A Christmas Story Pt. 6

Final video I am sorry I was unable to get it up yesterday! I hope you all enjoyed all of these!

A Christmas Story Pt. 5

His birth is a miraculous thing to everyone!

Luke 2:22-38

22And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

23(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)

24And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

25And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

26And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

27And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,

28Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

29Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

30For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

31Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

32A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

33And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.

34And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this childis set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;

35(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

36And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;

37And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

38And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem

A Christmas Story Pt. 4

You can check in the bible and the angel in this video stated exactly what is recorded in scripture. I am loving these videos they are the most accurate I have seen yet! I hope you are enjoying them as well and that your thoughts are turned to our Savior especially in this Christmas season! Look forward to Part 5 tomorrow!!

A Christmas Story Pt. 3

This one is shorter than the other two hope you all enjoy!! There are going to be more then just 6 videos but for now I am focusing on specifically the birth of our savior to celebrate the real meaning behind Christmas. 

A Christmas Story Pt. 2

This is the second one hope you all enjoy!! :)

A Christmas Story Pt. 1

I will be posting these videos everyday this week there are six of them so be sure to watch them all!! You can also find them at http://lds.org/bible-videos/?lang=eng but just watching my blog is easier :)

A Book of Mormon Story

I have nothing else to say that he didn't say except to also state you need to read and ask God, and see for yourself if these things are true. I promise you that you will come to know that it is true by the power of the Holy Ghost. This video was awesome!! I also want the Book of Mormon to fill the earth! Shouldn't we all be anxious to share this knowledge with everyone? Especially with those that we care about most?

Joseph Smith the Prophet!

OLIVER COWDERY 

I know what I have seen,
I cannot deny my eyes.
This marvelous scene,
This wonder from vaulted skies
Containing a record
Of a people who once walked this land.
We’ve seen the engravings
They made with their own weary hands!
This record is real.
I know what I have seen.

DAVID WHITMER 

I know what I have heard,
I cannot deny my ears.
The angel’s sweet words
Will echo through all my years!
His voice hath declared
The translation that Joseph has made
Was done by the gift
And power of God, as he said.
This record is true.
I know what I have heard.

MARTIN HARRIS

I know what I have felt,
I cannot deny my heart.
Though memories melt,
This burning will never part!
The voice of the spirit
Bore a witness more vivid than sight
That, if we are faithful,
We shall live with our Lord Jesus Christ!
I bear record it’s true!
I know what I have felt.

OLIVER COWDERY 

Should the storms beat against me,
I shall not deny my words!

DAVID WHITMER 

Should the mobs rage against me,
They cannot take what I have heard!

MARTIN HARRIS 

And I never shall fall!
I know what I have felt!
Should the storms beat against me,
They shall not destroy my hold!

OLIVER COWDERY 

I will be true to what I’ve seen!

DAVID WHITMER 

Should the mobs rage against me,
They cannot take what I’ve been told!

MARTIN HARRIS

I will be true to what I know!

OLIVER COWDERY 
And I never shall fall!

ALL THREE 

I know what I have felt! 

This is an amazing song taken from "Rob Gardners Joseph Smith the prophet" I highly suggest that you purchase and watch this presentation it is sensational!!!

Testimony and Repentance

One of my favorite scriptures is in Doctrine and Covenants Section 62 Verse 3 and is says "Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you." In my opinion we are forgiven of our sins because of the testimony which he gave. Missionaries get the opportunity to bare testimony daily and we should be feeling the spirit hourly.  The miracle of repentance is real, it can change a man who is as sinful as they come into a saint. This is only possible because of the sacrifice of our Savior. I have so many scriptures that illustrate how we can be forgiven of our sins by sharing the gospel with other.  Here are a few examples:

• James 5:20 Let him know, that he which coverteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
• Doctrine and Covenants 84:61 For I will forgive you of your sins with this commandment—that you remain steadfast in your minds in solemnity and the spirit of prayer, in bearing testimony to all the world of those things which are communicated unto you.

I can add additional testimony on the subject of repentance. Our Lord is always there for us and always wanting us to come to him. If we consistently work towards Him we can reach our goal. We will begin to feel great joy in repenting daily through our faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement.  I know and testify to everyone that it is real and it does change us.  I love the Savior with all my heart because I know that without Him I would not be the person I am now.  These things are very real and we can all achieve far greater things when we depend more fully on the Lord. He will lift us up but we must first come to Him.  I know that these things are true they have played a major role in my life and I know that my Savior lives and he died for me.  I leave this testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Where to go?

