Fleming Island, FL
Dear Family & Friends~
What an eventful week! A new puppy, a Happy Birthday for my favorite sister, Kendall Jane!, flooding, and the works! Happy days! I love it. :)
Yesterday we had a fun activity at the church, but by the end of the activity I absolutely broke down in tears...we watched the movie "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration" with all the ward members in the Fleming Island 1st and 2nd Wards. I don't know if you've seen it or not, but if you haven't you need to get it so you can watch it. It is such a powerful movie. Watching the early saints and the life of the Prophet Joseph and their love for each other and the joy they had with one another despite their near endless afflictions kindled such love and gratitude in my heart for our family, this gospel, and the Church. Jesus Christ and His gospel truly are an invincible strength that we have opportunity to hold on to, that no matter what fire we are called to pass through in this life, we might overcome it cheerfully, with charity bursting from our souls toward all people, even toward those who have wronged us. Watching this movie helped me realize all the great blessings we have as members of this Church and made me want to share this message with everyone. I felt such a desire to listen to and obey Heavenly Father and to trust in Him and His Son in all my trials. Who knows what life will bring...but whatever it brings we will always have something to hold on to--and because of Christ, we can hold on to each other forever.
Now, if I could just keep that feeling with me all the time!
My memorizations are doing well, except for the last couple of days. They were so busy that I had to focus on other things besides my memorizations. I'll have to start again. At this point, with the rate I was going, I was memorizing a scripture a day. I've memorized Romans 8:16, Alma 7:11, 2 Nephi 25:26, and D & C 20:37--I have a list of scriptures I've got to memorize, but it is kind of fun! I'm starting to memorize just about everything I read, which is also kind of cool. :) I heard that President Monson promised that if we would memorize a single scripture a day for a year we would have a photographic memory by the end of the year! And I'm sure there are all sorts of other blessings for memorizing that many scriptures, not just having a photographic memory. But that is my eventual goal.
It was neat to hear about Eric's testimony to the people at Harmon Killibrew's funeral. The testimony of the gospel is so powerful and authoritative. It is by far the most convincing thing we have and the Spirit of God fires that witness to the very hearts of all who will open their ears and souls and listen. I think I am starting to learn that--it is when you face someone who is utterly against the gospel and the message of Jesus Christ that you feel the power of the Lord within you cause you to nearly erupt with truth and sound the gospel message right to the core of their soul. You know they can feel it. It is a fierce witness, but it is given in such great love and power that it uplifts and strengthens all who will hear it. The more you recognize the blessings, the more desirous you are to share them. I think that may well be why we made the covenant at our baptism to "always remember Christ". It is hard to "always remember" anything, let alone the Savior. It shouldn't be, but for whatever reason it is--we get so easily distracted it is amazing we can remember anything! No wonder we are commanded to read the scriptures every day and to pray always, because if we didn't we would forget quickly the Lord. I guess it is like anything, you must learn and relearn in order for it to become a part of you.
Who knows... Sorry for rambling...
I'm out of time, so I just want to tell each of you I love you and wish you a wonderful, happy, and successful week! Happy Birthday, again KJ! And Happy Birthday to you this Friday, Dad. :)
Love~
Austin
Monday, June 27, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Opening Doors
6.20.11
Fleming Island, FL
Dear Family & Friends~
This past week wasn't quite as eventful as last week; however, I did have many learning experiences-most of which led me to the understanding of the need to not only set goals and make plans, but the necessity of measuring my progress over time to see how far I've come! It is important to be able to recognize your own improvement, and your own successes, even if they are small. So my personal change for this next three week period is to keep track of my improvements and then to go back and see how much I've grown-here is the goal:
1. Memorize one scripture a day
2. Serve someone I know each day (companion, another missionary, member)
3. Serve someone I do not know each day (a non-member, a member I haven't met)
I also have some plans in place to make these goals achieveable and I have my faithful brown journal that I bought at the MTC to track my efforts. I know these are simple goals, but this will help me to learn to trust myself and also to gain some control over myself (i.e. thoughts, words, deeds, etc...), as well as to see evidence that I am growing and am changing day by day for the better, which will all serve to strengthen my personal testimony of Jesus Christ. This should be a good experience. So far I've memorized two scriptures in this person challenge: Romans 8:16 and Alma 7:11.
Romans 8:16 (Paul in a letter, is teaching the people of our relationship to God)- "The Spirit itself beareth record to our spirits, that we are the children of God."
Alma 7:11 (Alma is testifying of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ) - "And He shall go forth suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith He will take upon Him the pains and the sicknesses of His people."
Now, here's the test -- I typed these from memory, so you'll have to check and see if I really did memorize scriptures. Not that these are the longest scriptures in the world, but each of them are full of meaning and truth. They are worth pondering.
