony. As I continue sharing miracles from each day I will touch upon some of the testimony builders that have occured this week.
First things first, Monday last week we met with Sam B in the morning to read the scriptures with him. What a difference the scriptures can make in your life. I finished the Book of Mormon again this week, and as I went through I was marking all of the references to Christ and his attributes. As we read with Sam I was again able to see how the Lord works as recorded in the scriptures, and recognize how he works in my own life. He is alive and well as they say. We met with Sam again that night and we started going over the Plan of Salvation. He has a real concern with the doctrine of the Fall, because he won't accept that it needed to happen for us to be here, and that it was part of God's plan. He said that the scriptures should build off each other, and each time reveal more. For example, the OT gives the account of the Fall, the NT teaches about the effects of the Fall(he was good till this point), and the Book of Mormon tells us why the Fall was necessary. There is also accounts of the Fall in D&C , and the Pearl of Great Price. He says it should be line upon line, but he won't accept the next line, because its not in the first line. He says one thing and believes another. Very frustrating, but over the course of my mission I have learned patience, and I am confident we can help him understand if he will allow us to. We will continue to pray for a softened heart.
Tuesday was a great day. The Silverton sisters called and told me that they weren't coming to district meeting, and they were giving the training and practice, and so I was left to put together an impromptu training on teaching when you find, and finding when you teach. I was able to share lots of experience from my time with Elder Lott where we really applied this principle, and saw the blessings. I know that when you teach a principle to every person you talk to, that the Spirit will touch them, and you will find more people to teach. I have seen it. I left the commitment with the district to apply that principle, and later that day I had the opportunity myself. We were looking for a less active member, and we talked to his athiest son. As we talked we got to know him a little, and then I bore my testimony of God, and how anyone who will may find out the truth of whether or not God is really their, and I invited him to pray. It was a neat opportunity to bear testimony, and invite to act.
Wednesday we spent some time preparing for ward council, including making a master list for the ward mission process. WE now have 164 names to select from, and we hope to be able to keep pushing this process forward. Our WML has been doing a great job of bringing it up, and explaining what we want from it. He is a great help. We also took the time to update the area book and to write down a list of supplies that we need. That night we saw Sister Haws, a LA in the ward, and we talked with her and her roomate Liz about the Church. Liz is a very strong Catholic, and a very opinionated New Yorker, and she started off a little arguementative. We started asking questions, and by the end we had accomplished several things, one, we learned more about the Catholic church, two, we were able to set up a return appointment to teach her and she aggreed to come to church with us, and three, we dispelled the contention, and brought the Spirit. It was a really cool example of the power of questions.
Thursday we had our annual lesson with the Walkers, and she told us that she had been given an assignment in RS, and would be coming to church to fulfill that assignment. After our lesson Elder Mohler had a flat tire, and we had to walk the rest of the week. We tried to patch with no avail. We stopped by at the Lalliss, and were able to pump it up enough to get home, being drenched in the rain as we did so. The miracle here is that we had Ethan with us, and he still wants to come out with us after being soaked like he was.
Friday we had an exchange with the Woodburn 2nd elders. I was with Elder Marchant, and let me tell you that he has a heart of gold. He is a wonderful, caring missionary, with a great desire for the work. He is also very quiet. It was a little humorous watching him try and talk to some of the elderly members in the ward. They couldn't here anything he said, even when he was trying to be loud. We had a great day together. We were able to do some service with Marcia, and answer a few more of her questions. It seems that she is hesitant to learning more, and we weren't able to teach a full lesson. Hopefully we will be able to in the future.
Saturday we were able to do some service with Sister Haws, we painted her house, and I was able to fix her sprinkler system. We also received a couple of referrals which we contacted that day. The first one, Virginia didn't seem to interested, and asked if someone sent us there. We left our number with an offer for service, but it didn't look to promising. The other was her brother Don. We stopped by and talked with him, and he was a lot friendlier. His wife had just died, but he seemed to be taking it well. We talked with him for a while, but he was content with where he was at, it had been working for him for 91 years, why change? It is sad to see that kind of attitude, but the only thing that I can think of is that I hope he will be able to receive it on the other side.
Sunday was a great day. In sacrament we learned about standing in holy places, and I realized that standing in a holy place isn't always about where you are as much as it is what you are doing. By your righteous actions you can make any place a holy place. Also we learned about ministering. To minister is to show simple acts of kindness and an example of righteousness, and to take care of others spiritual and temporal needs. Also learned a few good things about parenting again, including the importance of teaching by example, and making sure they know the why, and not just forcing them to do. It reminded me of 1 Nephi 3:7. Nephi went and did BECAUSE he knew. If we teach the reason, they will want to do the thing, the same is true with investigators. Also I liked this line from one of the hymns. Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law. What a truth. As we obey we receive more freedom, as we disobey we get the full plate of what Satan has to offer, which is no more that misery, captivity, and death.
Thats what I have to say about this week. I am enjoying my time with Elder Mohler. He is a fun, and personable guy. He has a desire to do better, and I hope that I will be able to help him grow as my companions have helped me. I've been thinking about things I've learned from companions, and I came up with these things:
Fannin-have fun, and work hard, or don't.
