Background

Favorite Scripture

Alma 37:37
Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Elder Mower Letter #17

hi everybody!

So this week had its ups and downs. We didn't get to teach any lessons to investigators this week. However, we got to teach 6 RCLA (Recent Convert or Less Active) lessons! We also had a VERY good contacting ratio. Our ratio was 0.6/1.9. The ratio is Future investigators/Invitations to Learn. So basically out of all the people that we invited to learn about the gospel, about 30% of them became future investigators and agreed to learn more. Makes me soooo happy! but unfortunately the appointments fell through but we're still trying. We asked them when would be a good time to come again and one of them said "come on the most holy day. Sunday!" That's a good sign I'm assuming! haha

So here were the lessons this week. First we taught Sister Briggs last Wednesday about tithing and fast offerings. She committed to live it and she is progressing closer to living the Word of Wisdom fully. Shes given up coffee and now its all just getting her off the nicotine gum. SHes cut down SO MUCH on the gum and we are proud of her and the changes that she has made in her life. Later that day, we had dinner with the Trader family. They come to church pretty frequently now but they are just getting back to full activity. Brother Trader actually served his mission in the MMM as well! pretty cool! They are a great family. Last Thursday, we came into contact with a LA member named Sarah Gutierrez and she is WAY SOLID! she knows the church is true and wants to come back soon but she is scared to do it. She was baptized in 1997 i think and was sealed in the temple in 1999. But in 2000 she went through a nasty divorce and took offense to that against the Church. but looking back she realizes that it wasn't the Church's fault. She now has 2 kids and is married to a non member. But she does want to come back to church. Thats huge. We taught the wonderful Rodriguez Family just last Friday about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it is the "Road of Life." They also came to church again so i have a great feeling that they were serious about saying that they will now regularly come to church. Im so happy for them!!! I love that family so much! Last Saturday we found a less active member named Gloria Paulson along with her daughter, Sister Sutten, and she has a VERY hard time with hearing but loves the missionaries. She is a convert in 1972 along with her family. We just shared a spiritual thought but the Spirit was so strong! we talked about How our Heavenly Father usually answers our prayers through other people. Sister Sutten got emotional and actually came to church this last Sunday. The only reason that they are less active is because Gloria cant really hear anything at Sacrament meeting. We are trying to resolve that though so that she can enjoy the blessings of coming to church. We got to teach a gospel principles class during 2nd hour at church to RCLAs and we taught about keeping the Sabbath day holy and the blessings that come from it. It was a great lesson. They really enjoyed it.

Those were our lessons this week but now for this upcoming week: we have 3 lessons set up on Tuesday (All investigators), 2 on Wednesday (All investigators), 2 on Thursday (1 Recent Convert and 1 investigator), and 2 on Friday (all Less Active member lessons) with possibly more on the way. Plus we are really pushing general conference with investigators. With all these lessons and general conference this weekend, this is probably going to be one of the busiest weeks on my mission yet but im very excited to teach these lessons and hear the words of our beloved prophet, President Monson.

I found a video on mormon.org this last week that really touched me and id like to share that with you all. President Hinckley told us a story one time in general conference that his father once told him.

"An older boy and his young companion were walking along a road which led through a field. They saw an old coat and a badly worn pair of men’s shoes by the roadside, and in the distance they saw the owner working in the field. The younger boy suggested that they hide the shoes, conceal themselves, and watch the perplexity on the owner’s face when he returned. The older boy … thought that would not be so good. He said the owner must be a very poor man. So, after talking the matter over, at his suggestion, they concluded to try another experiment. Instead of hiding the shoes, they would put a silver dollar in each one and … see what the owner did when he discovered the money. So they did that. Pretty soon the man returned from the field, put on his coat, slipped one foot into a shoe, felt something hard, took it out and found a silver dollar. Wonder and surprise [shone] upon his face. He looked at the dollar again and again, turned around and could see nobody, then proceeded to put on the other shoe; when to his great surprise he found another dollar. His feelings overcame him. … He knelt down and offered aloud a prayer of thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife being sick and helpless and his children without bread. … He fervently thanked the Lord for this bounty from unknown hands and evoked the blessing of heaven upon those who gave him this needed help. The boys remained [hidden] until he had gone. They had been touched by his prayer and felt something warm within their hearts. As they left to walk down the road, one said to the other, 'Don’t you have a good feeling?'"

That story really touched me because the Lord knew this mans needs and his prayers. But he answered his prayers not by money magically growing from a tree in his yard or something but by a small act of kindness from these boys that had a huge impact on this mas life. It is my prayer that we may doing something kind for someone that is having a hard time. Search for these opportunities. A lot of times in our lives we become so preoccupied with our own lives. We become caught up in the thick of thin things. Let us go out of our way and do something for someone who may have lost a loved one, who is dealing with marital problems or spiritually lost children, dealing with the bitterness of disease or illness, dealing with sorrow, dealing with loneliness, or any kind of suffering. We will feel that warm feeling in our hearts as we help someone who is more weary than ourselves. We ourselves will be made stronger. Do as the Lord did. Help those in need. Fulfill what really matters most in life. I promise each of you that if you that if you do this, you will feel this good feeling in your heart, you will be stripped of pride and bitterness and filled with love and charity, and you will experience the joys of serving those who the Lord would have you to serve. This is my testimony and i share it with you, in the name of our Lord and our Savior, even Jesus Christ. Amen

Love Elder Mower

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