Another story:
Last week Elder Kiracofe and I were visiting the home of a former investigator and instead of seeing our former investigator, her slightly younger sister answered [the door]. She is around thrity years of age and has a few children. Normally, when we show up at this particular home, the younger sister doesn't speak to us much. But for whatever reason, this time she thought it fine to take some time to talk with us. I was very surprised when she stayed at the door and allowed us to converse with her, and due to my surprise, all we spent our discussion on was about getting to know her. We spoke with her about her family, her career, to some degree or another her hopes and dreams, even a few of her worries and fears. It was encouraging that she trusted us enough to share her thoughts and feelings, especially when in the past she hardly would speak with us. Unfortunately, as Elder Kiracofe and I finally had the opportunity to start talking to her about her thoughts and feelings about church and about the message of the gospel...her boyfriend showed up.
Going backward a little bit, to give a preface of our conversation moments prior to the great interruption of our discussion with our new found friend we were speaking about her career working for the postal service over the past ten years. She wasn't a deliverer of mail, rather, she was one of the workers who loaded packages and letters into vehicles--recently she was moved into the office due to health problems and severe anxiety. This was what we were hoping to find, something that we could discuss, and then offer a bright solution through the healing power of Christ; when she shared with us about her health and her anxiety we were given the opportunity to then teach the gospel. We changed the conversation slightly and asked her if she had ever sat in with her older sister when the missionaries were teaching her. She said no, and that normally she was anti-social and felt uncomfortable talking with people she hardly knew, let alone about the sensitive subject of religion. Apparently she grew up in a church, but didn't have a very good experience, and because of it she shys away from the topic. Everything was building up for a very productive and positive discussion...and then the conversation abruptly halted...
...an otherwise good man, saw the missionaries all dressed up in their white shirts and ties, black suits pants, and polished shoes, as he pulled up in his vehicle, and saw the opportunity to contend with organized religion. "MORMONS! Have you come to preach to us?" He sardonically blurted out as he hopped out of his vehicle and walked right in front of us. As he strode past us, ready to "fight", he calmly but purposefully sat down on the bench on the front porch and put his arms behind his head, leaned back, and put his left leg on his right knee and looked up waiting for our response.
I watched him, somewhat confused by his manner and a little frustrated at the thought of our interrupted conversation with Brenda, as he marched on past us to sit upon his throne of authority, the park bench in front of the house. I looked away for a brief moment, gripped the blue covered Book of Mormon tightly with both hands, and for what seemed like an eternity, I looked at the green grass in front of me and observed the sun shining brightly and beaming down upon it. I felt the heat burning on top of me and could feel the sweat dripping off my brow. Smiling slightly, I clenched my jaw and pursed my lips together, realizing that this new conversation could go downhill quickly and breathed my last breath before my response. Still looking the other way, but gradually turning towards him, I said, "Well, we can preach to you if you'd like!" and I turned and looked him square in the eyes. Brightly and happily I began to open the conversation with the beginnings of the message of the Restoration and the testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Prophet Joseph. I told him that our message would lead him to Jesus Christ and help him to know the way back to his Father in Heaven.
He looked at me and scoffed and said, "I know you Mormons...you believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet. Ha! You guys are lost! Ha Ha!" I smiled, but responded sharply and testified that if he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it that God would tell him that we were teaching the truth and then I invited him to do so. "Absolutely not! I don't want anything to do with that book..." he said, disgusted with the idea. "You mean to tell me that this record was written in ancient America? You're saying that it was written by the ancestors of the Native American peoples? You say they saw Jesus Christ?! You guys are a bunch of QUACKS! Ha Ha! The Native Americans didn't believe in God. I'm a Cherokee. I know our history. They believed that America was formed by a bug who dived down to the bottom of the ocean and pulled up earth. That book can't be true if you believe it was written by the Indians!" Again, I urged him to read the Book of Mormon so he could know for himself. I told him that the Book was convincing evidence in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He looked away for a moment and then looked back and said, "You know, I don't even know if I believe in God anymore..." Then he looked back down to the ground. I shared with him that the scriptures teach us that man was created in the image of God and that He is our loving Father in Heaven and He desires our happiness and if we will but follow His Son, we can be happy. Apparently he wasn't satisfied with that response and he lashed out again toward us and began speaking irrationally and inappropriately about the nature of God. I stopped him in his speech and told him not to mock God. And then I asked him a few questions, "..., what is your purpose in asking us these questions and saying these things? Do you have a purpose behind it? Or do you merely desire to argue with us?? What is it that you really want to know? Because we both know that what you have said thus far is directed at nothing. What is it that you really need to know? What does your heart tell you? We are here for you and wish to help you and to answer your questions, so let us help!" He immediately looked away and became quiet. After a long pause, he looked off in the distance and said to us, "I guess I would like to hear about your doctrines...I've been condemned and accused so many times by preachers and pastors that I can't take it any more. It destroys my hope and makes me want to go the other way..."
