Feb 2, 2015

This week was busy but rewarding!

We started it off with a nice game of golf last P-day. We get to play for free in Snowflake. I played horribly, but that was expected since I haven't touched a club in months and never played that well beforehand anyway. We're going to play again today, so hopefully I can improve.

We decided to do our exchanges early this transfer, so we were out of town from Monday night through Thursday morning working with other missionaries in our zone. It covers out into Luna and Pie Town, so it's a pretty good drive to be able to visit the other missionaries. The exchanges went really well!

As I did my personal study during those exchanges, I prayed that I would be able to take something from my BOM reading. I did! I read in Alma 60, and in verses 5-12 it talks about the neglect of the armies. I twisted it a little bit and thought of it in a street contacting way instead. Every time we pass someone on the street, we are neglecting their right to hear the gospel AND we're giving the adversary more time to work with them. ESPECIALLY in the mountains, we HAVE to talk to everyone if we want to have teaching opportunities.

When we came back to Snowflake, we did our best to get into the routine again. We took some time to contacts as many formers as we could over the phone and actually got several people to accept lessons again! One of them even came to church!!! The phone is a huge tool that we sometimes don't utilize to it's maximum potential.

We had an amazing lesson with a family who has been inactive for the last several years because their son committed suicide. It was sad to think that they were denying blessings that they need just because of their son's choice. The Spirit was very present and taught very powerfully as we testified of the Plan of Salvation. We were able to share our own stories of how WE came to the knowledge and understanding of the Plan. I don't usually cry during lessons, but a few tears were shed during this one. We invited them to be sealed as a family in a year from now, and they thought for a long time and said they'd think about it.

We were able to deliver some gifts from our Mission President to the Temple and Stake Presidents in the area. It was so peaceful in their homes, and you could easily tell that they are faithful members of Christ's church. We have such great leaders in this area and are extremely privileged to serve with them.

On Saturday night, we had a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader about the work in the ward. It was a little stressful for me, because we felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. It was 9:25 and we told him we had to leave in order to be home by 9:30 (a mission rule). He wouldn't let us go without a piece of pie and a 'quick' visit with his wife. What do we do? We can't be disobedient, but we don't want to be rude to members either. We expressed our desire to be obedient and each took our piece in one bite and left. At church the next day, he was announcing to all the members that they could trust us because we were EXACTLY obedient and that we WANTED to obey ALL the mission rules. It was so neat to hear that from him. I know we made the right decision and gained member trust from it.

I was able to share my testimony in both of our wards yesterday which I really enjoyed. I hope the members will see our dedication to the work and intense desire to do what's right always.

I hope you enjoy your week and ALWAYS think about what the Savior would do. I know that as we model His example, we will be happy.

Elder Pilkington