Howdy Everyone!
I have said this quite a bit, but this week is very similar
to last week. On the bright side though we have not had any more car problems
this week!! That has been very nice to not have to worry about. Every time we
think we get close to finalizing transfers it seems like we have some other
problem that comes up. And if it isn't problems that need to be fixed then it
seems to be different meetings that we have to get done. This has helped me so
much to rely on the atonement of Christ more fully.
On Tuesday I went to my first MLC as an assistant. So
usually at MLC I would come and listen to the training that was presented. But
now my companion and I help President present the training to the zone leaders
and the sister training leaders. So in preparation for it we met with President
the night before to discuss the plans on how we would go about the meeting.
President ended up training on becoming master teachers.
So he took a lot of
time and emphasized how during our teaching we need to be using more questions
to help the people we teach become the testifier. If we can ask direct
questions that help them to ponder on what we are teaching, it will give the
Holy Ghost a chance to teach them. It was such a great training.
Following that
part of the training we talked about working with members and how to help
members with there missionary work by using this master teaching technique. Working
with members is so important to us as missionaries! And it is the Lords way of
hastening his work. You play such a huge part in bringing people into the
Gospel! I hope you understand that. If you do understand that it should be
evident by you praying daily for missionary opportunities. And after praying
for missionary opportunities you should be acting upon the prompting you
receive! I know that if you promise the Lord you will do this then he will help
you know exactly what you need to say. But he can only tell you what to say if
you open your mouth and talk with those around you.
Wednesday we had our new leadership training.
And overall that went pretty well. We just helped train the newly called
leaders in the mission understand what is expected of them. That training went
a good part of the morning. Later on that afternoon we were asked to come to a
lesson with another set of missionaries for a hand off lesson. They had an
investigator that got baptized this last week that wants to start coming to the
singles ward, so they invited us to come and meet him so he knows someone when
he goes.
The missionaries after introducing us began to teach out of Enos. They
were doing all the talking, and not giving the investigator a chance to talk.
There came a point where they handed the discussion off on to us, and then
Elder Hillebrant and I started using the master teacher approach we had just
been trained on, and we saw so many miracles! Like that was one of the best
lessons we have been apart of so far in our companionship. When we really
focused on using inspired and direct questions, it did give the spirit a chance
to teach him. And it was much easier to overcome his concerns because the
spirit taught him exactly what he needed to do! It was such a great lesson. We
were able to use the master teacher approach a couple more times that day.
Thursday
We had a day of doing finishing the bed route. We drove to
parts of the mission to deliver beds to different missionaries. We got back
close to 5, and then we ended up going to institute that night with Kyle. And
he loved it! We talked a lot about the articles of faith, and we got into the
doctrine behind each one.
Friday
We were on our way out to Katy to go to there zone meeting.
We went to check and see how the training was coming across for one of the
zones for master teaching. It was a pretty good zone meeting. We went and
talked them about things that went well, and just followed up on what they
needed to do to stay on top of the goals and commitments they left with the
zone.
Saturday.
Saturday I ended up waking up sick. I am sure you have heard
before where maybe college students prepare for there finals and study super
hard, and then after there finals are over they get sick. I think this is kinda
what happened to me. I think that after all of these things piling up one after
the other for the past couple weeks really took a toll on my immune system. So
Saturday and Sunday were kinda difficult for me.
Now I don't mention this to
try and get sympathy. I mention this because of the fact that this is an
example of me having to rely on the strengthening atonement of Jesus
Christ. I remember on Saturday I woke up and felt like I had been hit by a bus.
I rolled out of bed, and just prayed so hard that I would be able to have the
strength to be able to accomplish the work we needed to do that day. I have
used this reference before, but Mosiah 24:15 the people are praying and asking
for strength, and the lord answers there prayers and gives them the strength.
It doesn't say in there that he takes the burdens away.
That day of missionary
work was still very hard for me because of how I felt, but I have a strong
testimony that it was because of the enabling power of the atonement that I was
able to make it through the day. The Lord gave me the strength to do it. That
night I got home and just was so grateful for the fact that I was able to
accomplish the things that I needed to that day. I promise that this is true
for all of us. In life we have struggles, or go through hard or difficult
times. And it won't always be easy. But I KNOW that if we rely on the Lord and
Plead for his help, he will give us the strength to accomplish the things we
need to. It will still be hard, but he will help ease your burdens. I promise
that to you!
To finish off the week, we had a great time at
church as always! But that night we were able to have a great meeting with
Kyle. We met over at one of the stake centers in our area. He will actually
receiving the priesthood today, so we talked with him about that. But we wanted
to help him see more fully the life of Joseph Smith. So we watched part of the
Prophet of the Restoration Movie. And that movie brings so much of the spirit!
If you want to have a great spiritual experience, then watch the movie. It was
such a great discussion.
Kyle kept stopping us at parts and asking questions
and making comments. It was so cool! At the end we asked him what he thought.
He explained that he felt like he was hit with a spiritual defibrillator! He
just kept getting more and more excited! We defiantly also felt the spirit, and
both of us were just pumped to go out and work!! It was the perfect way to
finish off this week.
Awesome Lesson with Kyle
Like I said, parts of the week were hard, but because of the
Lord I have been able to accomplish the things that he would have me do. I know
and testify that if you feel like your are struggling with trials or with doing
missionary work or anything, take time and pray to our Father in Heaven for
strength. He will bless you and help you! I know that to be true because I have
seen his hand in my life, and especially our here on my mission. The reason I
have seen his hand more in my life on my mission is because I have had to rely
on him so much more fully. He wants to help us, we just need to let him
help us. I know that to be true.
I know parts of that were very repetitious, but repetition
is the law of learning so it was good. :)
I hope y'all have a wonderful week!
Elder Joshua V. Christensen
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