Week 26. Work is going great

 I never know how to start these things. I hope you’re having a great week. Here's the highlights of mine:

District Council- it was pretty fire, Elder Carter taught on the talk "None were with Him"  and it was super awesome talking about it. 

Institute - we talked about repentance and so this combined with DC and a paper I wrote on the atonement will be my spiritual thought for the week. 

Windsor/Kyra - So we went over for dinner and they had invited a non member friend over. Because of the small children we had prepared a short lesson about trusting in God. We blindfolded the 4 year old and led him around. It was so funny as Elder Moake led him and we all shouted for him to turn around. It was good. Later S. Windsor said that Kyra would like to learn more so we went back and taught the first lesson and it was awesome. This area is getting pretty awesome and transfers are coming up so it's going to be scary. 

Painted- we painted a room and then I realized that I had also been painting my clothes. Luckily they are just for service 

FHE - we were asked to give an hour lesson to single adults with 2 days notice and a full schedule.  So hopefully that goes well tonight.

Mardi Gras - So the Hymas' put on this party and make lots of gumbo. Lots of people were invited and lots of food was made. They even had a "make your own mask" table. While everyone started to eat I was still at that table trying to make a mask. I thought it turned out pretty great.

Taira - we are teaching her the lessons again as a member and her grand daughters were there too so that's awesome. Then they came to the Mardi Gras and so we are just going to keep involving them and start teaching the family. But the coolest thing is that she is currently working on getting Sundays off and wasn't able to get this last one off. But she took her lunch break so she could come and take the sacrament. I just couldn't stop smiling. I am so grateful that God let me be a part of that because I know that He did all the work.

So I didn't write the best of notes and I may have already shared something similar but we will always have trials in our lives and there will be a time where we might feel worthless but salvation is not based on our perfection, but on our becoming. Jesus Christ suffered for our sins, they are already paid for, you already have a ticket to Heaven. The only condition is trying to become like the Savior, trying to be better than you were yesterday. And as you pray and ask for His help you can use the enabling power of the Atonement. Which means He will help you! He has paid the whole price and is willing to help you do the work required. I think that is so amazing and the only thing that can stop us from receiving this everyday is ourselves. 

I have been my own stumbling block before. Worse, instead of trying to change I just beat myself up for it. But now I know that God loves me more than my mistakes could ever ruin, I know that He loves you too and that if you aren't feeling it right now all you have to do is get on your knees and pray. I have a strong testimony of that and I know that having an eternal and all powerful being in your corner can change your perspective on everything. I hope you can all come to that same knowledge too. 

Have a great week, I love ya all

picture.  my goal to take more is not going good

Week 25. Baptizing Nations and fighting Satan

 First off, so sorry to all those who tried watching the zoom link but it didn't work. It turns out the baptism didn't start until an hour later. Keep reading to find out why...

Highlights:

Last p-day - we were at Fort Casey and the Zls and Stls came. We played a bit of sports but mainly infection tag and it was so fun. It was so fun with more people and I ended up winning the first round! It was so awesome. 

Wednesday - we had interviews today and then right after we had district council on our mission calls. It was super cool to look at the wording used and blessings promised. Then that night we studied the Armageddon and got to teach it to a family. And that was super interesting to study too.

Amber - So she calls us a lot and always says thank you because she "knows we have busy schedules" but then Friday she kinda got mad that we wouldn't answer. But on Thursday she called and she was feeling really sad because of loss and I shared my testimony that the reason why we are on a mission is to help people like her realize the truth and that this is the plan of Happiness. She said she'd like to hear it and so we briefly explained the Plan of Happiness and she said thank you then bye and hung up. Haven't brought it back up  so tried inviting her to church on Saturday and she gave us excuses. So hopefully we got get something worked out between the Sisters so she talks to them. 

Sky and Fred - So we've been helping them once a week moving heavy stuff while they renovate their house and they promised that when their house was done they would come to church on a Sunday! So that will be so awesome!

Friday and the Baptism - okay here's the big one. So the night before we had a text that Taira wasn't feeling the best due to an unexpected miscarriage in her family. So I was kinda stressed the whole morning. Then we had a service and that helped get my mind off things. We were able to get in contact with her again and she had reached out to people in the ward and they had all helped her through it. I love this ward. 

So things were looking up, we were at this service and it was funny because the member who asked us to help her neighbor was taking the bags labeled as "trash" to donate to second hand shops. So the neighbor didn't even have to make a junk run because the member took everything  it was so funny and we even got a sword out of it!!!

Anyways so we got back home and was starting to get things together to go over to the church and make sure everything was going to go smoothly when we get a call from our ward mission leader. Our font is ancient and so he had filled it up the night before(about 3 hrs) and then turned on the pump to circulate the water and heat it. At 4:30 he had got to the church and found the font full of muddy water with sediment everywhere. This was 1 1/2 hrs before the baptism. 

So we were scrambling and I had the idea to move it to Oak Harbor and so we went with that. The Sisters started to fill up the font because theirs is more advanced and only takes an hour to fill with hot water. So we hurry and got ready and left and drove the 40 minutes and because of the change lots of people weren't able to come anymore, which was kinda sad. So I believe the font actually took closer to 2 hrs to fill and we ended up starting at 7. We had two great talks, one by a member and another by Elder Moake. She felt the Spirit and her family she brought also felt the Spirit, it was so awesome. Then we went into the font, and I baptized her in three feet of water. It was super awesome and I'm so glad she was prepared for us. We confirmed her the next day and it was the best.

We drive a lot and I listen to awesome music and a few songs that have been sticking out to me this week are about our divine identity and then in someone's weekly email there was a short video about our divine identity too and I thought it was amazing. So I just wanted to remind y'all that you matter and that you are all children of our Heavenly Father and He loves you so much. This is one of my new favorite songs and y'all should listen to it. It's called, Matter by For King and Country.

