Yo yo yo!! I miss all yall, my family, friends, fellow missionaries, etc. I want you to know how extremely grateful I am for each one if you! I'm grateful for the impact and the role you've played in my life! Thank you for the support and for the prayers! This week honestly started out a little rough.
Tuesday- was exchanges (where I go with another missionary and that missionaries companion comes with my companion) it honestly was tuff because my companion and I set up our whole day that day with service, a lesson, a dinner, some great finding activities and members. So it was hard to plan all that and not have the chance to do that! But in grateful for the things that I've learned, I'm grateful for that struggle and the other trials that I face! If it weren't for those discouraging, hard, frustrating, and heartbreaking times I wouldn't be the person I am today AND I wouldn't see the many miracles that are happening out here!!
Wednesday- I read a talk in the morning with Elder Payne called, " value of work" by Richard Clarke koi! This is a great talk it's so crazy that after we read this! We were booked with so much service the rest of the week, working hard. This talks just speaks on the importance of hard work! I'm just got quote two things and leave it at that! I want you to think about it
1. "Work is honorable. It is good therapy for most problems. It is the antidote for worry. It is the equalizer for deficiency of native endowment. Work makes it possible for the average to approach genius. What we may lack in aptitude, we can make up for in performance."
2. "the Lord knew that from the crucible of work emerges the hard core of character."
After this talk is when we got three referrals that day from our post of free service! We went to this ladies house, she had been hit by a bus 3 years ago and was paralyzed but slowly recovered to be able to walk and move a little! She had a big house but had no money cause she could not work, she had to sell her house and move in with her brother so we were helping her clean the house and her huge yard! We worked for her roughly for 6 hours! We got SO MUCH DONE! She was extremely thankful for us! Elder Kua from our apartment got a call while we were working and hes headed back to South Korea.... :( sad but I'm excited for him! He leaves in 7 days HOLY COW!!
THURSDAY- THANKSGIVING YAYAYA
Thanksgiving was definitely my high this week! I needed that time to set aside and be grateful for the things in my life and the people in my life! In the morning we played in a Turkey Bowl with our stake, YSA and some missionaries weve become SOO CLOSE TO! we then came home and got ready for our three dinners, we headed over to the Homans house! They are a super nice family with a 18 year old girl, 14 year old boy, and 12 year old girl!! We had a fantastic dinner and the little girl, Lily, said "hey aren't were we gonna say what were grateful for?" We were all so happy she said that! Especially me after I felt the emotion and the gratitude everyone had in their family and that chance Elder Payne and I had to say what were grateful for! Weve became really close with this family!! The next family we went to was the Cruzados! They are amazing we ate and talked but we had a very powerful experience
We were sitting and the dad comes in and asks us if we can give his sister a blessing and we said of course! We came into the front room where she was sitting on a chair, we asked for her name and were about to give her a blessing of comfort! BUT.. We stopped and were prompted I know from the Holy Ghost to have the nephew do it, he just got his mission call and it felt right to have him do it! We all put our hands on her head and he went ahead with the blessing, I will never forget the feelings I felt, it was powerful. I felt Mirums struggles, I felt her pain- but most of all I felt the love and comfort she received! Everyone was in tears at the end! She gave us hugs and said thank you so much! I'm so extremely grateful to have been in the circle and to help out and also for her to allow me to share such a tender experience with her! It strengthened my testimony Immensly! That night we just ate again with the cruzados and other families!
Friday- we played basketball early morning with the YSA and like 5 of them are recently returned missionaries and they're ALL ENGAGED hahaha its crazy!! But then there's 3 friends who are non members that come and has been a great experience for us! :) after we played we headed straight to the Dewey's home! They're an old couple that just love us!! We went over for lunch and also to work! We dug up 6 slabs of heavily placed cement in the ground! Lots of work haha then we helped them set up christmas and ate lunch with them while listening to Christmas music :))))) YUH YUH non stop christmas music over here!! Our apartment has a song we go crazy to and were gonna make a music video with it so stay tuned to my emails!! We did some more service and Facebook finding then that night we had our Hot CoCo night at the park and had a ton of convos! We played basketball again but only two people from last time were there and we didnt know them super well so hopefully next week we see our original and regular guys!!
