Hello Family!
Oh dad and his shopping kicks... gotta love 'em. Well i didn't buy a coat so that's good. Actually the weather here has been holding up nicely for us. It's been in the high 70's this last week so i haven't even had to wear my suit coat lately. Hopefully it stays good for this coming week as well. The colors are starting to change here and it is really beautiful. Also pretty much all of the corn and beans are being harvested so it's becoming even more flat now, if you can believe it. Aside from thermals and a coat i am good for winter.
The work is going good. There is a plaque in story city that says something to the effect of here in 1950 or something, nothing happened. And that is still pretty much true. But this week we have had a lot more finding opportunities. We now have one progressing investigator as well. His name is Billy. He has come to church the last 2 weeks in a row which is excellent. We have been teaching him about once or twice a week and he always feeds us dinner when we go over so that's good as well. He says that mainly he just wants to learn more before he gets baptized, so that really isn't a definite yes or no answer but i have good feelings about him. Another investigator, Collin, is almost to the point of progressing. He works at McDonalds and so he is usually working on Sundays and can't come to church. But the last time we sat down with him we taught him about prayer and finally commited him to pray about the book of mormon. We are meeting with him again tonight so we'll see how it goes. In Story City, their is a bible camp. And they have been open this last week. So some people have been sending their kids there. At the camp they spend a couple of hours a day specifically role playing and training how to combat mormons. So there have been quite a few people coming up to bash with us on the streets as we walk around. It can be annoying but all we do is bear testimony that what we know and teach is true so they can't really combat with that. I've been getting to know the branch members a lot better. They continue to feed us really well plus they usually stick around church for a little while after it's over so i get a chance to talk with them their as well. This last week at church was a full house. It was awesome to see the building full. We actually had to set up more chairs in the back. I don't know what this week offered, but a lot of less actives showed up.
Well it sounds like the birthday scene is really coming alive this week. And i hadn't heard that Cody got his mission call. I am stoked! Thank you for telling me. Serving missions is great. I've already learned so much. I can definitely see why it really is the best 2 years for your life. A member of the branch shared a story of when he was at work he was listening to conference and the choir started singing i am a child of God when a co-worker came in. It was just that easy to get her looking into the church and asking questions. We really can learn a lot from the music of the church and it's one of my favorite things about conference. This week i was looking for a hymn that you could teach one of the lessons as a missionary on. I found that you can teach the plan of salvation through the hymn Lead Kindly Light. In the 1st verse it says "the night is dark and i am far from home." That is like birth. We forget the light and brightness of our heavenly home and come to the dark and dreary world. Then it says "keep thou my feet; i do not ask to see the distant scence. One step enough for me." During our earthly life, we should be content and willing to just take one step at a time. We don't know everything, and we can't see everything that is going to happen. The light that is leading doesn't illuminate the whole path, just the next step in that path of life. And the light does exactly what it says: leads. It doesn't push, pull, or follow. We still have the choice of whether or not to follow the light and let it lead. We shouldn't be afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still. We still need to walk forward and take the next step. So what exactly is the light that we should be following? In Psalms 119:105 it says: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." The word of God will lead us where to go. And that is where the General Conference tie in comes in to play. Also the scriptures. In the song it says: "lead kindly light amid the encircling gloom." That sounds like it could be quite familiar to Lehi's vision. And what was it that led the people to the tree of life and through the mist of darkness? The iron rod... aka the word of God. The scriptures and prophets are our directions of how to get through life.
But during this life at some point in time we will mess up. We don't "pray that thou shouldst lead me on." Or we let "Pride rule our will." But thanks to repentance we can "remember not past years" and move on and get back on a path that the light can lead us on. And then in verse 3 it tells us of our triumph in life if we continually follow the light. "So long thy power hath blest me, sure it will still lead me on o'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till the night is gone. And with the morn those angel faces smile, which i have loved long since, and lost awhile!" The light will continue to lead us on until we die, or until the morn comes and the night is over. Then if we are righteous those angel faces will smile and welcome us with open arms to live for eternity in the presence of God and our families. And that's how you can teach the plan of salvation through Lead Kindly Light.
No comments:
Post a Comment