Well Family,
Obviously it's Kenna's Birthday. I love you Kenna, you're amazing! I'm going to try and send you something soon. I don't have your address, so I'll have to get it.
This week was pretty good, but full of administrative stuff again. It never goes away, but such is life. Sam Munson is back in town after being gone for 6 weeks in Iowa. It was great to see him again. This week we taught Paul several times. We went over to his apartment for lunch and to meet his roommate, which was good. He is still doing really well. His faith is amazing. He still has his hesitations, his moments of doubt, but he is going forward with what he knows God is leading him to. We had several good lessons with him where we were able to clarify some questions he has and clear up doubts. It's been amazing teaching Paul. He truly is elect (by definition: In D&C it defines the elect as those that hear the voice of God and harden not their hearts.) In one of his prayers, Paul asked Heavenly Father to bless him to grow in faith and have the courage to do what he knew he needed, even if it was different than what he had been taught all his life. He wasn't able to make it to church this week because he woke up sick, but we'll be teaching him several times this week, and we'll push his baptism back a week. It's been great!
We have been working with Kelsey Murray (Recent Convert) to invite one of her friends that we tracted into, named Katie, to come to an appointment with us. She is setting up an appointment so that when Katie's schedule clears up, we'll be able to meet with her. We and Kelsey both think that Katie will progress really well. We taught Greg Jones again this week, and he's doing ok. He expressed to us one of his concerns was that his dad did not take it well at all when his sister was baptized, and so he's worried what will happen if he does so as well. We challenged him to talk to his dad and he said he'll think about it. Hopefully he has the faith and courage to do so. We met with Hassan, a former investigator of the area from Sudan. He is really having a hard time with knowing his family is living in a war-torn country full of genocide. We talked to him about the peace he needs coming only through the gospel, through Jesus Christ. He should be meeting with us more often now.
We were able to meet with Josh Buxman, Sister Ballentine's (Peakview Ward) husband. We had invited them a few weeks back to take the missionary lessons, and he said he'd think about it. We talked with him again this time, and he expressed to us his beliefs and how he did not want to be caught up in only one congregation and limit himself. We discussed his beliefs and he held a lot of the same beliefs as we do. It was a great discussion, and we think there's a lot of progress to be made there.
Things will be changing pretty soon. A week from now I will be getting a new companion, pretty much for sure. Elder Stanger goes home on August 23rd, and will probably be going to boulder for his last 10 days after the transfer. We will no longer be covering the Peakview Ward after the transfer, and the University Ward will be growing a ton in the next few weeks. Things are going really well here in Greeley!
This week, my testimony has been one of love. We were able to watch one of the bible videos for FHE in the Institute, and it was the video of the Sermon on the Mount. What a powerful sermon--there is none like it. It says: "And behold it is written also, that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; But behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good." I came to a big realization as I read this scripture. If we don't love our enemies, and find charity for those who don't reciprocate the love, then we aren't living up to be the children of God we were meant to. Charity is a divine Godly attribute, and as children of God, we have been blessed and inherited divine attributes. We are left to dig beneath the natural man and let the dormant divinity within deliver us. We were designed to be full of love, full of charity, and if we do live up to that potential, we are becoming the children of God we were created, meant, and designed to be. We were not sent here to fail, but to find ourselves, to come to ourselves. He loves perfectly, and one day we can too. I love Him, and love being able to be his servant at this point in my life. The Gospel is what will bring true happiness, and true peace. I love it.
Love,
Elder Logan Bryan
No comments:
Post a Comment