The Chronicles of Arlington 1st Ward
Date
August 17, 2015
Area
Arlington 1st Ward
Companion
Elder Trent Reynolds
The Chronicles of Arlington 1st Ward
Dear Familia!
This week we had some pretty interesting things happen. There is no structure to this email so bear with me!
We did not get to tour the stadium on Monday as it was closed to tours for some exhibition which someone failed to notice. So instead we just played basketball and scatterball at the stake center which was still fun.
I passed my four months which means I am 1/6 done :( But it is ok, because I know I'm learning, it doesn't always seem like it but it is line upon line precept upon precept!
Well, to sum up this week we knocked a ton of doors trying to get in contact with formers and referrals and I mean a lot of doors. We didn't get answers on the majority of them so yeah, that was basically our week. We did go on some really fun exchanges though with members! Brother Green is pretty awesome and we went out with a 92ish year old who served in WWll and is still driving! his name is brother Smith and he is just the best. Our dryer broke so we jerry rigged it to be able to start which was pretty fun. I will send the video on how we discovered that as well.
There were some spiritual experience this week as well. We tried to stop by to see Michael but he was asleep. His step father Billy answered the door instead. The moment that he opened the door I knew we were there to teach him. So we did! He seemed pretty open about it all even the Book of Mormon. When people are open about the Book of Mormon it usually means one of a few things: 1) They're actually open and willing to hear what you have to say 2) They are the people that say God and church are in your heart so it doesn't matter which religion you say you are, we all worship the same God. 3) They are just being polite. So we taught him about the Book of Mormon and set a return appointment for Friday but he ended up not wanting to come out because he confused us with the FLDS church and thought that we had multiple wives. Sadly, Billy has not yet given us the chance to explain that that is a break off of our religion and the doctrine behind our history with polygamy.
We have been doing a lot of referral and former investigator contacting which means that we have been knocking a lot of doors and also getting no lessons taught. It seems as if more appointments have fallen through this past week that I can remember taking place so far! But, we did have a success! His name is William. William is a former investigator and he is very humble and open. We set up an appointment with him and we went back and taught The Restoration. We extended the invitation to be baptized and he accepted so we set a baptismal date for the 19th of September. We will have four Baptismal dates for September if things go according to plan. All this time during the lesson, we both had the thought repeatedly come to us that he will go on a mission. When we got out we both expressed that we had this thought and figured that we would do all we can to make that happen. I really think that would be so cool if that were to happen!
It was during the evaluation of this lesson that I realized that I needed to go over the lessons in Preach My Gospel again because I had missed some points and retaught some principles. When I realized that I was humbled fairly quickly. I drove the rest of the way to our apartment in silent contemplation on what I had been doing: not teaching to the best of my potential. Now, I certainly know that I will not always teach to the very best nor will I attain perfection but I had expected myself to be better than that. I felt pretty disappointed in myself to be honest. We got back to our apartment and planned for the next day. When we went over to the leasing office to use the wifi to sync our areabooks, I got an email. When it was Elder Reynolds turn to sync I glanced over the email. It was from someone very dear to me and it explained that she had been feeling a little lonely at times. She also went on to see the positive side of things and encourage me! She told me that everything is alright and that there are other reasons that God has in mind for us at different points in our lives. Because of the timing of that email, I knew that God knew exactly what was going through my head and He knew exactly how to show me that he was still there caring for me. I hadn't even realized that what I was feeling was loneliness.
I can promise you that God knows you individually. I have felt of His love and care for me and I know that I am not the only one He cares about. For God so loved the WORLD He gave His only begotten son. I know that God is loving. I know that He wants what is best for us and even though we stumble a lot, we can overcome through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We have been given the principle of repentance to better ourselves and to learn from our mistakes. The power of the Atonement is real. If youever feel that you are alone or that you cannot make it, that you are the only one that has ever felt this way I assure you that you are not correct.
"He will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."
He will help you. He can help you. He stands at eh door and he knocks. All you need to do is let Him in and help you.
So I am going to do what a missionary is really good at and follow up with each of you and I o-honestly expect and answer. How has your scripture study been going? Are you saying your daily prayers? Are you reading as a family? ;) If not I invite you to evaluate what you have been doing, and how you can make it better. After you have thought about it go to the Lord and ask Him for help in achieving that goal and yes, I will be following up with you! ;)
I love each of you and I pray for you. I love hearing your stories and your experiences and I am so glad that all is well!
