Let's see here, lots of change took place this week. The best news is that we got a senior couple in our area! The Scotts, recently living in Utah, but they are from SoCal. They were cops with the LAPD and man are they powerful people! This is their second mission and I can already tell that they are going to help the unit here grow by leaps and bounds.
We also got a new Branch presidency and everyone I wanted to be in it is in it! Woo, the work here is just primed to explode. I'm so excited to see what the next few weeks will bring.
We tracked about 20 hours this week it seems. We made a ton of new contacts, so I'm hoping that we can knock a few less doors each day and teach instead haha. Of course you always have to be finding, but it's fetching hot here, so more then an hour at a time turns into a bit of a drag.
Yesterday after the baptism the Scotts told us they heard of a less active member who lives on the border of Mozambique who needed a blessing.... so what did we do? We loaded up the car and made the two hour drive to deliver. On they way there, Sister Scott (her first day driving on the right side of the road) dun crashed the car.... needless to say.... I drove home. Ha
After 9 months of abstinence I have failed. I was at a members house, they offered, and I accepted. Oh man.... I dun played with guns. It made me happy. I figure that rule in the hand book is only for the elders who are not a professional such as I... Uhm. But that's not exactly doctrine so don't quote me on that. :)
Life is going good. This morning I read the entirety of Numbers in the Old Testament and man does it have some crazy stories! From a talking donkey to a group of rebels inside the camp. Crazy. My favorite one though is as follows. A prince of the Jews takes a local woman into camp as a concubine. Aaron's son hears of this,takes a javelin and as they are uhm... In the act... he kills both of them with a single stab. Fetching crazy, and I'm very grateful that God is a bit more lenient with us today. I'm pretty sure the world does not contain enough javelins to deal with all of the going ons in our day. And what is the moral of said story? Don't sleep with a harlot, and don't turn your back to the tent door. Ever. At least that's what I got from it, what Moses' intent for writing that story I'm not so sure. Maybe he just wanted his writings to be as weird as possible. Probably not, because he was inspired....but yeah. Probably should end this whole thought process.
Life is amazing, I say this every time, but I'm not sure I've ever been happier.
And yes the whole Les Mis thing was internalized denial of the highest proportion, but that's okay. It's over now haha.
Thanks for the thoughts on Isaiah, it still makes no sense to me. Life is hard haha. However, there is a verse in 1 Nephi when he is quoting Isaiah (I don't have my scriptures so can't give you the reference) that I like. It describes how the refiner's fire makes us purer. I've realized that if you look at tribulation and hardship through the lens of knowing it is for your benefit (most of the time) then trials, temptations, and hardships are a lot easier to pass through. Not sure why I told you that but there it is.
As I said, I forgot my scriptures and it appears my inspiration is broken so there will be no spiritual thought for the week...sorry.
It's crazy to look back on the past 3 1/2 years and look at the changes that have taken place. From a not so good period of my life to being so happy I want to skip down the street. Well figuratively, I'm pretty sure I'm still to lazy to skip. But the point I'm trying to make is that the gospel is pretty dang amazing. Too many people see it as only being able to help at certain points of their life and fail to realize it is designed to better all aspects of our existence, whether we are currently rich or poor in spirit or as to things of the world. I've spent many an hour pondering Christ's atoning sacrifice for us and it is crazy to think about the sad state we would be in without it. I'm not sure I've ever told the people involved in bringing the gospel to me, but I'm so grateful for them.
My dad told me that my grandpa passed away a few days ago. Looking back on such experiences in the past is hard; they were debilitating. I couldn't handle the concept of death, but as I read that ,I was actually happy and smiled a bit. Now, I do not delight in his death of course, I already miss him, but I'm filled with the hope and knowledge that I will see him again one day. And what I look forward to almost more then that is the opportunity I, or a loved one, will have to take his name to one of God's holy temples and act in proxy for him. I'm not sure who reads this, but that probably won't make sense to a few of you. If you'd like to learn more there are funny looking guys that walk around in white shirts and have a black name badge that came help you understand.
This gospel has brought about a mighty change in my life, and without it I don't even want to imagine where I'd be. The greatest proof that I can think of that this is the church of Christ is to just look back four years ago. Anyone who knew me then knows I'm not at all the same person now, and nothing short of the power of God could have gotten me to this point. I was reading in the Book of Mormon the other day the following passage:
" For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in darkness. He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation. Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price. Behold, hath he commanded any that they should depart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance. Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden."
I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us. We do not see everything from Their perspective so at times it may seem hard to believe, but They never have and never will forsake us, it's we who forsake ourselves. The thoughts I shared may seem random, hopefully you can understand. I'm typing on an iPad so it is a bit difficult.
Not sure what else to say, I just received a phone call and that ruined my train of thought. The gospel is true. Live it.
I love y'all a lot, I hope all continues to be well.
Wait, was that a spiritual thought after I said there would be none? Awkward.
Elder Kelly McClellan
This is one of the best letters that I've ever read. What an awesome missionary, convert, and all around individual.
ReplyDelete