Many Mighty Miracles We Have Wrought in this Land, for Which We Will Praise His Name Forever
Date
July 11, 2016
Area
Flower Mound 3rd Ward
Companion
Elder Jacob Parsons
Many Mighty Miracles We Have Wrought in this Land, for Which We Will Praise His Name Forever
Is it just me or are these weeks getting shorter and shorter?? It is
starting to get on my nerves. I am just starting to get good at this
missionary thing haha, I don't want it to end!
This week was a week full of miracles! We were able to see the hand of
the Lord in our lives and the lives of other people. We reestablished
contact with some investigators that we had lost contact with and we
also found out that a couple were more interested than we thought.
On Monday the whole zone went to a "service activity" to help the town
of Flower Mound out with their independence fest. I have quotations
around service activity because it was really a rock concert haha...
We didn't know about that until after we had already committed to
being there... Just in case you were wondering, the band was
"Loverboy." You probably haven't heard of them unless you grew up in
the 80's. They have a hit called "Everybody's Working for the Weekend"
that is pretty popular. It's a good song! we never heard it that night
though. It was a really interesting night. I did not feel like a
missionary haha. Well, memories!
On Wednesday, we had interviews President Whitney and his wife. Yep,
we got interviewed by sister Whitney as well! It was pretty cool!
President Whitney is like a grandfather. He just kinda fills the
conversation with love and wisdom. He is so awesome! I am going to
love serving under him!
We saw many miracles this past week and I wish that I could write them
all but I don't think my wrists would like that very much and it would
take me forever to write them as well. But I will write a few!
Miracle 1:
Elder Griffin and I found a man named Marco about 2 1/2 months ago. I
have seen him a few times since then with Elder Parsons as we have
ridden through that area but we never stopped to talk to him. Thursday
evening we were on our way home for the night when I had a thought to
take a different street than I normally do. The reason, I thought, was
to check out a persons house that was being remodeled. Well, we saw
Marco and we stopped to say hi. He motioned for us to come over so we
did and we started talking. He asked us a question very early on in
our conversation. His question was this: "Was it you guys who wrote
out the gospel or something in that park down the street in chalk?" We
answered that it was indeed us! Several weeks earlier we had drawn out
the Plan of Salvation in the park just down the street from where we
lived. Apparently he had been walking and saw part of it (the other
part had been washed away a bit by that point.) and was curious. Since
he only saw part of it, he was wondering what the other part of it
was. So, this lead into us teaching him the Plan of Salvation! It was
pretty cool to see that something did in fact come from that day and
that if Marco saw it and had questions then someone else certainly did
as well.
Miracle 2:
When Elder Parsons and I were first companions about 2 months ago, we
were following up with a potential investigator. She did not open the
door but her daughter Christina did. We taught Christina and gave her
a copy the Book of Mormon. She seemed open to it so we got her number
so we could set up an appointment later. We tried calling her but the
number was invalid. We checked and re checked the number we had and
determined that we had not made a mistake. We had dialed the number we
had from her. We have not been able to make contact with them again at
their house. On Fridays we volunteer at a local food bank. This past
Friday there were two teenage girls there, one looked somewhat
familiar. That happens to me a lot so I have learned to just kinda
move on from it. About an hour into us being there, one of them came
over to us and asked if we were Mormon. We affirmed that we were and
then she said that we looked really familiar. Both of us came to a
realization that this was Christina, the girl that we had taught a
while back. We got her right number and now we are all good! That was
a pretty cool miracle for us.
