Windy and gray today. This past week was sunny and hot though. One of the days was about 85 and it was stinkin' hot. Supposed to have lots of rain and thunderstorms throughout this week. That rarely happens though so we will see. The rain makes biking around not so fun and if its really bad we have to stay in, so hopefully it doesn't get to that point.
Exciting news first! I will tell the whole story of Jason and Pang. Sis. P, a member, had her neighbor ask her for a bible because she wanted to learn about Christianity. Sis. P calls us and asks for a bible and a bom to give to her neighbor. It doesn't work out but the neighbor does eventually get the bible and the bom. We keep trying by to meet them with no luck. Eventually one evening we knock on their door and a lady answers and says the only reason she answered was because Sis. P's daughters were at her house and they said they knew who we were. We ask her if we could come by and teach her sometime and she says yes and we set up a time. This is rare so we go back thinking the appointment might fall through. It doesn't and not only is Pang there, but her husband is as well, Jason. They invite us in and we teach the restoration. They have so many questions and comments that it lasts about an hour and a half. We set up another appointment and then we go our way. The next appointment we go back and ask if they had read the bom. They say they read it the moment we left so they forgot what it was about but they did read it! We read a little more from the bom with them and then set up another appointment. For some reason we ended up stopping by before our appointment and their daughters came out and we asked if they wanted to join us for the next lesson and Pang says no pretty defensively. We end up going back for the next lesson and it goes great. We set up another appointment and go back and they ask the kids if they want to join and they say yes. She even says it would be ok if we brought someone with us. We keep inviting them to church each visit but they keep saying no they are interested in this other church they are going to, but they would come to ours soon. We meet a couple more times and then finally they say yes we will be there on Sunday! For all three hours of church; pretty rare. They came yesterday and there was some impressive heavenly help and power. Everything ended up being perfect for them. The hymns that were sung, the people that bore testimony, the comments during class that were made, the topics for the lessons, etc. I can not think of a better first church experience. Me and Elder Camire had been praying that their first experience would be good and Heavenly Father pulled through. No surprise there. It was one of the best fast and testimony meetings I have ever been in. We have an appointment this Wednesday with them and we will see what they want to do next. The only thing I can see getting in the way at this point is the natural man (like always right?). They see how much work and effort this will require, but pray that they will have the courage and faith to move forward!!!
The M family also wants to be baptized! That's another member referral. They are planning on getting baptized March 19th. They have the goal of getting sealed in the temple so that will help them continue on the path after baptism.
I cannot stress how important the BoM is in our journey through this life. It gives us faith in Jesus Christ and hope for the next life. It helps us move forward on the path to eternal life. If we choose to read it and apply its teachings, there is no way we can fail. It really is the keystone of our religion. So helping others read the bom is the best way to help strengthen their faith.
Last week we were walking around at night and Elder Camire had the prompting to knock on a certain door so we did. The lady answers, way nice, and says she has some service for us if we want to come by sometime and help. We say of course and go on our merry way. We went back this week and helped her load some junk in her backyard into a trailer to be hauled off. But she has family that are members that live really close. Probably not a coincidence that we knocked on her door. That was a cool thing. She invited us back this week to help her with something else. Hopefully as we continue to help her her heart will be softened and we will be able to teach her about the restored gospel.
Also had exchanges with one of my old companions this week, Elder Shipley. What are the odds of that happening? We were in this area together as companions about 4 months ago and then he went to SA. Then he came back into my district and he comes and has exchanges in the area he started in. Funny. It was a fun day. We played the "Who-will-recognize-me-game." Some people did, some people didn't. We had this grand plan in WR ward to have a game night so people in the ward had an activity to invite their friends to. We went and handed out fliers with Bro. R, our ward mission leader that night. It was fun to have the gang back together. Never saw that coming. We tried to hand each person 2 fliers so they would have one to give to a friend. Everyone called us out on it, "oh you gave me two, I only need one." Another fun game to play.
We had the WR game night on Saturday. It would of been really good, but only like 30 people came. It was fun for the 30 people that came, but we had a lot more stuff put together for a much bigger crowd. We did end up getting some less active members there and a few non-members so it was successful for that alone. We had a game show with 3 families who had their dad go out and then the families were asked questions and they would have to answer the questions the way their dad would. They then had the dads come back and see how close the families were. It was pretty funny. We also got to play games for about an hour so hey, can't complain there.
We also helped a lady named Maria get all the leaves out of her yard. She is a funny woman. We went by the B family to share a quick message, Maria is Bro. B's sister and he told us that if we needed groceries she needed leaves raked. As soon as we leave she texted us. We went over and raked all her leaves and she is buying us groceries. We do all sorts of random stuff for her, but only because the mom is interested in meeting with us. We have a plan, hopefully this service thing really works. The whole family has taken the discussions in the past but had concerns with some of the commandments and Joseph Smith.
I wonder if it just pains Heavenly Father to know that some of His children won't choose to return to Him. We actually learn that it does in Moses 7. Enoch sees God weeping and Enoch asks how and why? God explains that He has given us knowledge but we still refuse to choose Him. It reminds me of Jacob 5 when the Lord of the vineyard says what more could I have done for my vineyard? It must just pain Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, and the HG to know the people they serve 24/7 don't choose them. It also makes me think about how much they are doing for us all the time. Whenever they can bless us, they do it; whenever they can help us, they do. But no matter how much They do for us, they will never choose for us; that's our job. Makes me think of Laman and Lemual. They were given everything they needed to be successful. They saw angels, had a prophet as a dad and brothers, were totally led by the Lord every step of their journey, but they used their agency to not choose the Lord. We have all these things that God has given us that testify of Him and His plan of Redemption, but He will not force us to comply to His plan. That decision must be made by us. And knowing that some of us won't choose His way back to Him must bring at least some uncomfortable feelings even to a God.
This leads right back to faith! Faith is the force that moves us to action. No faith, no action; no faith, we will not choose God. I'm sure some apostle has expressed this a lot better than I have. If you find something on this topic or know of something, let me know.
I'm not God, but it pains me when people choose not to choose the path of life. I love the teachings of the BoM prophets. They all teach us of the resurrection and the consequences for our choices. Abinidi teaches us that if we do good works we will be resurrected to endless life and happiness. If they are bad, to endless damnation. Good works are done through following Jesus Christ. As we follow Christ, we are choosing the path of life. It all takes faith, and Heavenly Father helps us every step of the way. I know these teachings are true because I know the BoM is true.
So much to think about. We can think for a lifetime and learn very little compared to God. I can think all I want but I don't think I will ever figure out how to speak and have the elements obey my voice and put themselves into a world where life can happen. I don't think I will ever learn how to speak and create a human (Jacob 4:8-9). Not going to happen. Patience right? Lots to learn.
Anyways, good week. Good life. Love you!
Sincerely,
Elder Christensen
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