The old crow is getting slow.

The young crow is not.

Of what the young crow does not know

The old crow knows a lot.

At knowing things the old crow

Is still the young crow’s master.

What does the slow old crow not know?

—How to go faster.

The young crow flies above, below,

And rings around the slow old crow.

What does the fast young crow not know?

—Where to go. 

This was the poem that President Boyd K. Packer read in this last General Conference.  How do we know where to go? How can we learn to listen to those who know?  President Monson along with our other church leaders and the spirit will always guide us in the right direction. 

"Perhaps the single greatest thing I learned from reading the Book of Mormon is that the voice of the Spirit comes as a feeling rather than a sound. You will learn, as I have learned, to “listen” for that voice that is felt rather than heard.

The gift of the Holy Ghost, if you consent, will guide and protect you and even correct your actions. It is a spiritual voice that comes into the mind as a thought or a feeling put into your heart. The prophet Enos said, “The voice of the Lord came into my mind.” Enos 1:10

We spoke earlier of crows. You young crows need not fly aimlessly to and fro, unsure of the path ahead. There are those who know the way. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” The Lord organized His Church on the principle of keys and councils.

If the adversary should take you prisoner due to misconduct, I remind you that you hold the key that will unlock the prison door from the inside. You can be washed clean through the atoning sacrifice of the Savior Jesus Christ.

You may in time of trouble think that you are not worth saving because you have made mistakes, big or little, and you think you are now lost. That is never true! Only repentance can heal what hurts. But repentance can heal what hurts, no matter what it is." President Packer

This talk was amazing and if we listen and do what we are supposed to be doing the Spirit of God will always guide is aright. We will never go astray or no know where to go as the young crow did. One of my favorite scriptures is Moron 10:3-5 because the last verse reads, "And by the power of the Holy Ghost you may know the truth of ALL things."  I think that is amazing not just some things, or religious things but everything! That is an amazing gift now I would encourage everyone young and old to be sure that you are worthy of hearing the whispers of the spirit. 

The Miracle and Wonder of Baptism

Joseph Smith said: “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, If not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost” (History of the Church, 5:499).


I will never be able to understand the ordinance of baptism I know what it does and I have seen the change in peoples lives that it has made but how?  I want to know how it is done. The symbolism of that ordinance and why it is a commandment for even Jesus Christ. Yes it does give us all a remission of our sins but what about Jesus? He had no sin so why would it be required of Him?  I love these scriptures the reference is 2 Nephi 31 4-12

4 Wherefore, I would that ye should remember that I have spoken unto you concerning that prophet which the Lord showed unto me, that should baptize the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world.

 5 And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfill all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!

 6 And now, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized by water?

 7 Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments.

 8 Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove. 

9 And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.

 10 And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?

 11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.

 12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.

I don't know what else I could say then what has already been said. Other then leave my own testimony with Nephi's . We can not be Christian people unless we follow Jesus Christ and how can we profess to be followers of him if we do not accept the covenant of baptism in our lives?  We baptized a man named Jim on October 8th and he said to me after he was confirmed a member in sacrament the following day that he never has felt more loved in his life.  The love he felt was the love of God which is what we should desire above anything else in this world.  I love this work and I love the ordinances that we as priesthood holders are able to perform for the salvation of our brethren. How great a responsibility we have been given!!  I really don't know what else to say I am sorry for slacking at my blogs but we haven't had any time to get on here and do our online proselyting. I I am doing great we obviously had a baptism that was a long time coming, Jim has been investigating for almost 2 years now! The people that we are to teach are all around us they don't know it ad neither do we but is you listen to the Spirit and follow its promptings when it comes to sharing the gospel I PROMISE you that you will feel an increase in your testimony and you will feel the joy of helping someone receive the restored gospel!  

Okay so this isn't the best blog just some random thoughts of mine  but I will have a better one next week! I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

Remembering the Sacrifice

Every Sunday morning we go to church to do what? Learn about the gospel? Talk to friends? Take a nap? Make ourselves feel like we are righteous? Or to renew covenants made at baptism and promise to 'always remember him [Christ] and to keep his commandments which he has given [us] the we may have his spirit to be with [us]? Moroni 4:3  I would like to point out the always remember him, why? What exactly did he do? He atoned for the world and more importantly everyone as an individual. The phrase atonement is beyond comprehension as to what it does for me and you, but we can always remember and try to learn all that we can about what Christ did for us specifically. He gave validity to every saving ordinance as well as cleanse us all from sin and sorrow. Orson F. Whitney said, " There are three elements in baptism, the Water, the Spirit, and the Blood; though only two- water and spirit are usually mentioned. Without Christs atoning blood there could be no baptism of a saving character. Prophetic events and spiritual ordinances can be understood only through spiritual means.  Any attempt to understand without the spirit regardless of mental capacity, college degree, or worldly knowledge, is simply futile. The all encompassing eternal act of what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane can only be understood spiritually. It is what enables to have eternal life and to have peace in the life we are in now.  Without the atonement we would be a lost and fallen people forever.

