Family!
This week has been a little slow, teaching wise.
A lot of our appointments fell through unfortunately. We had to drop an
investigator because he was not willing to progress after 4 months of being
visited by the missionaries. However, this week was very productive in that we
were able to mobilize our Ward Missionaries.
We assigned them Recent Converts that they will be teaching the New Member Lessons. We will attend those lessons with them as much as possible. Every week, we will have a training, where we will show the Ward Missionaries how to use Preach My Gospel, and how and what to teach in those lessons. They are really excited for this opportunity to teach. We were also able to sit down with our Ward Mission Leader, our Bishop, and Stake President Walker and discuss the Ward Mission Process, and how we can have more effective Ward Councils. It was very successful. President Walker took notes and said he will train on it in his upcoming Bishopric training. We specifically focused on the 15 names list. Right now, the Ward auxiliaries are just throwing names on there and telling us to go find out if they exist or not, and if so, visit them! THIS IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF THE 15 NAMES LIST! These people have to be invited by auxiliary leaders and WILLING to prepare to participate in an Ordinance. And THEN the missionaries will prepare them for that. It is the members responsibility to visit and to fellowship. The purpose of missionaries is to teach doctrine and to prepare others to participate in an ordinance such as baptism, partaking the Sacrament, or entering the Temple, and not to merely visit them and hope they come to church someday. Please make sure that your ward council is doing this. The Lord said to FIRST seek to obtain my word, and THEN seek to declare my word. We need to FIRST have effective ward councils the way the Savior wants them to be run, and THEN invite people to come unto Christ.
We assigned them Recent Converts that they will be teaching the New Member Lessons. We will attend those lessons with them as much as possible. Every week, we will have a training, where we will show the Ward Missionaries how to use Preach My Gospel, and how and what to teach in those lessons. They are really excited for this opportunity to teach. We were also able to sit down with our Ward Mission Leader, our Bishop, and Stake President Walker and discuss the Ward Mission Process, and how we can have more effective Ward Councils. It was very successful. President Walker took notes and said he will train on it in his upcoming Bishopric training. We specifically focused on the 15 names list. Right now, the Ward auxiliaries are just throwing names on there and telling us to go find out if they exist or not, and if so, visit them! THIS IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF THE 15 NAMES LIST! These people have to be invited by auxiliary leaders and WILLING to prepare to participate in an Ordinance. And THEN the missionaries will prepare them for that. It is the members responsibility to visit and to fellowship. The purpose of missionaries is to teach doctrine and to prepare others to participate in an ordinance such as baptism, partaking the Sacrament, or entering the Temple, and not to merely visit them and hope they come to church someday. Please make sure that your ward council is doing this. The Lord said to FIRST seek to obtain my word, and THEN seek to declare my word. We need to FIRST have effective ward councils the way the Savior wants them to be run, and THEN invite people to come unto Christ.
Elder Talbot and I are having so much fun teaching
people in the heart of Tucson! In a couple weeks, we have a member of the 70
coming to visit and tour out mission. It's Elder Malm, who is from Sweeden!
Something Elder Talbot and I were talking about this week is that serving in Tucson makes me NEVER want to do drugs or alcohol. You see people all the time making horrible decisions under the influence of theses terrible things! It's awful. We are meeting with a less active lady who lives in a very dumpy house, has 4 kids, and she has a lot of pain and sorrow in her life. She turns to drugs, and alcohol for comfort. It's terrible to see, that with another child on the way, her continually going out every night and getting high and drunk off her mind. Her actions have led her to consequences that she can't bear. She asked us "Why me? Why does God hate me? Why does he punish me like this?" God NEVER purposely punishes His Children for no reason. He allows consequences to take effect when WE make choices that detour us away from our Heavenly Father. This lady has had challenges arrive in her life, as we all will. But instead of turning to the Savior, she turned to worldly vices, which have brought even more challenges and heartache into her life. Instead of catching a hint of the pattern she puts herself through, she continues to choose to be damned.
Something Elder Talbot and I were talking about this week is that serving in Tucson makes me NEVER want to do drugs or alcohol. You see people all the time making horrible decisions under the influence of theses terrible things! It's awful. We are meeting with a less active lady who lives in a very dumpy house, has 4 kids, and she has a lot of pain and sorrow in her life. She turns to drugs, and alcohol for comfort. It's terrible to see, that with another child on the way, her continually going out every night and getting high and drunk off her mind. Her actions have led her to consequences that she can't bear. She asked us "Why me? Why does God hate me? Why does he punish me like this?" God NEVER purposely punishes His Children for no reason. He allows consequences to take effect when WE make choices that detour us away from our Heavenly Father. This lady has had challenges arrive in her life, as we all will. But instead of turning to the Savior, she turned to worldly vices, which have brought even more challenges and heartache into her life. Instead of catching a hint of the pattern she puts herself through, she continues to choose to be damned.
In the scriptures, the prophets say that we break the commandments, we are damned. This does not mean hellfire and lakes of brimstone. To be damned means to have our spiritual progress impeded by our own agency. God never chooses to punish us. We punish ourselves with the choices we make. God blesses us with his love when we turn to Him and His Son. Heavenly Father does everything in his power to keep us safe. There is a reason why the Word of Wisdom is a modern day commandment. He knows better than us. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
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