Hey what’s poppin fellas! I hope you’re all doing quite well. I am doing well myself. This week was pretty dope so let’s just get right into it.
Guys, President is joining
Getting to Work
Other Mission-type stuff
Guys. President is joining.
So as you guys can probably tell, I like to have fun haha. Don’t worry, I am working super hard, but I like to have fun along the way. I have worked harder this week than ever, but also laughed harder this week than ever. Man so many hilarious things going on. But anywho, I take great pleasure in pranking people. So we were doing a zoom call on Elder Powell’s phone, which meant that my phone was still available. Then a spark of brilliance came to my mind. Using my phone and zoom account, I changed my name to “Trevor Bell”, which is our mission President’s name, and then changed my profile picture to his main mission picture too. Then, I joined the meeting on my phone as him. The sisters who were hosting the meeting freaked out. They were like “Guys. President Bell has entered the waiting room.” and then everybody started scrambling to prepare themselves mentally/spiritually/
Then they let me in the meeting. I joined without video, so all they could see was President’s profile pic. They were like “Hello President!”. I waited a couple seconds to add suspense. Then, with my face up close to the camera, I turned my camera on and was like “HELLLLLOOOOO”. Haha! It was great. I got them so good.
Getting to work
But yea this week was super dope. I have gotten really good at taking initiative and just full sending on things/opportunities trusting that God may have a plan in mind. Anyways, so a couple of months ago when I was a young chap in the CCM (MTC), I sent in my weekly about Frieda and Urijah, two amazing people I met while doing summer sales. I had reached out to them during CCM and had made some good interaction, but since then haven’t really heard from either of them. Well this week I was thinking about that, and decided it was time to grow up and get to work. We don’t let moss grow under our feet when the Lord is involved. And now, since I’m in the field, I have the tools I need to connect them with their exact areas.
Using google maps, I spent a little while exploring the neighborhoods down in Lancaster CA and was able to track down both Frieda and Urijah’s addresses by memory. Then using our mission tools, was able to get a hold of the missionaries in both of their areas. On the phone they were like “how did you find them?” and I was like “so I did summer sales down there and using google maps tracked down their addresses”. They were pretty hesitant. I was like “I’m 90% sure they’re the right houses, just go and knock”. Haha and luckily, they were the right house's! Both Frieda and Urijah have been contacted and it’s going great! I’m super hyped. I’m so grateful for all these tools that are helping spread the work like wildfire. As Kip would say, “I loveeeeee technologyyyyyy.”. That’s been in my head quite a bit too this week.
Other Mission-type stuff
But man, I am loving it right now. I really missed Frontenac at first, but now I am just vibing here. I love the boonies. The people here are amazing! A little bold sometimes but they are all great. I gave another talk in church and may-or-may-not have accidentally used some slang in my remarks. Then we had a lesson with a member after and they high-key roasted me for using certain words in my talk. So that was awkward. If any of you are offended/confused by my slang, I sincerely apologize. But everyone is super straight-forward which is dope. Helps us qualify better. But yea Shelina and her kids are making great progress! They have become some of my best friends, and accepted an invitation for baptism on December 28th! So I’m gonna meet with them three times a week until then. Super hyped for them! And Debra is getting baptized on Saturday so we’re super hyped for her as well! She’s had a really rough life, especially lately, but I’m really excited for her baptism and for her to feel the joy that comes from it.
As a missionary, I am always striving to redirect people with their questions back to God. The only difference between our church and any other, is that we have God’s stamp of approval, so why would I waste time trying to convince someone of something that is true when God can tell it better to them than I ever could? If our church really is true as we claim it to be, people should be able to get their answer from God, not me. I can and should help of course, but as missionaries, we are nothing. God needs someone here to do the work, but nothing we say will convert anyone to Jesus Christ. It’s the Holy Ghost that does that, and the Holy Ghost that inspires us what to say so they can feel of it’s presence. But, we can’t teach by the power of the Holy Ghost if we aren’t being obedient, hence why it’s so important to be exactly obedient. I love the mission handbook so much! These “rules” aren’t rules at all, just opportunities for us to recieve blessings! It’s the best. But yea so when I teach people I really try to emphasize the importance of asking God about if it’s true. It’s shown great success. I love some of the responses we get. I did the same thing with Debra and she said that she just felt “warm fuzzies inside” haha. She also said that she always wants that feeling, and I told her that she is on the path to getting there. Which is so true. Nothing brings greater satisfaction in life than does diligently striving to live the commandments of God. It’s cool to start seeing that joy show in others.