"Somehow the very act of remembering the Savior and reflecting upon his life is, in and of itself, a catalyst for goodness. It must be difficult if not impossible to genuinely reflect upon the Saviors life and simultaneously do evil. That would be tantamount to asking someone to step forward and backward at the same time. Each time we pause to meditate upon the Savior, we take a spiritual step forward." Tad R. Callister

Just thinking about the Savior helps us improve. Now what if we took that thought and added action? The sacrament is a time to meaningfully reflect upon the life of the Savior, to examine and match our own life against his perfect example and then resolve to narrow that gap.

Elder Jospeh F. Smith observed, " The ordinance [sacrament] has a tendency to draw our minds from the things of the world and to place them upon things that are spiritual, divine and heavenly."

When we take the sacrament let us remember and repent so that 'with his stripes we may be healed' Isaiah 53:5.  The sacrament produces a healing balm to the spiritually wounded.

Don't let a Chevy stop you!

Well yesterday me and my companion were riding along to an appointment like every other day. A car pulled out and looked both ways to pull out onto the road we were riding our bikes a long. MY companion passed that car just in front and I assumed she saw me too. Apparently not.... She accelerated to pull out onto the highway we were riding along and took me out! Yes I got nailed by a car yesterday but I am alright just a sore shoulder, knee and butt. I feel worse for her car my bike took it to her hood that is for sure! Anyways I told her I was fine and we both continued on our way. I think I failed in one thing though, I should have introduced the gospel to her but as you can imagine I was in a little shock. Anyways like I said don't let a 2002 Chevy Trail Blazer stop the work from progressing!

Remember this great prophecy:
“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

The Power of Testimony!

So this is a story of my companion Elder Smith and I. We were doing some tracting real quickly on the street we had our dinner appointment on we tracted probably only 10 houses but guess what happened?! No one answered or if they did answer they told us they were good and to go talk to someone else. We then were out of time so we walked to our dinner appointment where we had some amazing stew with some even better venison! After the dinner we had decided to try some potential investigators. We pulled up to the first person on the list and we got no answer, not a big surprise. We pulled up to another house expecting to find a young man by the name of Leo who had previously told Elder Smith to come by another time. We knocked on the door and his mother informed us that he had gone to college and would not be home for some time. So Elder Smith followed the promptings of the Spirit and began to tell her who we were and what we were doing. He told her of the Book of Mormon and after he had finished I could tell she was just being polite but wanted us to leave. She was about to dismiss us when I felt I needed to bear testimony of the Book of Mormon along with its divinity and everything that my companion had already said. She listened to me as I bore my testimony of how the Book of Mormon has changed my life and I know it could change hers too. Her whole attitude changed and we talked for about an hour on her front porch about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel. She took a Book of Mormon from us and wanted us to come and see her exactly a week from that day. She said she would read and pray to know about the Book of Mormon. That is as far as we know we will see what happens this Wednesday.

I would just like to say that nothing invites the spirit with more power then a true and unwavering testimony of  the divinity of the Book of Mormon or any gospel truth! I hated tracting at one time and now I love it. I get to tell people about the Book of Mormon and try to share this wonderful gospel message we have with other people! I can't think of any greater calling. I love being a missionary and helping the work move forward. I only wish one thing. That is I wish I would have done my mission right the first time and looked toward the Lord more often then I did. I want everyone to know that I am sorry for not being the example that I should have been. I am sorry for those of you I have hurt along the way and if there is ever anything that I can do in order to make it right please let me know.

I know this church is true! I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and I know the President Monson is a prophet who leads and guides this church as the Lord directs. I love being a member of this wonderful and glorious church! I know that nothing in this world will ever be as good as what I am a part of right now! I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Atonement and Awareness

"The more spiritual an individual becomes the more sensitive he becomes to his imperfections. The better he becomes the worse he realizes he was." I can tell you that this is more true than I would have ever thought. But when we look at the scriptural examples the Lamanites at one time said "whatever they did was right" and then on the other hand we have one of the most influential prophets in history, Nephi, saying "O wretched man that I am" What made the difference?? Please answer in the comments :)

" The greatest of all faults it to be conscious of none."

