It's been a week and
it's our P-day. We just finished putting our laundry in and we have an
hour to write emails and use the comptuers. By the dubs, these comptuers
are disgusting. The keyboards are like covered in some type of soda mucus
and the keys keep sticking to my fingers so I can't spell comptuer right.
So far, learning in
the MTC has been a blessing. Everywhere we go, the Spirit awaits for us
to receive Him. I've learned so much about myself and my Savior that I
didn't even imagine I would ever learn about. One of my favorite things
to learn about my Savior is from Elder Bednar. He shared a story about a
mom who was informed that three girls had recently been involved in an
accident. One of those girls had died and the other two seriously
injured. She immediately called Elder Bednar, who was showering at the
time. His wife picked up the phone and handed the phone to Elder
Bednar. The mom told Elder Bednar what had just happened, and asked him
to go to the hospital and help identify the girls, to make sure that her
daughter was still alive, and to administer blessings if needed. He, of
course, agreed. As the conversation went on, he realized that the mom had
been speaking in two phones, one over each ear. On one phone was Elder
Bednar, and on the other was a nurse from the emergency room where
the girls were being brought. At one point, Elder Bednar overheard the
nurse say that the hospital had received positive ID. The dead girl was
the mom's daughter. What was interesting was that the mom, whose daughter
had died and took the effort to call an apostle from the shower, fell
silent. Then, against all expectations, she asked Elder Bednar to call
the parents of the two other girls and let them know what had happened to their
daughters. Even more bizzare, at the funeral, a woman from the mom's
Relief Society stormed into the viewing demanding the soup that the mom had
promised her because her own son was suffering from a cold at home. The
mom fulfilled her promise and gave the woman's son the soup.
That story, to me,
illustrates perfectly the attitude of the Savior in times of His greatest
anguish. He turned outward instead of inward when the devil tried to test
His divinity when He fasted for forty days. He healed a man's ear instead
of healing Himself right after the painful, physically demanding act of love
that He performed in Gethsemane with the knowledge that one of His followers
had betrayed Him. That is the type of person that I want to be and am
working on becoming.
By the way, my comp,
Elder Vanwagoner, and I have our first baptism. Her name is Shirley and
her son, Owen, is her entire world. When we told her this story, she
immediately asked, "What can I do to 'follow Jesus Christ' like it says in 2 Nephi?" So we
invited her to be baptized and the presence of the Spirit was prominent in the
room. My eyes got tired and they started sweating. In contrast, one
of our investigators has never allowed us into his house and the last time we
were there, we ended up Bible-bashing. Don't do that!!! Learn to
love your investigators! They are on your side! Satan is the real
enemy!!!
Oh! Last Sunday,
my comp and I were called to be the new zone leaders. It's cuz we just
have that experience, ya know? 3 days of experience.
For people who plan on
going on missions, "plan" by reading and praying about the truth
of the Book of Mormon every day. "Plan" by receiving a
testimony of this Church. It is a good church. Also, read Preach My
Gospel and the Missionary Handbook. Memorize the purpose of a missionary
(Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel
through faith in Jesus Christ
and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost,
and enduring to the end), the First Vision in Joseph Smith-History, and the
baptismal invitation.
Pictures will come
later. I have to go check my laundry.
Arielle, have people
write and email me! Send me their emails from Facebook. And also
write me. You're like related to me.
Anyway, I'll tell you
all about the other elders and sisters in my district. They're hilarious.
Love you all!
Elder deJesus
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