Finally the door was open to his heart and we began to teach him about the mercy and love of Jesus Christ. We taught him that he can be forgiven and become clean. We taught him that eternal life can be found by gaining a testimony of Jesus Christ and living by faith and by following the example of Jesus Christ through baptism by authority and then enduring faithfully to the end. We testified to him that if he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it that he could know that God sent us to teach him this message and to help him to be happy. After twenty or so minutes of discussion, he stopped us in our speech, and asked us humbly where he might get a copy of the Book of Mormon. Mine and Elder Kiracofe's hearts probably both skipped a beat. We were shocked! We then testified again of the importance of our message and of Jesus Christ and we told him that we give away copies of this Book to all who will read it and pray about it and be willing to act upon its message. He declared his interest in all sincerity, expressed a genuine desire to learn more. We gave him a copy and proceeded to teach him the steps to gaining a testimony and then invited him to be baptized upon gaining a witness from God. He said he would!!
How amazing the change of heart we saw in him! We gathered as much information about him as we could and hopefully we'll be able to teach him again and soon. We haven't seen him yet, unfortunately, but we'll keep trying. And for the other miracles which we saw, we haven't been able to follow up with any of them, YET! But we will. And I'll share with you more stories hopefully next week.
So, I've been thinking a lot about my decision to stay or to leave early from my mission (to start school) and I've made my decision. I have decided that I only get this opportunity to serve a two year full-time mission once and I intend to finish it to the end. Perhaps I''ll have to start school later, but I trust that things will work out. My heart feels good about this decision. I have much more I need to give the Lord before my mission is over and I feel I will be able to do that by September 28th....I know that this is what I need to do. I love each of you so much and all of our family and that is why I am choosing to finish my mission. So make plans to see me in September because that is when I will be returning home. I love you and I truly cannot wait to see each of you again. I have no greater desire than to be with you. I know the time will go quickly, and even before the blink of an eye, we'll be together again, and it will be as though we never left each other. This is a great cause and I ought to finish what I set out to do. I promised the Lord I would complete the mission to the last day before I left and promised Him again out here that I would stay. And I need to keep my promise to Him.
I love you and I hope each of you have a wonderful week and I look forward to hearing from you again next week!
Love~
Austin
Fleming Island, FL
Dear Family & Friends~
This past week wasn't quite as eventful as last week; however, I did have many learning experiences-most of which led me to the understanding of the need to not only set goals and make plans, but the necessity of measuring my progress over time to see how far I've come! It is important to be able to recognize your own improvement, and your own successes, even if they are small. So my personal change for this next three week period is to keep track of my improvements and then to go back and see how much I've grown-here is the goal:
1. Memorize one scripture a day
2. Serve someone I know each day (companion, another missionary, member)
3. Serve someone I do not know each day (a non-member, a member I haven't met)
I also have some plans in place to make these goals achieveable and I have my faithful brown journal that I bought at the MTC to track my efforts. I know these are simple goals, but this will help me to learn to trust myself and also to gain some control over myself (i.e. thoughts, words, deeds, etc...), as well as to see evidence that I am growing and am changing day by day for the better, which will all serve to strengthen my personal testimony of Jesus Christ. This should be a good experience. So far I've memorized two scriptures in this person challenge: Romans 8:16 and Alma 7:11.
Romans 8:16 (Paul in a letter, is teaching the people of our relationship to God)- "The Spirit itself beareth record to our spirits, that we are the children of God."
Alma 7:11 (Alma is testifying of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ) - "And He shall go forth suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith He will take upon Him the pains and the sicknesses of His people."
Now, here's the test -- I typed these from memory, so you'll have to check and see if I really did memorize scriptures. Not that these are the longest scriptures in the world, but each of them are full of meaning and truth. They are worth pondering.
Another story:
Last week Elder Kiracofe and I were visiting the home of a former investigator and instead of seeing our former investigator, her slightly younger sister answered [the door]. She is around thrity years of age and has a few children. Normally, when we show up at this particular home, the younger sister doesn't speak to us much. But for whatever reason, this time she thought it fine to take some time to talk with us. I was very surprised when she stayed at the door and allowed us to converse with her, and due to my surprise, all we spent our discussion on was about getting to know her. We spoke with her about her family, her career, to some degree or another her hopes and dreams, even a few of her worries and fears. It was encouraging that she trusted us enough to share her thoughts and feelings, especially when in the past she hardly would speak with us. Unfortunately, as Elder Kiracofe and I finally had the opportunity to start talking to her about her thoughts and feelings about church and about the message of the gospel...her boyfriend showed up.