"Some memories can never be erased, some relationships can never be severed,  some feelings are never forgotten, such things outlast both time and death."

The atonement enables each of us to not only change our habits but to change our hearts so that we will have no desire to do evil but to good continually. Those who experience a change of heart will manifest sorrow, not just any sorrow but godly sorrow. That will bring them into the depths on humility and enable them to truly repent. There is to be no need for outside pressures to make this change. In fact in my own experience I have seen that outside pressures made me change my outside but deep within my heart I had not changed. Until I had no one outside to pressure me and I realized this was on me. "One has not begun to repent until he has suffered intimately for his sins." The atonement is an infinite sacrifice that encompassed everything. Every past, present, and future transgression, everything I have done or you have done. It has paid for every little bad thought, accidental curse words, and I think more importantly the deliberate disobedience to the commandments. Those who feel that they are not able to repent or are too far gone are being fooled. No one is beyond the reach of the Saviors love for us and the effects of his sacrifice. He suffered for each of us personally, not just one big mass of pain but suffered personally for ever soul so that he would know what it was like and be able to support us in our times of need. If you say I am too bad to repent than you are belittling the sacrifice made by our savior that he made out of love for every soul that would ever live. He loves those that are righteous and payed the price for them and not only that but loved and ensured that even the vilest of sinners, the most wicked people this world has ever seen will always have a way out if they would repent. I would like to say that I have witnessed for myself from the outside as a missionary seeing people change their hearts. I have also more personally seen what I have gotten out of Christ's sacrifice and that a change of heart is not beyond anyone's reach. The one thing that made it difficult for me was pride. But I can tell  you with my whole heart that no matter where you are, what you have done, the Saviors arms are always open for you to come home and feel the infinite love that he has for each of us. I can testify that I have felt of that love and I have seen it bless my life and the lives of others more then they or I have ever dreamed. The changes that you see in the scriptures actually do happen to people.  I can testify that this is true and it happens today I have seen in happen in my own life. That mighty change in your heart can and will happen if you will become humble and do whatever is asked of you to make it right with God. I am so grateful for Christ and what he did for me. I know I didn't deserve it but he loved me more than I can ever dream of and because he did my sins are payed for. I hope from now on to never add to his suffering or at least add very little. What a wonderful gift that was given!! What miraculous love he had!! I love Christ and I love being a missionary I say these things in the name of our savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

I am sorry if the above text seems preachy I am in no place to tell anyone what to do but I wanted everyone to know how I felt. Tomorrow I will let you know about some of my experiences here in Eureka!! I will let you know I used to hate tracting.... but now I love missionary work and everything that entails!

I know I can... I know I can...

So I am currently trying to get my blog and my Facebook profile synced and I and writing this blog in order to see if it is working. For those of you  that don't know I am in Eureka, MT currently serving as a missionary in the Billings Montana Mission. I am excited to be here for a while and hopefully I will be back in Mississippi after this still a part of the Lord's Army. I love this work and I feel better than ever! This is a great area and well to be honest I am still meeting people and getting to know them I didn't think it would take this long in Eureka but there are more people here than I thought. Anyways here is a scripture to you to ponder on. Joshua 1:8  Read that and please let me know what you think about it. My Blog's will get more spiritual and missionary minded but I am rushed at the moment so everyone have a great day and remember this, God is everywhere all the time and is helping us even when we feel like we are forgotten. I can promise you that!!

