Just Do it

"People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do." - Louis Cass

I heard a story while I have been out here about a man that was struggling early in his life. He had no one to turn to and didn't know what to do. His friend gave him a number to call of someone that might be able to help him out. He called and this person was able to able him. He didn't just say that he will do something but he actually went out and did something for this man. And for two years, this man had his struggles, and for two years, this other man helped him out, always had his back. Eventually this man was able to get on his feet again, and he started to make the right choices in his life and make something of himself.

       The man that helped him didn't just say you can do this, but he helped him for two years, he is an example of how you can change people by what you do. After two years, the struggling man had so much respect for the man helping, that when he was asked to go to the Hill Camora pageant, he knew that he should go, he didn't want to let him down. After going to the pageant, and realizing what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is all about, he decided to ask for the missionaries.

     We can all make a difference in someones life. If we go out and show people how to follow the savior and be an example to how we should be, we can make more of a difference than just saying and telling people how to do it. Be an example and let your light shine forth!

Book of Mormon challenge

     It is the end of transfers, so yesterday we had a transfer meeting. This one was much different than any of the other ones that I have been a part of. This one was a mission wide transfer meeting. All of us went to the Hill Camora to hear what our mission president had to say. We sat in the pavilion right on the hill, which is a pretty special moment to have every missionary there on the hill to talk about the Book of Mormon, especially since that is where the Book of Mormon was found.

      Earlier this year we had Elder Costa of the quorum of the seventy come to our mission to talk to everyone. During the time that he was with us, he gave some promises regarding miracles that would happen within this mission, if we showed forth the faith and actually believed that such miracles could happen. For our mission is no different than that of of those in the Book of Mormon who went and taught the Lamanites. So our Mission President, in his efforts to help these miracles come forth, has challenged all of us, as companionships, to read the Book of Mormon all the way through within one transfer. That means we will have to read 13 pages per day, everyday. Miracles can really happen if you put faith into what you are doing.

      Right before I came out on my mission, I had a similar goal. I was going to read the Book of Mormon as fast as I could. I spent every hour that I had to read the Book of Mormon, Day and night. When I woke up, I began reading as I ate breakfast. During lunch I read, and even during the whole night I read. Whenever there was available time, I read the Book of Mormon. I figured that I was going on a mission and I had better read again the book that I was going to be teaching about, and know it better than I had before. I finished reading the Book of Mormon in less than a week. I believe it took me from Monday morning to Saturday night.

    So what did I gain by doing that. More than I have realized, and yet I still realize what that did for me. I went into the Missionary Training Center with a knowledge of the Book of Mormon already. I was able to learn more because I already knew a lot through reading it. I know that it has helped my testimony of what I believe, and given a better ability to teach about the Book of Mormon.

    So what can you gain from it? I know that you can gain the same as me. Anyone who reads the Book of Mormon and puts faith to what they read, and follows what the Book of Mormon teaches, will have a greater faith in Jesus Christ and will have blessings and guidance and comfort that they never knew they could have or feel. We had a promise from our mission president regarding missionary work by reading the Book of Mormon and using it more fully. And the Book of Mormon contains the promise that everyone will be blessed as well. Try it and see what will happen if you read the Book of Mormon all the way through.

Facebook

     What is the image that we put ourselves into. Today everything that we do can be seen by everyone else. Now I have never been one to try and hide the things that I do. If people want to know what I do, then I will tell them. If asked about a situation, I will give you a straightforward answer. I don't want someone to get the wrong impression of who I am other than what I really true. As a missionary, I am seen and heard by many. There is a lot of people who know who I am, and what I do, and everyday that image increases. I have all these people that see me in person face to face daily, and I want to let them know who I am, and what my values are. But how many see me virtually, through facebook. Believe it or not, my image is broadcast all over the internet as well. And regardless if I am a missionary or not, I want people to know my values.

         So now there is thousands of people who have seen my image and know who I am, yes thousands. The real question is how many of them know my values and who I am. I would hope to say that almost everyone that I have met knows who I am, and what my values are. There will always be the occasional few that I never told who I was, and later I always felt bad that I never told them who I am. Because I know who I am, and I want everyone to know it as well. My image is in everything I do, including facebook, whether being a missionary or not, whether my home account or my mission account. If I choose to live the life that I have chose; to be a Mormon, to follow Jesus Christ, I want to let everyone know who I am. I don't want to hide anything, nor do I want anything to hide. What I post on facebook is seen by everyone, and can lead people away from what is right if I am not careful.

     If you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or are thinking of becoming one, or even just a good christian person that is following Christ, I challenge you to not let foul communication come forth from you, whether from you mouth, or from your fingers to the internet. Let your image be clean and be an example to everyone around you, let you light shine forth. If we choose to follow the example of the savior and his teaching more than ever now, the blessings that we can receive will be more than what we ever would expect. Be clean and let your little sins be swept away.

What I believe, What I know

There is a question, almost everyone will ask, whether it is out loud, or whether it is just in the minds, "Where did I come from." At some point, I believe that everyone will think this question, I did. I am a person who wants to know, to see, to feel. But this question is one where we will just have to have faith in. We have the words of the prophets, old and new, and all of them testify that there was a creation, that we existed before. So I must have faith in the words of the prophets, and I know that they speak the words of God upon this Earth. For now, this shall be my answer and I shall believe. I also know that at some point in the future, I will know...

http://lds.org/pages/we-lived-with-god?lang=eng

HANDS DOWN THE MOST IMPORTANT THING

A TESTIMONY


Listen to a recent convert from Rochester, New York. Listen to what the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has done for her life. Listen to her share the most important thing to her. Listen and Gain your own. I have, and I KNOW, and thousands more have, and they know. Listen to what the words of Christ can do for you.

