We had a great week! I want to start off by sharing a miracle that we saw!
On Monday night we were walking over to our investigator Lana's house to set up an appointment because we hadn't been able to get a hold of her on her cell. We dropped by but she wasn't home, so we started walking to another part of our area to contact some people. On our way, a guy pulled up next to us in his truck and started talking with us. He recognized us as missionaries, and asked about our church services. He introduced himself as Jay, and shared with us that he had just split with his wife, and was looking to strengthen his relationship with God. He said that we could come over the next evening and meet with him. That initial appointment fell through, but Elder MacJanet and I decided to drop by him on exchanges a few days later. We were walking over to his house, and just before we got there, we walked past this bush in someones yard with some nice flowers blooming on it. Elder MacJanet stopped to smell it, and told me I should take a whiff. I decided to join him. So here we are out standing in front of Jay's house smelling some flowers (which smelt great by the way) and then all of the sudden, Jay open's up his door without a shirt on, and beckons us over saying, "Gentlemen! Come on in!" and he let us right in! We got to have a nice lesson with him. He was brought up religious, but sort of fell away from it after he was married. He knows quite a few Mormons, and has always loved the church's focus on families. He wanted to know why his Mormon friends were always so happy, and said that he was just looking for more. We taught him about the restoration, and shared with him the Book of Mormon. The spirit was there! He wasn't able to come to church this week, but he's excited to come next week! He's in the process of moving right now, and so I think he'll be moving up to the zone leaders area this week. He's so prepared! He said that missionaries had come to his door many times, but he was never ready to let them in. He said that he's ready now. It was amazing to see how the Lord had prepared him throughout his life! On our way out of the appointment we started smelling the flowers again just to see if anyone else would miraculously let us into their home. No such luck.
Lot's of good things the rest of this week too! We got to do some service for the food bank again! A group of us were around the back of the building picking up trash. There are a lot of homeless people that pass through there and so it get's pretty littered. While we were up there, there was a homeless guy that popped his head up from the corner of the building and asked us what we were doing. We told him we were picking up trash, and he told us to make sure not to throw any of his stuff away. Then he piled all his stuff in the corner and went for a walk. He was a nice guy.
We had Zone Conference this week as well! It was great as always. We talked about the importance of baptism, and a lot of other things we can do to improve as missionaries. We had a discussion on the Atonement at the end. It was a really spiritual meeting. We always leave them more excited to do missionary work!
We had a lessons with Robert this week. He's doing really well! He asked us about what a baptism is like, so we got to talk about that a bit. He's on date to be baptized in September. It's a ways away, but he seems committed to it. He's still coming to church every week, with or without his wife! I think he's started to get to know more of the members in the ward too, which is really good for him.
We got to help out with a stake primary activity this week! The theme was Nephite Ninja's. We got to teach a class about Captain Moroni from the Book of Mormon. It was a lot of fun! The first group of kids were super well behaved, and just the best! The second group was less so. Then we got to help run a little obstacle course for them. Good times!
We also did some service for the Redcliff Museum. Redcliff is a little town right outside of Medicine Hat. We got to move some of their stuff from a storage unit to the museum. I'm not sure I would consider all the things that we moved "ancient artifacts" but it was still fun! And as far as I know we didn't break anything!
Well that's about all for this week. Elder Crawley and I are doing well! We're working hard and really seeing the Lord's hand in the work!
For the spiritual thought, I wanted to share a bit of Elder Oak's talk titled, "The Atonement and Faith"
We tend to think of the results of repentance as simply cleansing us from sin, but that is an incomplete view of the matter. A person who sins is like a tree that bends easily in the wind. On a windy and rainy day, the tree bends so deeply against the ground that the leaves become soiled with mud, like sin. If we focus only on cleaning the leaves, the weakness in the tree that allowed it to bend and soil its leaves may remain. Similarly, a person who is merely sorry to be soiled by sin will sin again in the next high wind. The susceptibility to repetition continues until the tree has been strengthened.
When a person has gone through the process that results in what the scriptures call “a broken heart and a contrite spirit,” the Savior does more than cleanse that person from sin. He gives him or her new strength. That strengthening is essential for us to realize the purpose of the cleansing, which is to return to our Heavenly Father. To be admitted to His presence, we must be more than clean. We must also be changed from a morally weak person who has sinned into a strong person with the spiritual stature to dwell in the presence of God.As we go through the process of repentance, we become strengthened, not just cleansed. That's the purpose of repentance, and the purpose of this life, to change and strive to become more like our Savior. I'm grateful for the principle of repentance, and know that it brings great peace and joy into our lives.
Love all ya'll and hope this week is a good one!
Love,
Elder Moffitt