Take the Initiative: Share The Gospel

We have had success in finding new people that are interested in the gospel but are very hard to schedule with. We have plenty of people that are on the verge of baptism literally probably 10 people that are almost ready to take the dunk but just feel like they have all the time in the world. I wish thy felt the same urgency to get baptized as we feel to baptize them haha. The good thing is that there are some kids in Sandhill that have been going to church every Sunday for months. So next week we are going to teach them 2 lessons 2 times and cover everything so they can be baptized that same week. They want to be baptized there is only the need to be taught by missionaries that is holding them back. Again we did a hecka ton of service this week. One of our investigators wants to be baptized but want her aunt to be there who won't be able to come down here until July so that is frustrating for us haha. Just working with people and teaching them what we believe. I thought i knew all about, The restoration, Faith, repentance and baptism, the sacrament and everything but I learn more and more about is every time I teach it. The spirit really does teach through us that is for sure, we have had some really good questions recently about certain things and we answered them very well. I am also coming out of my "greeny shell" and talking a lot more. I always let me companion take the lead and i just added testimony and further explanation when needed but now we are both teaching in unity I am glad that i know these things well enough now and feel confident about teaching other people about are beliefs.
Just so yall know Missionaries are a million times more effective when they teach people who are already friends with members instead of random people we tract into. So if anyone asks you about our church refer them to the missionaries because that is where conversion will happen even if they don't expect to be converted. People tell me all the time they have a friend who asks questions about our church but is just curious about it and is not looking to be converted. Well i want you to know that EVERYONE we talk to "is just curious about our church" and no one is looking to be converted. We walk into someones house who just wants to know about our church and within 45 min. after our message about the restoration we are supposed to always ask them to be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. Crazy huh? Within 45 minutes we ask people to be baptized!! Do you think they expected that when they called us or their friend sent us over? No sir. Many people will accept our message and we should not be the one to judge for them. Let them talk to the missionaries and decide for themselves. We can make it awkward and weird and as members just blame it on the missionaries and move on it will not effect your relationship if anything it would strengthen it because you were willing ti share your personal beliefs with them. Basically i am saying get involved with the missionaries. They would appreciate, you will feel the spirit and we will bring blessings to peoples lives that they never expected. Being sealed to their family for one!!
We have so much truth and so many blessings I wish I could have told more people about it before i was a missionary. How wonderful it is to be LDS! I just want everyone to be given an opportunity to feel the blessings that we as Latter-day Saints feel every day! I love this gospel, I love Jesus Christ and the wonderful and infinite atonement he did for us. What love he must have had for every individual to say "yes i will pay for everything for you. Even the things you did on purpose i will pay for it." I am so gratrful to have tasted a part of this atonement for myself and have seen the changes that can come. I love the scriptures how lucky are we to have honorable men and prophets of God write down and preserve records for us. They didn't benefit from them at all. The plan in simple and yet majestic and infinite! I love having the knowledge of there things for myself and would strongly encourage anyone who is struggling with these things to read the Book or Mormon and pray in faith to know of these things for yourself! What a wonderful blessing!!

The week of "Golden Investigators"

Dear people,

I have had a very interesting week this week and i hope that i have the patience with myself to write it all down so the my readers can understand and enjoy what i am trying to say. First Monday, nothing exciting happened. Tuesday worked hard still nothing to report. Wednesday, We went a saw a less active and finally felt like we were making some progress with him, his son is 10 and hasn't been baptized yet because his dad won't come back to church. We think we are very very close to getting him to come back. Okay i am not going ot go by days, anyways we taught him and his son some things and had a great time with them that evening. We had to cut it short because their son had a baseball game that they invited us to and we went. I think that helped a lot for getting him to come back to church, we were still dressed like missionaries and I have never felt so out of place in my life!! I am used to getting funny looks sometimes in wal-mart or somethings but this was way worse. People were staring at us so hard core and some people we heard asking if we were spies or F.B.I. or something lets just say it was probably the most awkward moment of my mission so far i think. After that we got a call from a man who needed some financial help with his home, he had 2 days before he was going to be evicted. We told him we won't know what we can do but we would be happy to come over and visit with you. We then drove to his home and just talked with him. We asked him and his fiance about their religious background. That question started the most picture perfect lesson i have had in my like as a missionary. It was almost like it was setup like at the MTC when the "fake" investigators you teach know what questions to ask and help you through the lesson just so you know real people aren't like that. Except this couple. His fiance asked us about why we are different then others, our doctrine differences, what the Book of Mormon was, she asked if she could have one, she told us she wanted to read it, she asked about baptism, she asked about the sacrament, she asked when church was and if she could go next Sunday, she wanted to know who Joseph Smith was. She was essentially asking us if she could do everything that we try to get other people to do!! We try to get people to read and pray and come to church and she asked us is we would let her do those things!!!! Her husband was Mormon as a child and i think he really sparked her interest and he was just as excited about it but listened to the answers we gave. I don't think I will every have another perfect experience like that again but i wouldn't complain haha.

