Hola Familia y Amigos!!
Well, this has been a pretty good week! Good news, we started meeting
Francisco and Elizabeth again this week, and we taught them everyday
this week besides last Monday! And they are doing well. It appears
they are back to living together, and that their relationship is
improving. They still have some struggles reading and praying often,
but we've been working with them about that. We moved their date to
the 13 of September to give them some time and also so that it would
match up with other baptisms in the branch. I truly believe it's very
possible for them to make that date, they just need to receive an
answer that this is the true church through reading and praying about
the Book of Mormon. They already have an answer of some sort because
they come to Church every Sunday now basically, they just need even
more of an answer.
Anyways, besides that we've been doing pretty well, we haven't had
much of anything else exciting going on. I just wanted to share some
thoughts I've been having lately based on what I feel I need, and also
based on some thoughts I've been having about what I would share with
someone about to go on a mission (cough cough Brendan (= ). Anyways,
I've been thinking a lot about living the Gospel, being obedient, and
being purified. I really liked a letter that Hermana Fredrickson (one
of the hermanas in my MTC district, who, yes, is now home, stop the
trunky comments right there.) sent back to the mission that talked
about how we must live, and love, the Gospel as missionaries to be
able to have the power to teach that to others and have them feel the
Spirit with what we share. With that of course comes obedience, the
first law of heaven. Many missionaries I feel miss the simple
connection that while sometimes our obedience, even to the many and
varied rules for missionaries, seems to lack a direct correlation to
the missionary work that happens, it does have a direct correlation to
the degree to which the Spirit is with us and testifies of our words.
That brings me to the last part, being purified. There is a
talk/letter/thing that some missionaries have that tells about a
missionary that recognized he was missing something, some degree of
the Spirit. He wasn't a bad missionary, or "OC", or "disobedient", but
as he came to realize he did lack a level of purity in himself that
restricted the Spirit. He shares that he came to have that level of
purity through a 40 day "fast" from the things that, even though they
may be small, detract from the Spirit. I've been trying to do this,
just recognize the things that detract from the Spirit, no matter how
small and "insignificant" they may be, and have the humility to change
them and eliminate them from myself so that I might be guided by the
Spirit in the highest degree possible. In all things, we must live and
love the Gospel, be obedient, and purify ourselves if we are to
achieve the high potential we have in this life.
I love y'all and I've got to go now, but I hope y'all have a great
Labor Day party at the lake and a great week!
-Elder Whitaker
Well, this has been a pretty good week! Good news, we started meeting
Francisco and Elizabeth again this week, and we taught them everyday
this week besides last Monday! And they are doing well. It appears
they are back to living together, and that their relationship is
improving. They still have some struggles reading and praying often,
but we've been working with them about that. We moved their date to
the 13 of September to give them some time and also so that it would
match up with other baptisms in the branch. I truly believe it's very
possible for them to make that date, they just need to receive an
answer that this is the true church through reading and praying about
the Book of Mormon. They already have an answer of some sort because
they come to Church every Sunday now basically, they just need even
more of an answer.
Anyways, besides that we've been doing pretty well, we haven't had
much of anything else exciting going on. I just wanted to share some
thoughts I've been having lately based on what I feel I need, and also
based on some thoughts I've been having about what I would share with
someone about to go on a mission (cough cough Brendan (= ). Anyways,
I've been thinking a lot about living the Gospel, being obedient, and
being purified. I really liked a letter that Hermana Fredrickson (one
of the hermanas in my MTC district, who, yes, is now home, stop the
trunky comments right there.) sent back to the mission that talked
about how we must live, and love, the Gospel as missionaries to be
able to have the power to teach that to others and have them feel the
Spirit with what we share. With that of course comes obedience, the
first law of heaven. Many missionaries I feel miss the simple
connection that while sometimes our obedience, even to the many and
varied rules for missionaries, seems to lack a direct correlation to
the missionary work that happens, it does have a direct correlation to
the degree to which the Spirit is with us and testifies of our words.
That brings me to the last part, being purified. There is a
talk/letter/thing that some missionaries have that tells about a
missionary that recognized he was missing something, some degree of
the Spirit. He wasn't a bad missionary, or "OC", or "disobedient", but
as he came to realize he did lack a level of purity in himself that
restricted the Spirit. He shares that he came to have that level of
purity through a 40 day "fast" from the things that, even though they
may be small, detract from the Spirit. I've been trying to do this,
just recognize the things that detract from the Spirit, no matter how
small and "insignificant" they may be, and have the humility to change
them and eliminate them from myself so that I might be guided by the
Spirit in the highest degree possible. In all things, we must live and
love the Gospel, be obedient, and purify ourselves if we are to
achieve the high potential we have in this life.
I love y'all and I've got to go now, but I hope y'all have a great
Labor Day party at the lake and a great week!
-Elder Whitaker