Hello! This week has been fairly interesting but it also feels like I wrote you all yesterday so bear with me as I attempt to figure out what happened this past week and put it all into words put together for your viewing pleasure. You are welcome to read them as well as look at them, but, rest assured, the words will be beautiful nonetheless.
So at the end of last preparation day we went as a district to this museum called pitt rivers. Basically its a museum of all kinds of things from all over the world. There is everything from shrunken heads to ancient weapons to a massive totem pole that is three stories tall. There are so many cool things to look at that I have still not seen everything and that was my third visit there.
I had the chance to go on exchange with Elder Dos Santos. He is from Brazil and he is a pretty cool guy. We had a pretty good time.
Okay, I am going to be honest with you here. I really can't think of a whole lot to say about my last week. It is not that it has not been amazing or that I have not had cool experiences. It's simply because so much of what I do is the same thing every week. Therefore I don't really have new things to write about that much. So yeah. That is kind of where I am at. I will continue though.
We were able to meet some cool people this week, one of them being a south African guy who wants to turn his life around. He says he wants to make changes but he also says he does not want to change. So we will see what happens.
Sunday was great. We were supposed to have a lesson with our south African friend but he decided to not show up or answer our calls. So that was a bit sad. We did have a munch and mingle after church and it was really fantastic. There were so many people there and there was so much food. The people here are so kind and I am able to meet so many people from so many different places and I just count myself blessed to be able to learn so many things from so many different cultures and people, all while getting to love and serve others. it means the world to me and I would not trade it for anything. It was a super long day though because we were at the chapel for 8 hours. We just had different meetings and we had different things to prepare and it just was a long day. Good day, but long day.
Monday we had a lesson with a student here. Long story short, he is not interested and thinks that we are walking a path "straight to hell". So that was interesting. What he said did not even bother me. I have read the Book of Mormon. I have prayed about it. I know it to be the word of God and I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet who restored the Church of Christ to the earth through the power and proper priesthood authority of God. I know it. I cannot deny it. In the end, as we share these things with people, they have a choice whether or not they would like to test what we say and see if it will actually bring them closer to Christ. I respect whatever choice people make. What I love is how we as humans are capable of listening and remaining firm in our own beliefs. We can be open and we can hear people out, but we do not have to be driven about with every opinion that is thrown at us, but that we can stand firm with an open mind and still hear people out. Regardless of what people say, I am just grateful I have the chance to hear what people have to say and understand them more.
Okay so now we have made it to tomorrow. It was a bittersweet day. We had our last zone conference with President and Sister Gubler. Skip the rest of this paragraph if you don't want zone conference spoilers. Anyways, it was our last zone conference with them. They gave us really good life advice and we just went through everything they felt we should know moving forward in our lives. they are such wonderful people. I love them so much. They talked about all of the simple things we should always carry on doing, missionary or not, and how they will help us grow. They also gave us mementos for the ending of our mission. I still have 14 months but I will either be a missionary in the England London Mission or the England Birmingham mission. it feels weird to think that. There were missionaries there yesterday that I won't see again for at least 14 months. Some of them I met my first week in the mission. We talked then about how they would be going home in 9 months. It feels so weird to think that nine months has just passed like that. I am so grateful for the friendships I have made with the missionaries here and the things they have taught me. We are definitely approaching the end of an era. As sad as it was, I also took some time to reflect. I have really grown a lot in these past months. I have been taught much and I have acted on what I have been taught. I am happier. I am more patient. I am more faithful. I am more grateful. I am more humble ;-) (but seriously I am). I am more of who I am meant to be. Being a missionary is amazing and I am so grateful I had President and Sister Gubler to help me on the beginning of my missionary journey.
British Food of the week - malt Wheaties: a cereal that is made of malted wheat
British Thing of the week - so at buffets, you only use one plate
Scripture of the week - Mosiah 2:20 focus on the things it says God has done for you and think about how they apply. That is what I have been trying to do more.
Companion Comic - Elder Man loves badminton and he has been finding way too much pleasure in killing the massive amount of flies in our flat with his racquet. It is extremely impressive though. Also, I think it should be made known that I laugh so hard everyday and it is so difficult trying to remember every funny thing
I am doing really well. This email was really scattered but eh that is how my thoughts are today. Shout out to Elders Rhee, Still, Allen, and Lopiano for such a blessed OG Plymouth reunion yesterday. those were the days.
Also I just remembered something cool. I actually went through London to get to zone conference. Fun stuff! I will include a picture. but yeah it was great and I love trains but do not love getting home at 10:30 but the train rides are always amazing. I feel like I underdelivered on my promise that the words would be beautiful so I will share President Gubler's parting advice:
"Know who you are, know who He is, and know that [I] love you"
Elder Finnegan Alexander Clemmer McKinley
Belief is the reason we go on a mission. It is the motive for preaching about Christ and sharing/Proclaiming his love. Faith is understanding we are children of God and our Heavenly Father. May this definition of faith bless you in your life. Faith is defined again and because faith has an inherent joy it gives us a solid foundation that we finally have the peace we have been searching for.
ReplyDelete"Many believer's feed themselves on what God hasn't done. When I dwell on what hasn't happened, I create the atmosphere for the spirit of offense to arise and to thrive. When I dwell on what hasn't happened, I legitimize unbelief. I live with a sense of justification, for not believing God.
Faith in the purest sense is the ceasing of resistance. even when there's no physical evidence, when the other evidence is present. Not feeding ourselves on what God hasn't done Faith in it's purest form is the absence of resistance
Heaven is a place where everyone is celebrated, some are more honored but everyone is celebrated. All men and all women shall be judged on the light which they have received. Heaven is a permissible culture. God's nature is eternally permissible. These statements protect us from credit.
Faith in the purest sense is the ceasing of resistance, even when there's no physical evidence, when the other evidence is present. Not feeding ourselves on what God hasn't done. Faith in it's purest form is the absence of resistance. Faith doesn't deny a problems existence, it denies it's influence. He or she was someone whom aridity and desolation never disturbed for he or she had a deeply rooted, and a vigorous faith.
Now we can act as we have always dreamed. Now we can act as we have always been. Now we can step into the light and gather the sunlight instead of blocking out our possibilities. Instead of blocking out our joy. Variety will bloom in/under the sun. We can show off our best, we can enjoy other people's gifts. We can blossom where we stand upon the joy that faith provides us. Upon the joy that faith inherently has, which blossoms the entire field of flowers"
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDYaxabUfkA - The Definition of Faith