We don't know if they will get their finances worked out or not but we hope that they do so that we can continue guiding them to the restored gospel. really I am just supposed to help people gain a testimony of the gospel but compel them or drag them into a testimony. This was the first "perfect lesson" I have taught. We used scripture to help her understand, we prayed at the end, and all we did was have a gospel discussion about what we believe. She was shocked to find out that we were very similar to other religions, the only major differences are the Book of Mormon and our restored authority. I didn't even want to go talk to these people assuming they were just going to use us for our welfare program and get the money they need and leave but I am glad my companion decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and trust that these were good people. She knew her scriptures better then me. She knew the bible and when we showed her how the Bible and the Book or Mormon work together in order to prove gospel truths. She loved that! Also our other Golden Investigator lives literally right behind this couple! we stopped be to see her and she was so sorry she missed church but said she was going to be there no matter what next week and is still reading the Book of Mormon. We are seeing some real success here in Petal and the best part is that I shouldn't be leaving here until August or September :)

Other than those two things this week was very much the same as all the others, but that one experience I have yesterday with that couple makes my whole mission worth it :) I mean the blessings that i can bring to help that family, the joy they will be able to share because i was willing to go out and bring the gospel to them. It makes everything i do worth it. Well today is my p-day as are all the days when i write these updates so I want to go do something fun while i have a chance!

Remember this D&C 62:3 "Nevertheless, ye are ablessed, for the btestimony which ye have borne is crecorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you."

When you are talking to a friend or a stranger they might become that golden investigator and love what the church has to offer but they don't know it. The couple above was forced to become humble and call us but through it found the gospel. If we initiate conversation of religion and bear testimony of what we believe that the angels in heaven rejoice! You are blessed and so is the hearer. Testimony is so much more standing up one Sunday a month and sharing it with people who don't really NEED to hear, it the ones who need to hear it aren't sitting in the congregation.

Service and Mothers Day Phone Call

This past week was full of service! All the missionaries in my zone got together on Saturday and worked for 10 hours straight to build a barn for a scout camp. It was very tiring work and the sun was hot and we didn't get even close to what we wanted done that day. We had a lady find us last Sunday at church and say she grew up Mormon but was never baptized she got into drugs but now that she is older she wants to find her way back and wanted to know if we could help her with that haha. We were thrilled to have such an opportunity fall into our laps like that! We are still working on some people and just trying to find people that we can preach the restored gospel to. I wish people would just give it a chance because that is all it would take and the joy that they would find would be amazing. I wish i could open there eyes so they could see all the blessings the our church would bring to them and their families.  We are going to continue working hard and try to find someone that we can share these blessings with.

-Elder Blomquist

*side note*
Joshua forgot to mention that he was able to skype with his family on sunday afternoon (may 8, 2010) for mothers day. He was all smiles and VERY excited to see and talk to everyone! Pictures are on facebook :)

Share The Gospel

The storms haven't been that bad at all here in Petal, but I think the worst of it happens at night and I sleep through everything. Our ward is going to Alabama to help clean up some of the devastation there and me and my companion wanted to go help them but its out of our mission boundaries so i don't think they will let us.  I was really hoping to be able to go and help, it would have been a once in a lifetime opportunity I am sure. We are waiting for a call from our mission president to let us know it we can go or not. Transfers are today and me and Elder Eldredge are staying in Petal together so we are stoked about that and so are the members haha. I am not sure about what happened this week.... Oh we had a golden gator (Golden Investigator) find us on sunday!! She said she was raised Mormon and for some reason was never baptized she later fell away and found us on Sunday asking for a book of Mormon and if we could help her find her way back!!! I thought wow this couldn't have been easier, we were truly blessed because after baptizing Tim we were had one less person to teach but another one came to us directly after. It is amazing to see how the Lord will bless us if we do the right things.  I am excited about mothers day and being able to talk to me family :) even if it has only been 3 months!  I am really enjoying being down in the south being able to share the gospel full time!  It makes me wonder why i was ever worried about sharing it in the first place. I mean what is there to lose? Hey friend i have a religion that can do nothing but improve the quality of your life and bring you closer to your family forever!! Now think about it who would say i don't care if they were a friend? I mean people tell me to leave all of the time but that is only because they know its my job to share this. They think i am doing it because i have to not because I have a sincere desire to share this wonderful message with them because I love them.  The love you feel for people as a missionary is crazy! I love people, just in general is weird because before i didn't love people in fact people really bothered me haha! If anyone wants to share the gospel with a friend but doesn't know how feel free to ask any missionary or e-mail me about it! I know the members of this church themselves will have much more success at missionary work then the missionaries will. Seems like an odd statement? Well it is the truth!!