Miracle 3:
Thursday we got a referral for a guy named Nick. Only one problem, the
city was Double Oak not Flower Mound. However, we looked to see if the
street name was anywhere else in the area but it wasn't. We were kinda
confused so we decided we would go and see if it were a typo. When we
go to the street, we realized that the number couldn't be right
either. The range was too high. Well, we decided maybe we should tract
out the street to see if anyone knew Nick. Not to our surprise, we did
not find Nick. However, we did find a less-active man whose dad is a
70 and brother is a bishop.. We are still puzzled on that one but it
somehow works. He doesn't want to be bugged and in fact, some time ago
he actually called President Ames and asked him to tell the
missionaries in this area to stop trying to get in his door. At the
end of the street, and quite literally the last door we knocked or
could have knocked, we met a woman who said that she would love to
listen to us, but was on her way out. She gave us her info and set up
an appointment without us asking. She seemed pretty open to it all,
you wouldn't guess with all the posters that were in here garage, but
she seems like she might be promising.
There were many other miracles that we saw this past week and I am
starting to notice them even more!
To update you on Bradon, our investigator with a baptismal date. We
did not get to meet with him this past week as he and his family are
out of town. So far we are still holding true to that date on July
30th and we're looking hopeful!
As I thought about what I might share as my spiritual thought this
week, I keep thinking about how important it is to keep an eternal
perspective on our lives. In this last General Conference, President
Thomas S. Monson spoke on choices. He said, "It has been said that the
door of history turns on small hinges, and so do people’s lives. The
choices we make determine our destiny." I testify that what he said
there is true. I know that both spiritually and logically. Every
decision we make in this life, has repercussions in this mortal state
and in the life to come. We invariably will make many, many mistakes.
Some very serious and some minor. We have been granted the gift of
repentance to be able to help us overcome those sins. Eternal
perspective is important because when we don't realize that our
decisions determine our destiny, what we may want to do now can
negatively affect our ability to end up where we want to be – with
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. On the flip side, when we understand
that decisions determine destiny and that our lives swing on the small
hinges of our everyday choices we can become more aware of the choices
we make. I have recently been able to understand on a new level how to
apply the enabling power or grace of Jesus Christ's Atonement.
Understanding and knowing about the Atonement is so crucial to having
an eternal perspective. When we understand that the Lord does not
expect immediate perfection but he expects improvement, we can be less
hard on ourselves. We can be patient in our afflictions and
temptations. We know, that as we try to apply and live the gospel, we
will be blessed and gradually have the power to overcome and we will
be changed. That is what the grace of Jesus Christ is about; change.
"The changing power of the Atonement isn't immediate as we would like
it to be. It happens over time. Just as a river forms a canyon, the
Atonement will shape us in many different ways. It will wear down the
places in the rock where it is weak until they ultimately disappear
all together. Of course, it takes time for this to occur. A titanic
canyon cannot be formed overnight. So it is with the Atonement. We
must be patient as we allow it to shape us and submit to our fathers
will. When we do so, we will begin to see a marvelous change take
place within ourselves. As long as the river is flowing; as long as we
are actively and faithfully applying the Atonement in our lives, our
weaknesses will disappear."
I also really love the scripture in Mosiah 2:22 that says, "And
behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and
he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should
prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath
said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and
prosper you."
I promise you, as Christ would if he were writing this email to you,
that if and when you keep the commandments of God, you will have the
spirit of God with you and you will be continually changed and
purified. If you don't know how to ask for and apply the changing and
enabling power of the Atonement, be patient. Keep seeking. Keep
trying. The Lord, in His due time will reveal the way to you and teach
you. The Lord can only bless you as much as you are prepared for so
prepare and open yourself to the many blessings that are there for
you. You will feel the love of God more prevalent in your life. I am a
witness of the reality of this promise and that is why I know that you
can experience this too. I love this gospel. I love this work. I love
the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I love the words of the prophets
both modern and ancient. I don't care if people slander Joseph Smith
or Thomas S. Monson or any of the other prophets or scriptures. I have
come to know that the are TRUE! And I am here to bear witness of that
reality. I have really felt the spirit of the Lord with me this past
week and I am starting to feel it more and more. I am also learning
how to keep it with me, recognize it's promptings and letting it guide
me. I am loving this experience and I don't think I have ever felt
this peaceful about my standing with God than I do now. I love this
work! He truly is wonderful to work with and for! I love Jesus Christ,
my Lord, my Savior and my King.
