Hello to Cali from the MMM!!!
It has been an awesome week!!! VERY stressful i must say. Because my companion is our district leader, we go on companionship exchanges at least once per week. So while he is doing district leader business, i have to do all the planning for like half of the days and sometimes i have to take over the area. Because we do more driving for these things, that means less driving and more biking! lol. but thank goodness that the humidity is dying down! That is a tender mercy from the Lord. haha Pretty overwhelming as a new missionary. But it was a humbling experience and i didn't do as bad as i thought that i would because i relied on the Lord for help. So this whole district leader deal is keeping both me and Elder Baker on our toes but we are hanging in there!!! he was pretty humbled and honored to hear that he would be a district leader.
So here is the scoop of what has happened in Eagan. We stopped by Victor last Monday. He is a potential investigator who has been struggling with finding a job. I cant remember what he does for a living. Anyways, We went over there and he has a desire to have faith and patience in the Lord, but he is more concerned about the craziness that is happening in the world. Like we would be ready to teach him and then he would go on and on about the riots in London, the status of the economy, and what not...We are praying that he will see that these things don't matter in an eternal sense because "if it isn't ok, then its not the end yet." There is a video that we committed him to watch on Mormon.org. it is a video that he relates to. It is titled "Hope Ya Know, We Had A Hard Time." It is based off of one of Elder Cooks talks. It is about a man who gets laid off and is really struggling because he doesn't know how he will support his wife and kids. As he was pulling into his driveway, he notices an old man, who is his next door neighbor, that is struggling with taking his trash can to his garage. This man has had health problems. So then the younger one goes and helps out the elderly man and they both just look happy after that. Service can really heal us of sorrow. The medicine for our sorrows is helping out our fellow neighbors who are burdened perhaps more than we are. Its an amazing video and i encourage all to watch it. So back to the work: Me and Elder Baker tried something new for planning on where to proselyte. Its called inspired contacting. So we would pick a general area to tract and write 7 streets w/ crossroads where we feel inspired to go. Then we would compare our results. Everytime we did, we had at least one of the same streets. It was so cool to see that we wernt choosing our own preferences but choosing what the Spirit was telling us. The power of the Holy Ghost is SO REAL! Sister Hampton is a less active member. We almost got her to church last Sunday but the members that were supposed to call and give her a ride never called her. Elder Baker and I were very disappointed. Less active members deserve special attention to both full-time missionaries and member missionaries. Members are VITAL to missionary work. Thats something that worries me about the ward here, that members arent all that excited about missionary work. Support the missionaries wherever you are and help them out because they really need it. The missionaries cant do this great work of God alone!!!! Take advantage of every missionary opportunity as members! We got a new investigator on Friday! her name is Bridget! she isn't the most solid investigator because she isn't willing to change her religion but she has A LOT of faith in Jesus Christ and is willing to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We just need to help her receive that witness from the Holy Ghost and to find the desire to act upon this witness. We are praying for her. On Saturday, we went on a blitz with the elders in Cottage Grove (WE traveled to cottage grove). The point of blitzes is to help double the effort in an area. So 1 hour of proselyting would really be 2 for 2 companionship's in an area. We got them a pretty solid potential investigator. Her name was Lindsay. It wasn't all that easy to talk to her because she was appealing to the eye. LOL. Elder Baker did most of the talking and I just helped out but she was VERY willing to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. the Cottage Grove missionaries were VERY grateful. Other than these things we have had a few potentials drop us while we picked up on a few more so ill be sure to give you all the report on that next week.
So here is my spiritual thought for the week: I was feeling like i wasn't quite as in-tune with the Spirit this week when i taught. So i thought about it and why that was. I prayed and nothing came. So then i came across an answer to my prayers from a quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks that says: "Each of us is influenced strongly by our own desires and preferences. We may even mistake these influences as the ratification or prompting of the Holy Ghost. It is therefore significant when we feel prompted to do something contrary to our personal preference. That is good evidence of authenticity. Conversely, a feeling that seems to confirm a person in some action he or she strongly desires should be received with caution and subjected to more than one test of validity. In that circumstance a person could well ask himself, 'Am I humbly submitting myself to the will of my Heavenly Father and asking for his guidance, or am I proudly submitting my will to my Heavenly Father and asking for his approval?' Humility is more likely to receive inspiration; pride is more likely to be deceived and fall." I pondered that question and thought back to the perfect example of humility from the Savior's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said Father if it be possible, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not as i will, but as thou wilt. The Savior didn't ask for his will to be granted, he willingly submitted his will to His Father's will. I know that if we strive to be more humble in our lives, we will experience the joy of receiving inspiration from our Father in Heaven. I know that if we strive for humility, we will find more joy in being obedient to the Lord. I know that if we strive for humility, we will feel the peace of everlasting forgiveness through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that if we strive for humility, we will feel more joy in becoming more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ everyday of our lives.
Thank you for all of your support and remember to be thou humble.
Much love,
Elder Mower
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