Hello Family that is mine!
K this week has been crazzzy, but it's going to be really hard for me to remember everything i need to tell you. To explain a little bit about why time feels so weird, I'll give you an example: I could not tell you a single thing I ate yesterday, or a single thing that was unique to our class, even though I know it was really funny, and super duper spectacular. I'm totally used to the scedule here now, and all of the crazy things we do everyday, so I get it just gets melted into one big blob in my brain. I honestly probably won't be able to remember most of what has happened here short of looking at my journal. Therefore, good principle of life: Journals are really important to write down the spiritual experiences we all have every day so that we can continue to build our testiomies on the foundation that is already there and is much more available when you use a journal.
So my week, started last thursday night as it was just my companionship in class (because the othere 2 guys are zone leaders and had a meeting :) and it was awesome. Slightly sad because that is one of the last times we'll get to teach, and be taught by brother Gardener because he's quitting once school starts (which unless I'm mistaken is starting or has already started for most of you) It was way cool to have extra time to teach him and we used it. We ended up having a whole lesson in Norwegian for almost an hour. It was crazy how much we could say with our limited vocabulary. Then me and Elder Badger sang Norsk songs for like an hour :) it was super fun. Friday we were all a little stressed for TRC. It's hard to teach you teachers, but it's even harder to just walk into a room with people you don't even know and try to talk to them in a language you barely know. But I think we did our best to prepare and just went for it. Oh man. I don't think I've ever been more happy about anything I as have been here. As a missionary especially ( though this applies to everyone ) you rely so much on faith to know what to do and say, and trust that you'll be able to understand what everyone else is talking about. The first teach was 20 minutes to three guys who were super cool, and even though one of my companions used a scripture that we hadn't really planned on using, I was able to understand what was read, and found another verse in ether that totally tied in with what he was trying to say. (Btw we were teaching how to recieve Revelation through the Book of Mormon and why that is so important for us as members of the church, oh, heh. and you're trying to teach RM's who have about 2 years of experience on you, little stressful maybe? :) The second group was really my favorite though. We started talking about things and our favorite scriptures, and literally I felt like I was having a legit conversation about their favorite scriptures, and how those had affected my life and how it had affected theirs. I tied it into another couple of key points and, yeeaah. I dunno. It was just incredible to really feel like I was having a conversation with someone else after little more than a month. The really cool part though was just an answer to my prayer that even though I was new and inexperienced, I could still help these people grow their testimonies in Jesus Christ. Chris, one of the guys in the second room was way cool, and as I was talking with him, I felt promted to commit him to something that we handn't planned into our lesson at all. I don't even really remember what I said, but I know that I said exactly as the spirit had prompted me and the joy that I felt by becoming a vessel of the Lord to help him tell someone else what He need them to do was really quite spectacular.
The second cool thing, was another of the Lords tender mercies to help me know that he was there to support me and help me every step of the way. On sunday mornings we had a ton of time to just study the scriptures on our own. Normally I do just fine but this time, my emotional state was pretty shot. There were some questions asked by our teachers that I was trying so hard to understand, and to understand what the Lord was trying to tell me with agency, and conversion, and my part in all of this. I think I've mentioned that we practice on the most part on Atheists (except for TRC, they're members) and it's really taken me deep into my testimony of why I do what I do and why I even looked for it in the first place. So sunday morning, I was struggling to stay awake, and as hard as I tried, I just couldn't seem to get anything out of it. The day continued as such, with me just trying to keep positive, and keep going even though I guess I was angry at myself because I felt I should be doing better. In sacrament meeting however, I had an incredible experience. I have no Idea what my branch president said. But I remember sitting there and recieving revalation through pretty much the entire meeting. All the scriptures I had read that morning in Mosiah 18, and Ether, and Nephi 2, just started to fit together in my head and make sense. It wasn't like some big woa, but everything was suddenly so much better. I still have no idea how to help these people. But, I'm getting closer to the answers that i'm looking for. Our teachers said on saturday that they know that they are putting a lot of pressure on us, but I also feel like I improve so much faster because of it as long as I keep positive! ( Which this week, I think I was bothering some of the other peoople because I was so happy all the time)
I end with my testimony that I know, if we press forward with a steadfast faith in Christ, we will succeed. Life is to be enjoyed. Even when it's hard there is so much to look forward too and so much that the lord has given us that we should take advatage of. I know that He lives. I love my family to death! I pray for each of you! Like Nephi, I pray with all the energy of my heart that you will all be happy, and find success as you trust in the love of our Heavenly Father.
Eldste Christopher Whetten
P.S (pardon my rapid typing mistakes :)
No comments:
Post a Comment