I love you guys.
Keep the Faith and Hurrah for Israel!
Love, your missionary son and brother, Elder Jefferies
starting to get on my nerves. I am just starting to get good at this
missionary thing haha, I don't want it to end!
This week was a week full of miracles! We were able to see the hand of
the Lord in our lives and the lives of other people. We reestablished
contact with some investigators that we had lost contact with and we
also found out that a couple were more interested than we thought.
On Monday the whole zone went to a "service activity" to help the town
of Flower Mound out with their independence fest. I have quotations
around service activity because it was really a rock concert haha...
We didn't know about that until after we had already committed to
being there... Just in case you were wondering, the band was
"Loverboy." You probably haven't heard of them unless you grew up in
the 80's. They have a hit called "Everybody's Working for the Weekend"
that is pretty popular. It's a good song! we never heard it that night
though. It was a really interesting night. I did not feel like a
missionary haha. Well, memories!
On Wednesday, we had interviews President Whitney and his wife. Yep,
we got interviewed by sister Whitney as well! It was pretty cool!
President Whitney is like a grandfather. He just kinda fills the
conversation with love and wisdom. He is so awesome! I am going to
love serving under him!
We saw many miracles this past week and I wish that I could write them
all but I don't think my wrists would like that very much and it would
take me forever to write them as well. But I will write a few!
Miracle 1:
Elder Griffin and I found a man named Marco about 2 1/2 months ago. I
have seen him a few times since then with Elder Parsons as we have
ridden through that area but we never stopped to talk to him. Thursday
evening we were on our way home for the night when I had a thought to
take a different street than I normally do. The reason, I thought, was
to check out a persons house that was being remodeled. Well, we saw
Marco and we stopped to say hi. He motioned for us to come over so we
did and we started talking. He asked us a question very early on in
our conversation. His question was this: "Was it you guys who wrote
out the gospel or something in that park down the street in chalk?" We
answered that it was indeed us! Several weeks earlier we had drawn out
the Plan of Salvation in the park just down the street from where we
lived. Apparently he had been walking and saw part of it (the other
part had been washed away a bit by that point.) and was curious. Since
he only saw part of it, he was wondering what the other part of it
was. So, this lead into us teaching him the Plan of Salvation! It was
pretty cool to see that something did in fact come from that day and
that if Marco saw it and had questions then someone else certainly did
as well.
Miracle 2:
When Elder Parsons and I were first companions about 2 months ago, we
were following up with a potential investigator. She did not open the
door but her daughter Christina did. We taught Christina and gave her
a copy the Book of Mormon. She seemed open to it so we got her number
so we could set up an appointment later. We tried calling her but the
number was invalid. We checked and re checked the number we had and
determined that we had not made a mistake. We had dialed the number we
had from her. We have not been able to make contact with them again at
their house. On Fridays we volunteer at a local food bank. This past
Friday there were two teenage girls there, one looked somewhat
familiar. That happens to me a lot so I have learned to just kinda
move on from it. About an hour into us being there, one of them came
over to us and asked if we were Mormon. We affirmed that we were and
then she said that we looked really familiar. Both of us came to a
realization that this was Christina, the girl that we had taught a
while back. We got her right number and now we are all good! That was
a pretty cool miracle for us.
Miracle 3:
Thursday we got a referral for a guy named Nick. Only one problem, the
city was Double Oak not Flower Mound. However, we looked to see if the
street name was anywhere else in the area but it wasn't. We were kinda
confused so we decided we would go and see if it were a typo. When we
go to the street, we realized that the number couldn't be right
either. The range was too high. Well, we decided maybe we should tract
out the street to see if anyone knew Nick. Not to our surprise, we did
not find Nick. However, we did find a less-active man whose dad is a
70 and brother is a bishop.. We are still puzzled on that one but it
somehow works. He doesn't want to be bugged and in fact, some time ago
he actually called President Ames and asked him to tell the
missionaries in this area to stop trying to get in his door. At the
end of the street, and quite literally the last door we knocked or
could have knocked, we met a woman who said that she would love to
listen to us, but was on her way out. She gave us her info and set up
an appointment without us asking. She seemed pretty open to it all,
you wouldn't guess with all the posters that were in here garage, but
she seems like she might be promising.
