August 18, 2010
Well hello everyone,
Sorry this is coming a day late but p-day got shifted back to Wednesday for this week. Yesterday we had Zone Conference and we got to hear from Elder Ringwood of the Seventy. I will get back to that in a little bit. This week was definitely a hard one. We have been having such great success and but I knew this week was coming. It is the middle weeks of August and everyone is getting their final vacations out of the way and doing the last things before school starts. Needless to say there were not a lot of people home. Also this week a heat wave hit Vancouver so it has been hot and humid all week. Like between 90 and a 100 with 50%+ humidity! We were hot and muggy all the time. We were tracking how far we rode our bikes this week and we came up with almost 70 miles. It was hard. It may seem like I am just complaining and looking at the bad stuff but underneath all the heat and hard work we had a lot of great experiences. We were able to get in contact with this less active family that we have never been able to catch before. We had a good talk with them about their feeling on the Church. They were really hesitant to talk to us at first but we asked questions and got to know them better and they seemed to open up towards the end of our meeting. Elder Hoskin and I have been working on that a lot lately. It is amazing how a well placed question can bring up concerns or start a conversation that can lead to investigators making a lot of progress. We didn't really see a lot of investigators but they are doing great.
Another thing that Elder Hoskin and I have been focusing on is the ‘finding’ aspect of the work. We were reading ‘Preach My Gospel’ and doing our weekly planning and noticed that a lot of the people we are teaching aren't really what we thought they were. It made us really take a step back and realize that we need to find more people to teach. As we have made a better effort this week it is amazing the people who have been placed in our path. We have like eight new potential investigators. It is an amazing blessing. We don't really have anyone right now that is super close to baptism but we have a few that are really starting to progress. We have been more straight forward with them and found out concerns that we never would have thought about. As you can tell we did a lot of evaluating this week and looking at how we can do better. I have noticed that since I started training, I have been looking at my personal efforts and have been trying to refine those efforts so that it will help set a better example and help our companionship be more effective. When we are unified and are doing our best the Spirit is there. This was a great week for Elder Hoskin and I to work together and strengthen each other. We laughed a lot and worked hard all day, every day. (I don't know if the laughing was just because of the sun or if they were good times… maybe a little bit of both).
So like I said, Elder Ringwood came and spoke to us yesterday. It was such an amazing training. We also were able to hear from President and Sister Greer. Elder Ringwood went over the story of Phillip and when he taught an Ethiopian. We were asked "who will declare His generation?" As missionaries, we are declaring His (Christ's) generation. We are teaching people about the Atonement and how we can always return to Him no matter what choices we have made. We also had a great activity about Alma 26:22. It was the cause and effect of missionary work. When we have faith, repent, bring forth good work and pray continually, our Heavenly Father will reveal the mysteries of Heaven unto us, give us revelation and we will bring thousands of souls unto the Gospel. I think that is a pretty great promise if we do those simple things. One thing that Elder Ringwood said that I really liked was that when we are not obedient, we cheat ourselves out of revelation. In a work that is all about receiving guidance from the Spirit, it is key that we are obedient. We are not only cheating ourselves but we are cheating those people that are waiting out of a chance to hear the gospel. One missionary asked him a question about helping people progress. The Elder was given a simple answer… "We all have agency. Are you happy God gave you agency? He loves each of us and gives us that gift. We need to do all we can to help them feel the Spirit and then it is up to the investigator to make that choice." We need to make that choice for ourselves and be obedient so the Spirit can be with us.
As you can tell it was a humbling week but it was one of those weeks that helped me grow a ton and helped Elder Hoskin and I learn to be patient. Just as in Alma 26:27, they were about to give up and go home but the Lord told them to go back, to be patient and work hard and they would have success. That's what we had to do this week too. We may not have taught a ton of lessons but that is not what makes a successful missionary or week. It is when you honestly say that you gave your best effort to find the elect, to follow the Spirit and do all you can to build up the Kingdom of God. (D&C 11:6). I mean look at the bright side, ‘could be worse, could be raining’.
I love you all so much and hope you are having a great week. Stay close to the Lord, don't cheat yourself out of revelation and keep standing as a witness of Christ at all times and in all places. Replace fear with faith, light with dark and live without regrets. I don't know exactly when school starts for everyone but if it starts soon good luck. Thanks for all you do and remember to stop seeking the storms and look for the sunlight in our lives.
Love you;
Elder M. Scott Draper
P.S. To the Family:
Love you all and have a great week. P-day is back on tuesday next week so watch for my e-mail then...
Be safe and know I love you!
Your brother… and remember, there ain’t no mountian high enough, ain’t no valley low enough, ain’t no river wide enough, to keep me from getting to you. HAHA!
Happy Anniversary to you, Mom and Dad! Also to you Deni and Nick and a big old happy birthday to Deni. Love you tons.
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