Fort Madison Week #5: Strengthening the Members

This was not the most outstanding week Elder Winn and I have had here - at least in terms of meeting new investigators and work related to that - but nevertheless, there is still much to be grateful for. As our work to find, teach and baptize continues on, a companionship sometimes drops investigators that do not progress as they may hope, but then they find new ones! The great thing is that Elder Winn and I have some awesome new potentials to work with later this week, one of them being a retired couple who attended Sacrament Meeting in Burlington (even though they live in our area); they essentially walked up to the sisters that serve up there and said they want to meet with the missionaries, so we are very excited for that. Earlier this week we also met a really cool man named Shawn as we talked to him on the street. It turns out that he actually lived in Mesa for about 15 years while growing up, and since he lived right near Pioneer Park he always went to the Easter Pageant multiple times each year. Talk about preparation from the Lord's end, am I right? We plan on meeting with him tomorrow so I am excited for that as well. As we both continue to find those whom the Lord has prepared for us to teach, I have strong faith that with diligence, charity and love, we will be able to witness miracles happen here in Fort Madison.

As the title of this email suggests though, what I hope to emphasize is that there is a great importance of strengthening the members on the end of the full-time missionaries. Sure, our primary purpose is to find and help those who desire to be baptized, but what good is that work if we do not gain trust with members and work alongside them to build God's kingdom? With that spirit in mind, a good amount of time was spent working with the members this week, and much of that time was spent alongside the other elders serving in the branch as well. This was mainly so since Elder Henderson's 20th birthday was this past Saturday, so several member households had all four of us over for meal appointments to celebrate; we then took the opportunity to share with them the #BecauseHeLives video and encourage them to use it as a simple but effective opportunity to share the Gospel, so hopefully this fosters greater trust with these various members we met with.

The four of us after a meal appointment (I'm second from left).

The other great blessing we all received in supporting the members is that Cheryl, someone who used to be a recent convert but passed her year-mark a couple of weeks ago, received her endowment! All four of us, along with the two elders who originally taught and baptized her, got the change to go through the temple with her. It was an amazing experience for us all, and it was great to see how much joy she had felt from being able to enter the Lord's house and be endowed with power. Witnessing her experience that for herself reminded me of how grateful I am that I have been able to receive those same blessings in my own life as well, and because of that I now have a strengthened resolve to do all that I can to bring the Restored Gospel to others. Sometimes that duty is a very difficult one to fulfill, but with faith, it is a Work of joy and gladness; after all, as Hebrews 11:6 says "without faith it is impossible to please [God]," so I shall do my best to exercise faith in my work. With that, I am glad that the Lord has chosen Elder Winn and I to be the caretakers of His children here in Fort Madison.

Well, that was my week everyone! Transfer calls are coming next week, so I'll keep you posted on what happens. Here's a real quick shout-out to my new-born nephew, Graham: I don't know you yet, but I LOVE YOU! I love you all too!
  
P.S. I mentioned the #BecauseHeLives video early on in this post. Watch it, ponder upon its message, and then share it! Do all that you can to help others experience the joy of the Restored Gospel this Easter weekend.

Scripture of the Week: Alma 42:4 (One of the main purposes of this life is to prepare to meet God, and in order to do so, we have to use all of the time we can get to repent.)


Missionary Advice: General Conference is this weekend! If you know of anyone who could benefit from the words of living Prophets and Apostles, invite them to watch a session or two.

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 30, 2015 at 6:06 PM

    The Because He lives video is great and so excited for conference!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nancy FaceApril 2, 2015 at 9:25 AM

    That's so cool about meeting Shawn, who has attended the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Arizona Temple so many times!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kris FaceApril 8, 2015 at 10:46 PM

    Nice that the members had you over for Elder Henderson's birthday

    ReplyDelete

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