Monday, May 8, 2017

Mobile

Life here in the Mobile Zone is great! We were able to have lots of great things happen this week, but also being in the Mobile Zone means that we drive so much. This week, we made another one of those super long drives across the mission. we had MLC in Crestview, then an exchange in Tally, then a baptismal interview up in Toxey, so we spent 4 days out of our own area, it was pretty crazy! I'm just thankful that Elder Abbott drove this time, he is a saint!

MLC this go around was pretty boring, we literally just reviewed everything from the past 6 months and talked about how we can do better and take it to our zones. The thing that I liked the most though was the fact that we went over a General Conference talk by Elder Hales "Becoming a Disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ." As we talked about it, iIrealized that being a Disciple is nothing that I do, but who I am. In 1 cor 13 it talks about how if we do all these wonderful works, but don't have charity, it profiteth us nothing, and why is that? Because we don't progress. That is literally all that the gospel is for, to help us to learn and to grow, so if we do things unwillingly, with a hard heart are we really learning and progressing? So this past week I have really been focusing on the Christ like attribute of humility, and as I have been studying I realized how similar all of the attributes are. You cannot develop one without another attribute strengthening, they are all interconnected.

The exchange in Tally was super cool!! I was able to go with Elder Gunnell this go around, and had a blast! we have been on like 5 exchanges, and spent a lot of time around each other, and he has really become one of my best friends! Spending time with him roaming around TCC (Tallahassee Community College) was a blast, even though it was pretty dead cause of finals week. Even though it was slow, we were still able to see a miracle. We were waiting for an appointment to show up, and while we were, I noticed this guy sitting on a bench just looking off into the distance really pondering life, so we decided to go and talk with him. When we got over there, he said "How do I get saved?" It was so cool! It never ceases to amaze me at how perfect God's plan is. Because the appointment fell through, we were able to go and talk to someone who has had lots of questions and wants to find true and lasting peace in this life; he said he has looked and tried a lot, but has never been able to find it.  It's amazing how this gospel can give people just about everything that they seek in life (sense of belonging, greater connection with god, stronger relationships with family members, comfort through trials, lasting peace, etc...), I love being out here and being able to give people that hope that there is something more, and something better in life.

This Sunday we went out with one of the youth in the ward; everywhere we went we got shut down so hard core, I felt really bad that we weren't able to have a good experience with him, but he still enjoyed it, so that is good. Afterwards, I was really down, not because I felt like I failed, but because those people didn't want to learn. The song lyrics "they who reject this glad message will never such happiness know" was ringing in my head, it literally fills me with so much sorrow because people are rejecting our message (and in turn so much happiness) without even knowing what it has to offer them.

Last thing for the week. Remember that couple that just moved from Kentucky and randomly showed up to church? Well they are doing sooo good!! Cassie (the less active member) has given up smoking and is now a week without a cigarette, John (the investigator) has read the whole Book of Mormon, knows its true, and wants to get baptized! Every time we go over he just sits so calmly and listens very intently to what we have to say, and because he is a part member family, he basically already knows everything, but we have still cleared up a lot of things, and he accepts them so well, because they make so much sense to  him. He is literally the most solid person that I have ever taught in my life! As missionaries we do a lot of "role play" lessons where we just practice what might happen in a real lesson; these are generally very generic and easy lessons, cause its jut to give us practice, well teaching John is literally easier than doing the role play lessons, it's so cool! So John is a body guard for the hospital, and last time we were over he told us that he started The Book of Mormon over again and is already through Alma, because all he does is sit there and read for work. During our lesson we talked about faith being like a seed and he was like "oh yeah, read that the other day and sent it to Cassie" and then we talked about the title of liberty, and he said "Are y'all talking about that Moroni guy?" it was so sick!

Being out here serving the Lord is truly amazing! I love this gospel so much and am so thankful for how much peace and happiness it has brought into my life!

Love you all and hope you have a great week!








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