Help Wanted:

Help

This has been an eventful day so far, and it is only three o'clock. By eight this morning we were already out of the apartment on our way to help one of the families in our ward. She had asked us to help her move the large things our of her house to her new home. So we called our ward mission leader and off we went. I am not sure how many houses we have helped move in or out since I have been in Rochester, but I know that it is has been quite a few. After we got all the things that she needed taken to her new home, we went straight to Cameron's community service to help them out with their food services, which today was a cook-out with hot dogs and sausages, for all in the neighborhood that needed something to eat for the day. We do this at least once a week and it is always fun to talk to the people there and help them with whatever they need us to do.

The message today is service. Already today we have given six hours of it. And to honestly look back at it, I enjoy the time that we are out doing something. The more that we are looking out for our fellow men and women, the more we are living the gospel of Jesus Christ and not just saying it.

Weekends!!

     Everyone always looks forward to the weekends. Whether it's for the party that is going on at your friends house that weekend, or the trip that you are taking to your cabin to go snowmobiling or four-wheeling, or even snowboarding. Whatever it is, the weekend is always something to look forward to.

      On my mission I look forward to a different type of weekend. The weekend I look forward to is the one where there is someone who has accepted a change into their life and is choosing to follow Jesus Christ and be Baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. These are the types of weekends that I look forward to. I went to Niagara Falls this weekend to be a part of a baptism for a man that I had helped teach over there. He is a great person, and I loved teaching him and spending time with his family. Just like John 3:5 says, " Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God," He has made that decision, and I am so happy that he has made such a choice. Choices are placed in our paths everyday, not every choice brings great happiness into your life, but this is one that will make all the difference and bring eternal happiness into his life.

♬♪ Have I Done any Good in the World Today? - Mormon Tabernacle Choir ♫♭

by the small and simple things are great things brought to pass. I have passed by many small opportunites to help someone out everyday. I wish I could take some of those times back, but rather than dwell on the past of things I can't change, I will focus on the future, and make someone's day brighter.

The More the Merrier !!

     This is game is so much fun when you get a lot of people to join in and play! Especially when you get most of the zone, which just means the missionaries that are near you, to play. Isn't that how it usually is, The More the Merrier ! So what is the game? Capture the flag! My companion and I showed up a little late for the start of the game because we went with two other missionaries and played golf in the morning. Now when I was back at home, I golfed all of the time, I had a season's pass for a couple of years running, and started to get pretty good, and had some fairly good scores. But when you come out on your mission, and you play golf only here and there, so far it has been twice for me, you sort of lose your touch. It was good for not playing in a while. I had some pars and one birdie, it was just the other holes that kind of did me in. But all in all, Golf is always fun. After we finished our game, and got a little burnt from the sun, we went and played capture the flag. All is fun until someone gets hurt, which of course it what happened. there was stairs going down into the other teams area, and one of the players was running down them, and he tripped and hit his head on the concrete wall to the side of him. there was a little blood, and it was a scary moment for everyone, but it wasn't as bad as we all thought. It was just fine later, but we decided to end the game, just so no one else would get hurt in this concrete jungle of an areana that we were playing in.

      There was a couple of things that I thought of with these two events. First of all was the golf that we played. When I say that it is harder to do the things that are right in the game of golf when you haven't played in a while, the same goes for gospel. When you don't practice the things that make you a better person consistantly, when you go out and try to perform, it is always harder to do it the right way. If we want to be great parents. great friends, good neighbors, if we practice, we will be successful. There is a qoute by Ralph Waldo that goes along well with this, it says, "That which we persist in doing becomes easier – not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do so has increased." – Ralph Waldo. I really lilke this quote, and from learned experience and one thing the my former boss used to say, "it's not that you are not very good, it is just that you need more experience." That is a very true statement for everyone. If you get down on yourself for not doing it right every time, realize that those who do it right, usually have a lot of experience, and some people take longet than other to reach the needed experience. The longer and more experience I spend doing the right thing, no matter what it is, the easier it will become.  And like capture the flag, we are always trying to reach a goal, in that case it was the other teams flag, but for life it could be going to church, or reading the book of mormon, the two main things that we as missionaries strive our hardest to teach people to do. When we do these things and persist in them, we are blessed  from the lord, and he will look out for us. And as you consistantly do these things, it becomes easier and easier to do it week after week. As we try to do the things the Lord has told us to do consistantly, we will be blessed and all things will work out for our own good. Put your trust in the Lord and do what is right.

    The update on Samatha, we have seen here a couple more times and we have talked to her a little bit. She didn't come to church with us this week because she had a lab for school at that time. We are also meeting with her today, which will be really good. The only bad thing about it all is that she will be moving tomorrow and we may never see her agian after that. Hopefully she will take the step and contact the next missionaries where ever she goes. Once again you never know what can happen when you act on the prompting of the spirit and just open you mouth and say hello, and put words into action. Like the post before, " In their shoes, " you never know what could happen with the regular "Hello."