Davidson-the importance of members
Fifita-obedience and patience
Awtry-the importance of a companionship in missionary work
Crockett-obedience, hard work
Lott-patience, obedience, faith, diligence
Pugmire-vision to baptize
First things first, Monday last week we met with Sam B in the morning to read the scriptures with him. What a difference the scriptures can make in your life. I finished the Book of Mormon again this week, and as I went through I was marking all of the references to Christ and his attributes. As we read with Sam I was again able to see how the Lord works as recorded in the scriptures, and recognize how he works in my own life. He is alive and well as they say. We met with Sam again that night and we started going over the Plan of Salvation. He has a real concern with the doctrine of the Fall, because he won't accept that it needed to happen for us to be here, and that it was part of God's plan. He said that the scriptures should build off each other, and each time reveal more. For example, the OT gives the account of the Fall, the NT teaches about the effects of the Fall(he was good till this point), and the Book of Mormon tells us why the Fall was necessary. There is also accounts of the Fall in D&C , and the Pearl of Great Price. He says it should be line upon line, but he won't accept the next line, because its not in the first line. He says one thing and believes another. Very frustrating, but over the course of my mission I have learned patience, and I am confident we can help him understand if he will allow us to. We will continue to pray for a softened heart.
Tuesday was a great day. The Silverton sisters called and told me that they weren't coming to district meeting, and they were giving the training and practice, and so I was left to put together an impromptu training on teaching when you find, and finding when you teach. I was able to share lots of experience from my time with Elder Lott where we really applied this principle, and saw the blessings. I know that when you teach a principle to every person you talk to, that the Spirit will touch them, and you will find more people to teach. I have seen it. I left the commitment with the district to apply that principle, and later that day I had the opportunity myself. We were looking for a less active member, and we talked to his athiest son. As we talked we got to know him a little, and then I bore my testimony of God, and how anyone who will may find out the truth of whether or not God is really their, and I invited him to pray. It was a neat opportunity to bear testimony, and invite to act.
Wednesday we spent some time preparing for ward council, including making a master list for the ward mission process. WE now have 164 names to select from, and we hope to be able to keep pushing this process forward. Our WML has been doing a great job of bringing it up, and explaining what we want from it. He is a great help. We also took the time to update the area book and to write down a list of supplies that we need. That night we saw Sister Haws, a LA in the ward, and we talked with her and her roomate Liz about the Church. Liz is a very strong Catholic, and a very opinionated New Yorker, and she started off a little arguementative. We started asking questions, and by the end we had accomplished several things, one, we learned more about the Catholic church, two, we were able to set up a return appointment to teach her and she aggreed to come to church with us, and three, we dispelled the contention, and brought the Spirit. It was a really cool example of the power of questions.
Thursday we had our annual lesson with the Walkers, and she told us that she had been given an assignment in RS, and would be coming to church to fulfill that assignment. After our lesson Elder Mohler had a flat tire, and we had to walk the rest of the week. We tried to patch with no avail. We stopped by at the Lalliss, and were able to pump it up enough to get home, being drenched in the rain as we did so. The miracle here is that we had Ethan with us, and he still wants to come out with us after being soaked like he was.
Friday we had an exchange with the Woodburn 2nd elders. I was with Elder Marchant, and let me tell you that he has a heart of gold. He is a wonderful, caring missionary, with a great desire for the work. He is also very quiet. It was a little humorous watching him try and talk to some of the elderly members in the ward. They couldn't here anything he said, even when he was trying to be loud. We had a great day together. We were able to do some service with Marcia, and answer a few more of her questions. It seems that she is hesitant to learning more, and we weren't able to teach a full lesson. Hopefully we will be able to in the future.
Saturday we were able to do some service with Sister Haws, we painted her house, and I was able to fix her sprinkler system. We also received a couple of referrals which we contacted that day. The first one, Virginia didn't seem to interested, and asked if someone sent us there. We left our number with an offer for service, but it didn't look to promising. The other was her brother Don. We stopped by and talked with him, and he was a lot friendlier. His wife had just died, but he seemed to be taking it well. We talked with him for a while, but he was content with where he was at, it had been working for him for 91 years, why change? It is sad to see that kind of attitude, but the only thing that I can think of is that I hope he will be able to receive it on the other side.
Sunday was a great day. In sacrament we learned about standing in holy places, and I realized that standing in a holy place isn't always about where you are as much as it is what you are doing. By your righteous actions you can make any place a holy place. Also we learned about ministering. To minister is to show simple acts of kindness and an example of righteousness, and to take care of others spiritual and temporal needs. Also learned a few good things about parenting again, including the importance of teaching by example, and making sure they know the why, and not just forcing them to do. It reminded me of 1 Nephi 3:7. Nephi went and did BECAUSE he knew. If we teach the reason, they will want to do the thing, the same is true with investigators. Also I liked this line from one of the hymns. Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law. What a truth. As we obey we receive more freedom, as we disobey we get the full plate of what Satan has to offer, which is no more that misery, captivity, and death.
Thats what I have to say about this week. I am enjoying my time with Elder Mohler. He is a fun, and personable guy. He has a desire to do better, and I hope that I will be able to help him grow as my companions have helped me. I've been thinking about things I've learned from companions, and I came up with these things:
Fannin-have fun, and work hard, or don't.
Davidson-the importance of members
Fifita-obedience and patience
Awtry-the importance of a companionship in missionary work
Crockett-obedience, hard work
Lott-patience, obedience, faith, diligence
Pugmire-vision to baptize
I am truly grateful for all of the companions that I have had, and for what I've learned form each of them. Iv'e been amazed at some of the qualities that I have now, that I never would have expected. The list really includes much more than what I mentioned, but this will do.
Yes I did get the package, I thought I told you, but guess not. The pants are being hemmed, and hopefully I will be able to wear them soon. Today I realized that the crotch on my gray suit is coming undone, a little embarassing to say the least.
Love Elder Schultz
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