Sorry for the short spiritual thought but just know I love all of you and I know you all have the biggest potentials. Have a great week!!!

Week 24. Baptism this next week. Link coming soon

 Heyyyyyy. This weeks been pretty good. I learned some awesome stuff and did some awesome things. Here are some highlights:

Zone Conference - lots of driving and lots of sitting. It'll be weird when I get transferred and don't have to drive more than an hour just to get somewhere. But they talked about standing in holy places, and how we can make our own holy places anywhere we are at. It was pretty good. 

Temple Covenants - For District Council we talked about the covenants we make in the temple and what they really mean. It was a really cool discussion and there's this awesome resource on LDS.org you should all check out. 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/prophetic-teachings-on-temples?lang=eng

Amber - we got a online referral the other day and have chatted with her since. She just needs someone to talk to. Then she asked us if we could date and that was a red flag. So that was very funny. Hopefully the YSA sisters can get her to go to activities and find someone 

Member Baptism - So it turns out I didn't play the piano at the baptism,  but I do have I'm a child of God down so that's good. It was a really cool baptism and lots of their non-member friends showed up. Sadly, none took a book of Mormon. But Taira came so that was cool. 

Taira - So we had another lesson with her and taught the Plan of Salvation. It's so cool because I could tell that she wasn't getting some of it but the next day after she read the chapters we gave her, she texted us and asked us questions about other scriptures she had found to help her understand. It's so cool to see how much studying she does and how she knows this Gospel to be true. I can't wait till her baptism this Saturday!!!

It's going to be at 6pm PST. And I'll send the zoom link out hopefully today.

So I wanted to talk about consecration. I learned a lot from district council and I really liked what I learned about the law of consecration. For a bit I thought it was just giving up our time, talents, and resources; but that's the law of sacrifice. What I learned was that consecration is not giving stuff up.but dedicated it to the Lord. Giving it to Him so He can make it better and help make you better. 

2 weeks I talked about committing something to the Lord everyday and so after learning this I changed it to consecrating someone to the Lord and that as you do it and keep Him involved He can magnify your efforts. 

I love you all and I hope you can see the power of God in your life this week! Until next time...

Pictures

Week 23

 What's upppp? This week's been pretty good. Here are the highlights:

Michael- we talked with him over the phone and he sounds like a very cool dude. Hopefully we can meet with him soon.

Piano- So I've been practicing a bit before district council before we start and then this last one Elder Donaldson asks me to play the opening song. So I played Sweet Hour of Prayer with my right hand because my left hand wasn't to tempo yet and that was interesting. Then we have a member baptism this Friday and the mother asked if I could play so I stole the Elders Keyboard and I'm going to start practicing at night.

Hedricks- We met with them again, it's been a bit and so we talked for a bit and did come follow me with them and then invited them to take the temple prep classes so that they can finally go to the temple, and they agreed so that'll be awesome.

Zls- They came down to South Whidbey to pick up our mile sheet and see some of their members and so they stopped at our apartment and I cooked lunch for them. Made philly cheesesteaks, thanks mom.

Taira- We had another lesson with her, and brought new people with us. It's kinda funny that every lesson we have brought someone new but she is learning more people in the ward so that's great. Especially since we don't have a second hour in person so she can meet new people at church. But we went through the baptismal questions and taught her all the commandments. It was pretty awesome and she is so ready. Then at the end Elder Moake springs his question and asks her who she wants to baptize her and she said me. Not going to lie, it feels awesome. 

Sunday- So like three of the families that come just didn't and they make up like a third of the ward that comes and 90% of the young men. So it felt kinda empty, but I got to bless the sacrament so that was awesome. Then we visited a few people and had two lessons it was pretty awesome.

Today - We went to Ebey state park and messed around there. We found crabs, starfish, cool views and more. I'll probably attach more pictures next week as I don't take a lot.

***I'd like to apologize now, the spiritual thought got super long***

Spiritual thought for this week goes with a story a member told me. He really likes fishing and because he can't hear well and he likes to share he will randomly tell stories, and I really liked this one. 

There was a man fishing and he was surrounded by fog and couldn't see. But he didn't need to. He knew where the water was and he could feel if a fish ate his lure. And so not being able to go to shore due to the fog, the man kept fishing to no avail. It wasn't until the very end, right before the fog cleared up, that something jumped into the boat. And when the man could see it, it was a big salmon. 

Our lives are like that a lot. We have a mist of darkness we can't see through, but we do know what we should be doing: always striving to be like Jesus, be kind to others, and_____. And after a while we might get dejected because nothing is happening as we would like it to. But God is a loving God and He knows the effort you have put in and if you have stayed faithful and done your best, He will bless you. 

But before I end this I just wanted to say, to all of those who feel like they haven't done their best, who maybe didn't keep casting out the line, or maybe to those that were and just think that it wasn't enough... God loves YOU. He's not asking for the best, He's asking for your best. We sometimes compare ourselves unjustly. Whether it be to someone else, or maybe it's a high standard we have set ourselves. I have been there and I know how terrible it feels and how it doesn't help us grow. And so I invite each of you, especially those that feel this way, read the parable of the Laborer (Matthew 20:1-10). He doesn't care if you messed up earlier or started later than someone else. As long as you try each and everyday to be better than the day before. Sometimes you might take two steps back instead of a step forward, but that doesn't mean that tomorrow you can't a step forward. We often think worse about ourselves than God does of us. So please don't be the one to hold yourself back when the most loving and caring and powerful being, your Heavenly Father, is on your side. 

I hope that made sense and I hope you all know how much Iove you and how much more God loves you. Until next time... Pictures!