I love how the Lord used that symbol
as well. I've thought a lot about that. If you think about how the
temple is where we go to feel closer to the Lord, its so true. In a
sense, the Temple is a Terrestial place for two reasons. 1. If the savior
were to appear to the prophet, apostles, or anyone, he would most
likely show himself in the Temple and 2.The adversary cannot and will
not enter therein. So thus we are free from the influence of the
adversary when we are worthy and valiant in attending the temple and
honoring the covenants we make there. That's why it is necessary that we
are worthy to go and participate in the ordinances there. If we are
not, the influence of the adversary will take hold more than we thought
possible. That's probably why those people who have entered into the
Temple, made covenants and then fallen away are so hostile to the Church
and specifically the ordinances we perform in the Temple. It is truly a
higher plane than the world in which we live in today. I just thought
you would find that parallel interesting.
I
heard that that was happening! Man, I would love to have been there to
experience it. I hope one day I will be able to be present at a Temple
Dedication. That is so cool! Elder Oaks is just
amazing. I'm so excited to hear what he has to say at G-Conf. I'm just
all around excited for General Conference. We get spiritual revelation
to help the people we work with, and we don't have to wear our suit
coats to proselyte anymore (...well, 'til October Conference)! It's so
awesome!!
This week has been equally good if
not better than last! So many amazing things are happening in this ward.
We have a baptism on Saturday for a kid named Sonny B. He's
either 12 or 13, but his Mom is a returning member. She is awesome. We
are so excited for him to get baptized. We have a baptism 2 weeks from
Saturday for a girl named Tara Foster. She is solid! She knows she wants
to be baptized. She lived up in Ogden when she was 9 to when she was
like 11. She never got baptized even though her foster parents were
members. She decided she wanted it to be her decision. So 16 years later,
she wants to be baptized. She has been coming to church, but only
staying for sacrament the past few weeks. We invited her to stay tor Sunday
School and Relief Society yesterday and she did. She left before we
could ask her how she felt and how it went. We have a lesson with her on
Wednesday, so we are hoping that she recognizes the importance of
Church.
We found a new investigator named
Virgil K We were getting out of our truck to go tract, and he was
the one that walked up to us and started asking us questions! He was is
the land lord for the group of trailers that we were going to knock. He
said he has been having family and friends push him to become a member.
He said he has thought about becoming a member, but wasn't sure if it
was the right thing to do. We asked him if he had read the Book of
Mormon, he said he hadn't but he had heard a lot about it. We asked if
he wanted a copy and he said he did. We wrote our Names, Emails, and the
date we gave him the book at his request. He told us to give him a call
and set up a time to stop by. We are excited to work with him.
Last
evening, we had a visit with the Second Counselor of the Bishopric. We
asked what we needed to do better to increase the conversion of the
ward. He said that all of the members in the ward need to have
Christlike love for everyone else. If we could not stand the thought of
any being lost to the adversary as in the case of the sons of Mosiah,
this ward would be better off. It was a pretty cool thought, and I agree
wholeheartedly. That's what this ward needs.
We
have a semi less active guy named Marcus that we are working with. He's
Sonny's uncle. He was baptized a year ago, and he want's to get to the
Temple. He has sincere drive and desire to do what's right. He's in the
process of building a handicap ramp for a guy in a wheelchair. He didn't
finish on Saturday, so he needed to carry it into Sunday.
He knew he needed to be to church, but the guy was stranded in his
house. He came to sacrament meeting and left right after to go and
finish the ramp. He is just a good guy. We are excited for him
Elder
Brurud and I told ourselves that we were going to work our butts off
and that we were going to more than 20 lessons in this last week. Guess
what... We got 22 lessons. That's pretty hard to do on the reservation,
especially in our area because it's so spread out, but we did it! Man...
he and I are EXHAUSTED. We were so happy to exceed a pretty high goal
that we set for ourselves. We were talking the other night about how the
exhaustion we are feeling is not a bad exhaustion, but it's the kind of
rewarding exhaustion. Last week was a dead sprint. We are pumped revved
and ready to go for this week. Last week did have it's moments when we
were pretty discouraged, but we just remembered what Heleman said to
Nephi and Lehi. Helaman 5:12.
We thought, if we focus more on how we need to come more unto Christ,
than we shouldn't feel discouraged. That's exactly what happened. The
moment we realized that, is the moment where we got our butts in gear,
kicked it in to overdrive, and made our goal. The Lord has blessed us so
much this last week. He has great things in store for the people here
in Shiprock.
I
aim to work even harder this week. I used to be apprehensive about
knocking on strangers doors, but the more I do it, the more I love it.
Same thing with talking to Adlaniis, or Glaniis, (Drunks). I am now to
the point of feeling the way Christ feels for people. I understand how
he feels when people break the commandments.
Hope everything else is going well!
We have a lesson in a few minutes, so I have to go. I love you.
Hagoonee'
Elder B.
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