We’ve also found a lot of potentials in this area. The members are fire and we have a lot of work to do. We didn’t pick any of them up as news this week because we were so focused on telling everybody about Light the World! Which, you all need to participate in it! But yea, work-wise, we are doing fantastic.
And want to know what the craziest part is? We are basically in quarantine! Illinois has new rules that basically for the next little bit we can’t see other people. So for the past week we seldom left our apartment, and this next week will be the same. Quarantine is no excuse for holding back on the work of the Lord. Yesterday was one of the busiest days in the mish for me, and we didn’t leave our apartment once. Just saying, whether stuck in the apt or not, service/mission opportunities are everywhere.
Technology is the best idea ever. Instead of spending a ton of time and gas going to a members home, we click two buttons for a zoom call, and then right when that ends we can hop onto another one. It’s just so efficient. God is a smart lad. His ways are much higher than our ways, and I’m grateful that as a church we are better understanding the importance of missionary work and how to be most effective in it.
But yea I felt the spirit big time this week. There’s this Book of Mormon song called “How Can I Be” that was the highlight of my week. I was listening to it and just felt the tears coming so hard. I fought them like a man, but boy it was difficult. I know the stories in the Book of Mormon are true.
Another highlight this week was listening to “Praise to the Man - Folk Song” by Steven Sharp Nelson. I started whimpering during this too. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet. Praying for the day when I can shake his hand and thank him for all he did for this Gospel. What an incredible man.
People all around the world recognize that our church is a powerful influence for good, but at the same time, they deny Joseph Smith. You can’t accept the revelations and deny the revelator. The reason our church is so good is because of the divine revelations Joseph Smith recieved through Jesus Christ. I hope you guys can see that.
But yea that’s basically it for this week! We are doin pretty well. It’s crazy how fast the days go by. Feels like in one motion I wake up and then am back in bed. I’m starting to freak out realizing how fast life moves. Literally feels like just a small moment ago I was in 2nd grade fighting with this kid about whether or not Santa Clause was real. I knew he was fake, because my parents had told me that from the beginning, but this poor chap thought he was real, and I felt it my duty to explain it to him. Well things got out of hand, and finally I went to my teacher Mrs. Anderson to ask for a second witness. When I told her about the situation, she looked uneasy, and didn’t want to get involved. Then the kid who thought he was real and other kids in my class teased me for not believing in Santa. I was outraged.
Not sure why I shared that story, but point is, life is moving way too fast. After elementary school, I was so excited for junior high. Went to Albion middle school for 6th grade, and absolutley hated it. Then for the next year, I decided to go to Churchill Jr. High for 7th grade. Feels like just yesterday I was 5’0’’ walking through the halls looking forward with great anticipation for the day when I could be an SBO like my big brother Joseph. Then, in a blink, I was there. The year flew by, and then I was in high school, sitting in the back of the band room with my brother from another mother watching bowling videos during class. Then suddenly I was a senior, looking forward to a dope senior year, and just as quickly as it started, covid broke out and it was over. Then I was knocking doors in the hood of Cali, and it felt like I would never leave. Then I was gone, back home waiting for my mission to start. Then I was at my computer in the CCM with my boy @Elder Hansen, then suddenly in Frontenac MO, and now I’m here in the boonies. I cannot even fathom how fast this has all happened. It’s exciting, but also a little frightening. Next thing I know I’m gonna be married with 40 kids on a pig farm in Kentucky. It’s wild. I am learning more and more every day that we need to find joy where we are right now. Too often we look back at old memories and wish we were there, not appreciating the moment that we're in right now. Reminds me of a scripture in Jacob 7:26-
“..the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream…”
This whole mortal life thing is just one big, confusing, exciting dream. One day we’ll all wake up in the eternities and have the same thought of “man, it’s over already?”. Then we’ll return with joy and thanksgiving to our Heavenly Parents who most graciously sent us on this mortal journey that taught us to much. I’m so grateful for life and for all that it has brought me. Some talks I would recommend to y’all would be “Our Great Adventure” by Dieter F. Uchtdorf (October 2019), and “The Great Plan” by Dahlin H. Oaks (April 2020). Perspective on life becomes a lot clearer when we better understand who we were before this life, and who we’re capable of becoming afterwards.
Sorry for the rant! Have a good week hermanas! Sorry if you’re offended by my slang! Email me if you so desire.
No comments:
Post a Comment