Hurrah for Israel and Keep the Faith!
Your missionary son and brother, Elder Jefferies
This week we had some pretty interesting things happen. There is no structure to this email so bear with me!
We did not get to tour the stadium on Monday as it was closed to tours for some exhibition which someone failed to notice. So instead we just played basketball and scatterball at the stake center which was still fun.
I passed my four months which means I am 1/6 done :( But it is ok, because I know I'm learning, it doesn't always seem like it but it is line upon line precept upon precept!
Well, to sum up this week we knocked a ton of doors trying to get in contact with formers and referrals and I mean a lot of doors. We didn't get answers on the majority of them so yeah, that was basically our week. We did go on some really fun exchanges though with members! Brother Green is pretty awesome and we went out with a 92ish year old who served in WWll and is still driving! his name is brother Smith and he is just the best. Our dryer broke so we jerry rigged it to be able to start which was pretty fun. I will send the video on how we discovered that as well.
There were some spiritual experience this week as well. We tried to stop by to see Michael but he was asleep. His step father Billy answered the door instead. The moment that he opened the door I knew we were there to teach him. So we did! He seemed pretty open about it all even the Book of Mormon. When people are open about the Book of Mormon it usually means one of a few things: 1) They're actually open and willing to hear what you have to say 2) They are the people that say God and church are in your heart so it doesn't matter which religion you say you are, we all worship the same God. 3) They are just being polite. So we taught him about the Book of Mormon and set a return appointment for Friday but he ended up not wanting to come out because he confused us with the FLDS church and thought that we had multiple wives. Sadly, Billy has not yet given us the chance to explain that that is a break off of our religion and the doctrine behind our history with polygamy.
We have been doing a lot of referral and former investigator contacting which means that we have been knocking a lot of doors and also getting no lessons taught. It seems as if more appointments have fallen through this past week that I can remember taking place so far! But, we did have a success! His name is William. William is a former investigator and he is very humble and open. We set up an appointment with him and we went back and taught The Restoration. We extended the invitation to be baptized and he accepted so we set a baptismal date for the 19th of September. We will have four Baptismal dates for September if things go according to plan. All this time during the lesson, we both had the thought repeatedly come to us that he will go on a mission. When we got out we both expressed that we had this thought and figured that we would do all we can to make that happen. I really think that would be so cool if that were to happen!
It was during the evaluation of this lesson that I realized that I needed to go over the lessons in Preach My Gospel again because I had missed some points and retaught some principles. When I realized that I was humbled fairly quickly. I drove the rest of the way to our apartment in silent contemplation on what I had been doing: not teaching to the best of my potential. Now, I certainly know that I will not always teach to the very best nor will I attain perfection but I had expected myself to be better than that. I felt pretty disappointed in myself to be honest. We got back to our apartment and planned for the next day. When we went over to the leasing office to use the wifi to sync our areabooks, I got an email. When it was Elder Reynolds turn to sync I glanced over the email. It was from someone very dear to me and it explained that she had been feeling a little lonely at times. She also went on to see the positive side of things and encourage me! She told me that everything is alright and that there are other reasons that God has in mind for us at different points in our lives. Because of the timing of that email, I knew that God knew exactly what was going through my head and He knew exactly how to show me that he was still there caring for me. I hadn't even realized that what I was feeling was loneliness.
I can promise you that God knows you individually. I have felt of His love and care for me and I know that I am not the only one He cares about. For God so loved the WORLD He gave His only begotten son. I know that God is loving. I know that He wants what is best for us and even though we stumble a lot, we can overcome through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We have been given the principle of repentance to better ourselves and to learn from our mistakes. The power of the Atonement is real. If youever feel that you are alone or that you cannot make it, that you are the only one that has ever felt this way I assure you that you are not correct.
"He will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."
He will help you. He can help you. He stands at eh door and he knocks. All you need to do is let Him in and help you.
So I am going to do what a missionary is really good at and follow up with each of you and I o-honestly expect and answer. How has your scripture study been going? Are you saying your daily prayers? Are you reading as a family? ;) If not I invite you to evaluate what you have been doing, and how you can make it better. After you have thought about it go to the Lord and ask Him for help in achieving that goal and yes, I will be following up with you! ;)
I love each of you and I pray for you. I love hearing your stories and your experiences and I am so glad that all is well!
Hurrah for Israel and Keep the Faith!
Your missionary son and brother, Elder Jefferies
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