My new companion is Elder Searle! He is from Burley, Idaho and has
been out 18 months! He reminds me of my trainer because he is a huge
basketball/football player. He is a way cool guy and we have been
working well together. He is still adjusting to the YSA atmosphere but
it's fun.
Well Isabel passed her interview! She is super excited for her baptism
on Saturday and she has family coming from California and Mexico. It's
crazy how rock solid her testimony has become these last few months.
She said that she felt the spirit several times whenever she was
around her friends, but just never recognized what it was. She finally
asked her friends if she could come to church with them, and the rest
is history! Now she is an awesome missionary and she hasn't even been
baptized yet. We are way pumped for her.
So Valentine's Day was hilarious, but the funniest part was last night
when we were about to teach our Investigator Jake. He is dating a
member of the church, Ashley, and right before our lesson he decided
to propose. Unfortunately, he didn't quite get down on one knee before
she pushed him down on the ground and yelled at him because she
thought he was joking. He laid there for a while feeling rejected and
like a failure, and then whipped out a ring and she said yes. It was
probably one of the most awkward experiences of my life. Then we
taught them the Law of Chastity lesson (basically our beliefs on
avoiding sexual relations before marriage). Haha weird night.
We also saw our neighbors get busted for meth a few nights ago! That
was nuts. Don't worry mom, the area we live in isn't the sketchiest
I've seen here. It's pretty sad though how much we see drugs and booz
destroy families.
Last week we had some trials with some Investigators but we worked
through them. It is always comforting to me to now that setbacks
aren't signs that God doesn't care, but just that he has a different
kind of plan for these people than perhaps we had thought. Maybe it
takes them longer to accept the true and restored Gospel and be
baptized, but if it helps them down the road to be stronger
individuals then what's the worry? What I'm learning everyday is that
God's will is infinitely better than our will 100% of the time. While
we can't wait around and hope for his will to be accomplished, we have
to embrace the struggles that come as we do our very best to overcome
them with guidance and help from God.
I'm also learning how simple the Gospel is. The funny thing is that
most of the time it's ourselves who make it so complicated and "hard"
to live. In the Book of Mormon, a prophet and King named Benjamin
said:
"And behold, all that [God] requires of you is to keep his
commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his
commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary
from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his
commandments he doth bless you and prosper you."
(Mosiah 2:22 - http://www.lds.org/scriptures/
I think God wants to bless us all the time. But I also think it's
often ourselves that keep those blessings from coming. I know that the
whole purpose of the church and gospel is to bring lasting happiness
to everyone on earth. And it does! I love it, and I love sharing it!
I love each of you and hope you are well and safe and happy and had
plenty of sugar on Valentine's Day! Have a fantastic week!
Elder Collin Christensen
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