Well I love ya'll

Elder Blomquist

First Baptism and Happy Easter

We baptized Tim on Saturday and he was confirmed a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints yesterday and also has the aaronic priesthood conferred upon him also. It was a wonderful experience and i am so glad to be a part of it. Our Easter Sunday was great we had four investigators in church and great speakers and a wonderful musical number. They all plan on attending again for many of them this was there first time. We are still teaching Jared the only thing holding him back is gaining a personal testimony of the Book of Mormon. I hope he will continue to try to do so. We are now focusing on teaching Benny who we haven't been able to teach since last week or 2 weeks ago. He works a ton so he is really hard to teach consistently. And various other people that we are starting from the beginning with. We had a wonderful Easter and thank you everyone who sent me something, I really appreciate it. I hope you all remembered the true meaning of Easter and seriously pondered that this weekend.

Thank ya'll for your help and support I really appreciate it!!

Love,
Elder Blomquist

Service is the Work of The Lord

We raked leaves for the mentally disabled girls non-member dad and he was so impressed that he asked us when we were going to teach her. We hope to invite him to be baptized first and then baptize her himself. Things are looking really good for them. He lost is brother and his dad within a month of each other and so his mom is having a hard time also. We were over at there house and I guess his mom is not friendly to anyone at all ever, but she talked to us about everything and then invited us to dinner the Saturday before Easter. When we tell people that know his mom there jaws drop to the floor literally haha. Tehy ask us id she was serious and if we are lying about it. So it was very cool that she did. So that family is very close to being taught and hopefully we can get them all in the temple one day :)

We have another new investigator her name is Taylor and she is very excited about learning about our church. We will be talking to her at a members home and I think that she is a golden investigator.

Tim is set to be baptized this Saturday he has successfully quit smoking and really is a totally different person then when we first found him. Jared we haven't seen in a long time but me and my companion honestly think the only thing that is really holding him back is his fiance who is a member! So that is frustrating.

That sums up this last week. The coming week I am sure will have a lot more for yall :)

The Ward Makes the Mission

Well we had a great week for teaching and if every week was like this last one we would have a baptism every week! Did ya'll know that 80 percent of investigators who attend a baptism before there own will get baptized?! That means if I get 10 investigators to come to e baptism then 8 of them will be baptized! This ward is so much help. I am almost certain this is the best ward on the planet! they are always there and willing to help with anything we need, and are very missionary minded!

Okay this is a random story but I met a pretty neat guy on Sunday. His name was Jimmy if I remember right. He is riding his one speed bamboo bicycle through all 50 states! He started in San Diego and was in Mississippi yesterday. He was a member of the4 church and that is how we found him haha we found this guy sleeping in a sleeping bag outside of the church building this morning. He is super hard core about everything and seems to me to be a really cool guy. I honestly thing that it is a stupid thing to be doing in general for me anyways but oh well. He was a seminary teacher and then went into doing micro loans for people in third world countries. I think that it would be fun to do just because all the cool people that you get to meet. He has a website bamboocyclist.com anyways that all about him i guess I just thought that was a cool person to meet and be able to know i guess haha

Alright now back to the missionary work! We had four people at the bishops twins baptism and then taught a man named Benny who is way legit. He is going against his entire family who is southern baptist to the core! in order to fin out for himself if this might be true. We also had a family reactivate themselves and they have 3 children that we need to teach and baptize so that lucky huh? 3 already set up for us. Tim is still looking solid for the 23rd of this month and Jared I am not sure we haven't seen him in about two weeks, but I think he should be solid too.

Let me say that the ward is what makes an area successful or not and keeps people at church. If all of the people here in the south were still active they would have a temple in Jackson, MS. It ust irritates me that people don't go to church because they don't want to drive that far or wake up that early! I mean I was the same way i guess haha. Help you missionaries! Tracting works but for the amount of houses to knock and the actual success you see out of it is minimal. The success comes from the ward and there willingness to share the restored gospel with their friends and family.

Oh and Transfers are on the first Tuesday of May. So even though i am certain that i won't be going anywhere we never know so refrain from sending letters around that week until I send out an e-mail like this saying that i will be in Petal still. Oh and if you don't intend on writing me once a week but rather one a month then send it to the mission office or home haha i am not sure which but you can ask my mother and she will know.

I will actually write down some of the stories i have for next week but my hands are tired and i have to go play football with my p-day haha

I love ya'll and remember that his church is the restored church of Jesus Christ and nothing will bring you more joy than feasting upon the words of Christ and doing the basics :)

Love,
Elder Blomquist

The Power of The Priesthood

So this was a really good week!! We dropped some of our investigators because they weren't progressing and our time should be used elsewhere. So we only had 2 steady investigators and they already had a date for baptism. Our teaching pool of people was small so we were worried about finding more people to teach. As we prayed together as a companionship for more people to teach this last week we have found 3 more real investigators! They are all very interested and are looking forward to letting us teach them about our church and bringing them closer to Jesus Christ. Prayers truly are answered and I have many more examples of that.

