I am having a good
time here in el CCM. This week has been pretty good. I am ready to leave
here and be out in the Mission field though. There really isn't much to
say about what goes on here. It is the same every week. We have four
progressing investigators and one of them is Elder McKay.
The
best thing that happened this week was yesterday while teaching Elder
McKay or Ryan, his investigator name. We had our first lesson that we
actually felt the spirit very strongly. We didn't do much prep for the
lesson we just decided that we would answer any questions that he had
for us about what he wanted to know about the gospel. He brought up
Joseph Smith and how his friend had told him that he was just a crazy
man that wanted many wives and that wrote the Book of Mormon for his own personal
gain. We were able to teach about Jose Smith and the fact that he is a prophet of God and that through him the gospel was restored. We then
talked about church and Ryan asked why our church was so strange and
different from any other church. Elder Porter then started talking about
restored truths that we have that no other church in the world has. He
brought up Eternal Families. While he was talking about families a
scripture popped up in my head. It was D&C 137 verses 5-6. It talked
about Joseph seeing his brother Alvin in the Kingdom of God and seeing
his parents with him. It is the first time that I know that I was receiving a prompting ever in my life. So I asked if Ryan would like to
live with his family again and he said yes. I then had him read those
scriptures and testified again that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of
God and that without him and without the work that God did through him
we would never have know that we could live with our families again
after death and have the priesthood authority to be sealed together as families. Elder Porter then testified of how that knowledge had helped
him in his life when his aunt had passed away. He testified of the
comfort that the gospel brings and that us as missionaries desired this
for him. It was the most powerful testimony I have ever heard. He
finished with a challenge to pray to know that Joseph Smith was a
prophet of God and that our message is true. Ryan said that he would. I
finished our lesson by promising Ryan that Joseph was a prophet of God,
that I know that he is a prophet because of prayer and because of the
things that I have felt in my life. I promised him that if he would pray
and ask God in faith if our message was true that he could come to the knowledge of it for himself. I promised him that God loved him and his
family and that this gospel was true. After that Ryan asked if he could
offer the final prayer of the lesson. He had always been so shy about
praying but not last night. He wanted to pray and we knew that our
message had made an impact on his life.
This is
why I am a missionary. How can this church and this gospel not be true
when I can feel love for a person that I have never met? How could this
church not be true when I can feel the spirit so strong and have a
desire for the welfare for a person that is only acting as his friend. I
am a missionary because if I can have these feelings and these desires
for someone that is only acting as an investigator, then how much more
will I feel it when I am truly working for the salvation of a soul that
needs the gospel?
I am ready to be out
in the field. It will be so hard and the language will be a struggle but
I know that this work is important work. There is no greater work that I
could be doing at this time in my life. I can not wait to meet the
people of Louisiana and feel the love for them that I was able to feel
for Ryan. I can not wait to see the blessings that the gospel will bring
to people. I want to be the best missionary that I can be so that
through me the Lord and the Spirit may touch the lives of others and
bring them joy.
I leave my testimony with you.
I
know that this church the the true church of God on the earth today. I
know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He truly lived and
died for us. I add my testimony to that of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He
Lives! Because He lives we WILL all live again. I know this to be true. I
know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that through him the
Lord restored his true church on the earth today. I know that Thomas S.
Monson is the true and living prophet on the earth at this time. I know
this because of the power of prayer and because of the Spirit that I
feel in this church.
I promise that all who pray with faith in the Savior Jesus Christ can know this for themselves as well.
I leave you with the scripture John 14:27 Peace
I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth,
give I unto you. Let not you heart be troubles, neither let it be
afraid.
