Power in Moroni's Promise

October 27th 2010


Well, I hope you can all know I have been anxiously waiting to email you. As mentioned last week, we changed our p-day so that we could attend the temple today. It was 3 hours there and 3 hours back, but well worth the trip. So naturally, right now I am kind of exhausted from the drive (definitely not used to being in a car for that long as a missionary) and we only have a little bit longer left of our prep day but just long enough to email home real quick. Dad, thank you for the email and I'm glad you enjoyed the gift.

A- As mentioned above, there are a lot of exciting things happening here in the Mission Ridge ward. This coming Sunday, we are launching the Ward Mission Plan in the combined relief society and priesthood meeting. The goal is to then have the members create auxiliary mission plans and then family mission plans. Many exciting things are happening and we love working with the members! I know that when the missionaries and the members are united in their efforts, we can and will see miracles. This is the Lord's work and no unhallowed hand will keep it from moving forward.

C- My companion is doing great! She has such a great love and passion for this work, which makes working with her super great! We definitely make a great team. She helps me to be a better missionary, and I believe that we both are learning a lot from one another. Although we have our differences at times, we both know that our strengths far out weigh our weaknesses in this companionship. Together we have grown in love and we love this work!

T- My testimony and faith continues to grow each day. I believe it is through the tests of faith when it has grown the most. I'm incredibly grateful to my Heavenly Father for all that He has been teaching me throughout this mission experience. I am grateful for the gift of charity and love. I know that when we pray for charity, Heavenly Father does bless our hearts to be more full of his love. I truly do have a deep love for the people here in Wenatchee, and wouldn't trade my time here for anything. I know that I was called to serve in this mission for a reason, and to serve here in the Mission Ridge ward for a reason. I will continue to place my trust in the Lord and go about doing His business, because I understand that it is His errand that I am on. I feel so very blessed to do so.

S- The power of prayer continues to amaze me. A few nights ago, I betook myself to deep personal prayer to my Heavenly Father. I poured my heart out to him, and prayed about the things that have been weighing on me lately. I felt the comfort and strength of the Holy Ghost, and I know my Heavenly Father was listening. It is amazing to feel His loving embrace and to be strengthened in moments when we are down on our knees. I have felt my Heavenly Father's love for me, and for others, and for that I am truly grateful.

OK, now for more updates about the work. Last friday, we had zone conference. It was all focused on the power of the Book of Mormon in conversion. I just finished reading the BOM for the 3rd time that same night. Wow, was that an amazing experience. This was the same night, that I got down on my knees and really poured my heart out to my Heavenly Father in prayer. I won't go into too many details about my experience, because it is sacred and personal, but let's just say I prayed for quite sometime. I prayed to know the truthfullness of the BOM, and once again I received that same strong conviction in my heart that leaves no doubt whatsoever that the BOM is true. My personal testimony of the BOM has been strengthened over the course of the last 7 months, and even since I first read it when I was 17. If it weren't for the Book of Mormon, I would not be as strong in my testimony of the restored gospel as I am. I would not be able to do what I am expected to do as a missionary. Reading the BOM everyday has strengthened my faith, and it goes back to the principle that we need to nourish our testimonies daily. If I were not doing that while out here on my mission, I know I would not have the strength to go out every single day and proclaim the restored gospel to every one we come into contact with on the street. Fam, unfortunately I do not have enough time to share every experience that I have had on my mission, but I will say this. Every day, my testimony is questioned by the comments or actions of others. Every day, I have to cling tighter to what I KNOW to be true, and have the strength to stand firmly and boldly. But through it all, if it were not for the BOM, I would not have a sure foundation. EVERYTHING in the church weighs on whether or not that book is true. And just like Elder Holland so powerfully stated, one cannot come to full faith in this gospel without having read it and taking account for those 531 pages, that each of us will someday be judged from at the judgement-seat of Christ. With that said, I continue to encourage you as a family and individually to study from the good book daily. And then when you finish the final pages, put Moroni's promise to the test (MOR 10:3-5) and you will receive a witness from the Holy Spirit that it is the word of God, and the most correct book on earth. It is truly another testament of Jesus Christ, and one will draw closer to him through reading the words of that book. President extended a challenge to us at zone conference, to read the BOM from the beginning and to mark every reference to Jesus Christ. So he gave each missionary a clean copy of the Book and we are to finish it by the end of the year! So that is 2 months! By Jan. 1, 2011. I will have read the Book of Mormon for my 4th time.

I'm excited!Ok in other news with mission life. Well, it is getting colder here fast. Currently I am borrowing a jacket from sis king, she may let me borrow it for a while. And I have a few places I can go to bargain shop for some boots. Time is the biggest thing at this point, so I will prob have to browse around next Monday. Also, transfers are coming up. We get calls Sunday. Updates in a few days.

Rick is really progressing in his reading of the BOM right now, and he is really coming along. The spirit is so strong in all of his lessons with his wife Rose. The Klinge's are our neighbors and a sure reason I know why we were to live at the Burnett's. Please keep Rick in your prayers. He is so so close. He has made great leaps of progression. We love them both so very very much!

Monday, we got 7 new investigators! Well, that number is skewed when we find families! But we are excited to have added new people to our teaching pool. Sometimes it is hard and discouraging when people don't progress the way we wish for them to, but such is the life of a missionary. We really teach people according to their needs, and it makes it difficult at times because everybody's needs are different! There are no "memorized" or organized lessons and many times, what we plan to teach ends up being something different than what we actually teach. Such is the power of the spirit in this work. I am learning more and more each day how to follow the promptings of the spirit. Sometimes I wish we had a spiritual GPS system so we could just "KNOW" where the people who are prepared are. But, with faith and patient perserverance, the Lord does indeed lead us to them.