Also this week we were given the opportunity to give 4 priesthood blessings all within 2 days of each other. I think that this conference was amazing and addressed some real problems with priesthood holders. We should never live below our privileges! God the Eternal Father has given us the authority and power to act in His name! Just stop and think about the gravity of that calling. We all take the priesthood for granite and that is inexcusable! We as priesthood holders should use this power to bless the lives of others, the great thing about the priesthood is that we cannot use it to bless or heal ourselves only to bless the lives of others. Did Christ ever use His power for himself? What a wonderful and marvelous blessing the men of the church have and how many of us try to avoid using it? It blesses our lives and the lives of others more than we con possibly comprehend! Utilize this blessing that God has given you and use it as He would have you to use it.

I am so grateful to be on my mission. I can't even explain how much more i have grown this past month! The help I am to people, the blessings I can be for someone just be listening can be astounding. Me and my companion have a really hard time only staying at places for an hour because people do not want us to leave. This old lady her name is Ruby we call her miss Ruby, she says she always feels better when we come to visit. Even if i am not converting everyone i talk to I just want to bless the lives of my fellow men.

People are so open to us as missionaries, I don't know why but i think people feel like they need to tell us everything. We have 2 awesome new investigators and one of them is looking for relief from the past and asked us if church would help? I was so excited to tell her about Jesus Christ and His atonement for us! She is looking for the very thing we have to offer. It is amazing how the Lord works, Like one a the talks in general conference said, "Great blessings are always right on the heels of affliction." How true that statement really is.

On a side not i do not like tracting. It is very awkward, and simply does not work. As a missionary now i can tell you that as members of this church is is your responsibility to make missionary work happen. We can do almost nothing without the help of members! So help your missionaries! The only reason this area is great and having such success is not because of my and my companion but because the members are very missionary minded!

I am having a great time here in the south! It is getting hotter but oh well :) Thank ya'll for y our prayers and support! I love hearing from everyone and I hope this was fun for you to read. Next week will be better :)

Elder Blomquist

Trust in The Lord

Yesterday a less active that we had been teaching was having a hard time. He has a kid about 2 years old and his girlfriend wants to take her to Louisiana with her but he won't have. I thought he was kind of a burn out but his whole entire life is based around his baby and i was very impressed by that. He does everything for his kid hopefully we can get him coming back to church but he asked me to give him a blessing at this hard time in his life and so i did. I must say wow! The power you feel when you are working for the lord in that aspect is amazing. You can feel the spirit burning within you as you say the words that just come. I didn't think about what to say i just said it and everyone was either close to tears or crying. It was one of the top most spiritual experiences of my life for sure. I have had so many opportunities to give blessings and every time I get nervous and worry but then it all works out. I must say i have learned to trust in the Lord that He will guide me in everything I do. My trainer is making me do everything this transfer and although that is really annoying sometimes I am grateful because I am learning so much more than just tagging along.

We taught Jared this last Sunday and it was really good, he asked questions and I honestly think that he wants to know whether or not its true and the best part is that he wants to know for himself. It was great we taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ! Our other investigator Tim is or was a smoking, unorganized spaz but now I have seen the gospel change him. He listens and responds like a normal person, he quit smoking and he is legit! He is having his family members fly in to witness his baptism! I know we will have 2 baptisms this April for sure!! 

Everything is going great out here and i am having a blast I had crawfish for the first time and it was pretty good but that is all we had and its normally a side to the main meal but the best part is when you suck out the brains! We are having a great time out here and everything is going great. I am glad that i get to be out here doing the lords work and i will have more stories for you next week when i have more time :)

I must say that this is what i am supposed to be doing and that I am here for a reason! I know that all the littler things are annoying to here about but that is truly what it takes to stay in tune with the Lord and His Spirit. Prayer is a powerfull thing we can ask your maker for help, guidance, and comfort. If you own father can get you a great gift on this earth imagine the gift the your perfect Father in Heaven is waiting to give you if you just ask. I have had so many of my prayers answered. Just Pray :)

I don't think I have any really crazy stories right now about anything but I will be sure to let ya'll know if i get some :)
 Trust in the Lord!
Love, Elder Blomquist