There were many other miracles that we saw this past week and I am
starting to notice them even more!
To update you on Bradon, our investigator with a baptismal date. We
did not get to meet with him this past week as he and his family are
out of town. So far we are still holding true to that date on July
30th and we're looking hopeful!
As I thought about what I might share as my spiritual thought this
week, I keep thinking about how important it is to keep an eternal
perspective on our lives. In this last General Conference, President
Thomas S. Monson spoke on choices. He said, "It has been said that the
door of history turns on small hinges, and so do people’s lives. The
choices we make determine our destiny." I testify that what he said
there is true. I know that both spiritually and logically. Every
decision we make in this life, has repercussions in this mortal state
and in the life to come. We invariably will make many, many mistakes.
Some very serious and some minor. We have been granted the gift of
repentance to be able to help us overcome those sins. Eternal
perspective is important because when we don't realize that our
decisions determine our destiny, what we may want to do now can
negatively affect our ability to end up where we want to be – with
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. On the flip side, when we understand
that decisions determine destiny and that our lives swing on the small
hinges of our everyday choices we can become more aware of the choices
we make. I have recently been able to understand on a new level how to
apply the enabling power or grace of Jesus Christ's Atonement.
Understanding and knowing about the Atonement is so crucial to having
an eternal perspective. When we understand that the Lord does not
expect immediate perfection but he expects improvement, we can be less
hard on ourselves. We can be patient in our afflictions and
temptations. We know, that as we try to apply and live the gospel, we
will be blessed and gradually have the power to overcome and we will
be changed. That is what the grace of Jesus Christ is about; change.
"The changing power of the Atonement isn't immediate as we would like
it to be. It happens over time. Just as a river forms a canyon, the
Atonement will shape us in many different ways. It will wear down the
places in the rock where it is weak until they ultimately disappear
all together. Of course, it takes time for this to occur. A titanic
canyon cannot be formed overnight. So it is with the Atonement. We
must be patient as we allow it to shape us and submit to our fathers
will. When we do so, we will begin to see a marvelous change take
place within ourselves. As long as the river is flowing; as long as we
are actively and faithfully applying the Atonement in our lives, our
weaknesses will disappear."
I also really love the scripture in Mosiah 2:22 that says, "And
behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and
he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should
prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath
said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and
prosper you."
I promise you, as Christ would if he were writing this email to you,
that if and when you keep the commandments of God, you will have the
spirit of God with you and you will be continually changed and
purified. If you don't know how to ask for and apply the changing and
enabling power of the Atonement, be patient. Keep seeking. Keep
trying. The Lord, in His due time will reveal the way to you and teach
you. The Lord can only bless you as much as you are prepared for so
prepare and open yourself to the many blessings that are there for
you. You will feel the love of God more prevalent in your life. I am a
witness of the reality of this promise and that is why I know that you
can experience this too. I love this gospel. I love this work. I love
the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I love the words of the prophets
both modern and ancient. I don't care if people slander Joseph Smith
or Thomas S. Monson or any of the other prophets or scriptures. I have
come to know that the are TRUE! And I am here to bear witness of that
reality. I have really felt the spirit of the Lord with me this past
week and I am starting to feel it more and more. I am also learning
how to keep it with me, recognize it's promptings and letting it guide
me. I am loving this experience and I don't think I have ever felt
this peaceful about my standing with God than I do now. I love this
work! He truly is wonderful to work with and for! I love Jesus Christ,
my Lord, my Savior and my King.
I love you guys.
Keep the Faith and Hurrah for Israel!
Love, your missionary son and brother, Elder Jefferies
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