Saturday: we woke up early and had our sports morning! Weve been doing this now for 3 weeks and its progressing well, we invite the youth and kids to the park in their neighborhood where most of the ward lives and we play sports, frisbee and kickball usually! It's beensuper fun.. we then did Christmas lights for a single mom who's trying to make Christmas amazing for her kid! So we helped for awhile. We then had dinner that night with the Penningtons who is the stake President! We also found a couple people to teach this next week and finished out family mission plan idea which weve been implementing in every home! FOR THE FIRST TIME IM GOING TO A MEMBERS HOME FOR DINNER EVERY DAY THIS WEEK!!
Sunday- ELDER PAYNES B DAY!! we went to church and we had incredible speakers!! After church it was so fun to see the progress were making here and the relationships weve created! All the kids weve visited from the families weve been to all came up to us and wanted to talk and hangout!! We all have a goofy relationship but they know when its spiritual time it's time to focus HAHA it amazing! I'll take pictures with these cute kids and friends thisweek!!
WOWZA!! I studied alot of scripture this week! As you know I'm doing the 40 day challenge and it's incredible! I've learned so much from my long studies everyday! I also forgot to mention on Wednesday we had a come follow me at night with a man in our stake that is I think paralyzed but can kinda move his arms! Hes super smart and very knowledgeable so he runs with come follow me with missionaries! We had a great discussion and something testified of to the group from this question,
"What do you feel you need to do to humble yourself before the Lord and show faith in Him in order to receive His promise to “make weak things become strong?"
I loved this because Ether 12 talks so much about this! I was thinking in the ways of missionaries as well! We discussed then started talking about change and the importance of change through Christ! And in verse 14 and so forth it speaks about different people in the Book of Mormon and their faith, it speaks of Nephi and Lehi and it says
"Behold, it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that wrought the change upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost."
I was thinking that's us! Were here bringing change to people! Were hear to give them hope and that bright light of Jesus Christ!! But then I continued thinking the way Lehi and Nephi were so effective and so influential in teaching and preaching this was because they made it happen for themselves! They practiced what they preached! So we all ( as disciples of Christ, full time missionaries, members etc) should do the same! WE NEED TO CHANGE SO THAT WE CAN HELP OTHERS CHANGE!!
AHHHH THE BOOK OF MORMON IS SO POWERFUL!! please please keep reading and get into deep ponderingandd studies! Dont wait DO IT NOW !!! I promise is will compeltly change your life if you go in with such real intent and if you give that time to the lord and use the scriptures and Present Prophets and Apostles now to help you change!!
This quote I'm about to send relates to you all as members of the church and not full time missionaries, in essence it shouldn't matter but let this quote sink in and think about what you can change and do better to help others around you, the missionaries, family, and yourself to become better!
David A. Bednar - "Ask in faith"
" Asking in faith requires honesty, effort, commitment, and persistence. Let me provide an illustration of what I mean and extend to you an invitation. We properly pray for the safety and success of the full-time missionaries throughout the world. And a common element in many of our prayers is a request that the missionaries will be led to individuals and families who are prepared to receive the message of the Restoration. But ultimately it is my responsibility and your responsibility to find people for the missionaries to teach. Missionaries are full-time teachers; you and I are full-time finders. And you and I as lifelong missionaries should not be praying for the full-time missionaries to do our work!"
FULL TIME FINDERS......
hopefully I didnt write too much! But read that quote again and again until you understand it! Its crucial!!
Ps. I forgot to mention my subject line.. its freezing here today, the low is 27 today and tonight and tmrw its supposed to snow!! OOOO NOOO HAHA we'll see
LOVE YOU ALL SO SO SO MUCH!!
Love,
Elder Wold
Pics:
1. Game night, Elder Paynes favorite game "Sorry"
2. Turkey Bowl, All missionaries. Love each one of them so much!! (The one I'm standing next to is Elder Tarkalson him and I have become super close!!)
3-4. photo bombing sisters self timer!
5-6. Working hard for the Dewey's!
7. Lunch with Sisters and family
8. Hot CoCo success!!!!!
9. Elders Paynes b day, we had cake and milk HAHA and talked with the sisters in our zone for awhile!
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