Sunday, August 18, 2019
"Fate" (Week #24)
June 3, 2019
One of the things that I have been wrestling with personally is how to help others understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ and grace. I have been studying the scriptures a lot more as a result. I have been learning quite a few different things. One of the things that I have been discovering is that many of the people that we work with have concerns iwith fate. Some people seem to think that they are consigned to a certain fate mo mattet what choices they make. I have sometimes felt like that before, and I had kind of just shrugged off those thoughts and just kept going. Now these people are making me pause and face the concern. It's also interesting that our mission president really, really spearheads a theme of accountability, responsibility, agency, freedom, and just taking control of your life generally speaking. He often talks about taking a comfort path versus taking the pain path- meaning- the consequences of the comfort path lead to pain, and the consequences of the pain path lead to comfort, well not really comfort as in carnal security, but comfort as in maximizing growth, finding peace, reaching full potential, and having more choices. In the end, it's actually easier to take the pain path even though the comfort path appears more appealing- it seems comfortable, but the end result is pain, and the farther one progresses down that path, the harder it is to choose the right path. It also becomes more painful for one to get set on the pain path the father along the comfort path one goes. Ultimately it's like that scripture in 2Nephi:27- 27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. Anyhow, those are some of the things that I am learning. The mission president has told me that fate is not part of the doctrine, so I am very thankful about that.
One of the things that I have been wrestling with personally is how to help others understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ and grace. I have been studying the scriptures a lot more as a result. I have been learning quite a few different things. One of the things that I have been discovering is that many of the people that we work with have concerns iwith fate. Some people seem to think that they are consigned to a certain fate mo mattet what choices they make. I have sometimes felt like that before, and I had kind of just shrugged off those thoughts and just kept going. Now these people are making me pause and face the concern. It's also interesting that our mission president really, really spearheads a theme of accountability, responsibility, agency, freedom, and just taking control of your life generally speaking. He often talks about taking a comfort path versus taking the pain path- meaning- the consequences of the comfort path lead to pain, and the consequences of the pain path lead to comfort, well not really comfort as in carnal security, but comfort as in maximizing growth, finding peace, reaching full potential, and having more choices. In the end, it's actually easier to take the pain path even though the comfort path appears more appealing- it seems comfortable, but the end result is pain, and the farther one progresses down that path, the harder it is to choose the right path. It also becomes more painful for one to get set on the pain path the father along the comfort path one goes. Ultimately it's like that scripture in 2Nephi:27- 27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. Anyhow, those are some of the things that I am learning. The mission president has told me that fate is not part of the doctrine, so I am very thankful about that.
P Day (Week #23)
May 27, 2019
I've been doing well. I have a new companion, and right now we're just taking a break from the normal rigour of the week. Two of the people that we are teaching came to church this last Sunday so that was pretty awesome. I'm pretty tired today. Luckily, we're taking it easy today.
Other than that, there isn't very much to write about today. I have been better about writing in my journal for the past two days so there should be some things recorded in case I forgot about them. The weather is always very unpredictable. There's been lots of tornados recently, but we've been kept very safe from them and other storms. One of the people that we teach is a powerline worker. Last week, he accrued 82 work hours. Yesterday, he was pretty dead.
Giving a Book of Mormon experience (Week #22)
May 20, 2019
I am not being transferred from Ava. I am staying another transfer. My companion , however, is being transferred to Mountain Grove just north of Ava. My new companion will not be a zone leader. This will be the first time in which I have a companion that isn't a zone leader. My mission president says that he is a really good missionary and that he has only been out one more transfer than I have. In the meantime, the companion that I have now is staying the zone leader for the stake and will just work from Mountain Grove which is closer to our stake center anyways. The mission president has been meaning to do that for a long time.
Also, yesterday, one of the coolest things happened. My companion and I were down in Gainsville, and we were just heading out to go back to Ava when a guy comes out of his house to walk his dog. A lady that had requested a Book of Mormon a long time ago lived in the house that this guy was coming out of. We had tried to visit her before, but no one answered the door. When we walked up to this guy to talk to him, we explained that we intended to give a Book of Mormon to the lady that lived inside the house. They guy then introduced himself and said that he was her husband. We then asked him if he would give the copy of the Book of Mormon that we had for the lady. He not only agreed to do that, but he also said that he would read the book and even pray about it. He then said that we could come back next week to see him. It was the fastest turn of events that I have experienced so far in the mission. We were bracing ourselves for him to tell us off and stuff and we just barely explained what the Book of Mormon is and the guy had never encountered us before, but he decided that he wanted tor read the Book of Mormon. That made my companion and me both happy.
We've been doing good. We have been finding more and more people to teach. We are going to be very busy this week and probably for the next few weeks of this coming transfer. I know that all of you have been praying for me. Thanks for your prayers. The Lord has been giving my companion and me a lot of work to do and I am thankful for that.
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