Going backward a little bit, to give a preface of our conversation moments prior to the great interruption of our discussion with our new found friend we were speaking about her career working for the postal service over the past ten years. She wasn't a deliverer of mail, rather, she was one of the workers who loaded packages and letters into vehicles--recently she was moved into the office due to health problems and severe anxiety. This was what we were hoping to find, something that we could discuss, and then offer a bright solution through the healing power of Christ; when she shared with us about her health and her anxiety we were given the opportunity to then teach the gospel. We changed the conversation slightly and asked her if she had ever sat in with her older sister when the missionaries were teaching her. She said no, and that normally she was anti-social and felt uncomfortable talking with people she hardly knew, let alone about the sensitive subject of religion. Apparently she grew up in a church, but didn't have a very good experience, and because of it she shys away from the topic. Everything was building up for a very productive and positive discussion...and then the conversation abruptly halted...
...an otherwise good man, saw the missionaries all dressed up in their white shirts and ties, black suits pants, and polished shoes, as he pulled up in his vehicle, and saw the opportunity to contend with organized religion. "MORMONS! Have you come to preach to us?" He sardonically blurted out as he hopped out of his vehicle and walked right in front of us. As he strode past us, ready to "fight", he calmly but purposefully sat down on the bench on the front porch and put his arms behind his head, leaned back, and put his left leg on his right knee and looked up waiting for our response.
I watched him, somewhat confused by his manner and a little frustrated at the thought of our interrupted conversation with Brenda, as he marched on past us to sit upon his throne of authority, the park bench in front of the house. I looked away for a brief moment, gripped the blue covered Book of Mormon tightly with both hands, and for what seemed like an eternity, I looked at the green grass in front of me and observed the sun shining brightly and beaming down upon it. I felt the heat burning on top of me and could feel the sweat dripping off my brow. Smiling slightly, I clenched my jaw and pursed my lips together, realizing that this new conversation could go downhill quickly and breathed my last breath before my response. Still looking the other way, but gradually turning towards him, I said, "Well, we can preach to you if you'd like!" and I turned and looked him square in the eyes. Brightly and happily I began to open the conversation with the beginnings of the message of the Restoration and the testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Prophet Joseph. I told him that our message would lead him to Jesus Christ and help him to know the way back to his Father in Heaven.
He looked at me and scoffed and said, "I know you Mormons...you believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet. Ha! You guys are lost! Ha Ha!" I smiled, but responded sharply and testified that if he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it that God would tell him that we were teaching the truth and then I invited him to do so. "Absolutely not! I don't want anything to do with that book..." he said, disgusted with the idea. "You mean to tell me that this record was written in ancient America? You're saying that it was written by the ancestors of the Native American peoples? You say they saw Jesus Christ?! You guys are a bunch of QUACKS! Ha Ha! The Native Americans didn't believe in God. I'm a Cherokee. I know our history. They believed that America was formed by a bug who dived down to the bottom of the ocean and pulled up earth. That book can't be true if you believe it was written by the Indians!" Again, I urged him to read the Book of Mormon so he could know for himself. I told him that the Book was convincing evidence in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He looked away for a moment and then looked back and said, "You know, I don't even know if I believe in God anymore..." Then he looked back down to the ground. I shared with him that the scriptures teach us that man was created in the image of God and that He is our loving Father in Heaven and He desires our happiness and if we will but follow His Son, we can be happy. Apparently he wasn't satisfied with that response and he lashed out again toward us and began speaking irrationally and inappropriately about the nature of God. I stopped him in his speech and told him not to mock God. And then I asked him a few questions, "..., what is your purpose in asking us these questions and saying these things? Do you have a purpose behind it? Or do you merely desire to argue with us?? What is it that you really want to know? Because we both know that what you have said thus far is directed at nothing. What is it that you really need to know? What does your heart tell you? We are here for you and wish to help you and to answer your questions, so let us help!" He immediately looked away and became quiet. After a long pause, he looked off in the distance and said to us, "I guess I would like to hear about your doctrines...I've been condemned and accused so many times by preachers and pastors that I can't take it any more. It destroys my hope and makes me want to go the other way..."
Finally the door was open to his heart and we began to teach him about the mercy and love of Jesus Christ. We taught him that he can be forgiven and become clean. We taught him that eternal life can be found by gaining a testimony of Jesus Christ and living by faith and by following the example of Jesus Christ through baptism by authority and then enduring faithfully to the end. We testified to him that if he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it that he could know that God sent us to teach him this message and to help him to be happy. After twenty or so minutes of discussion, he stopped us in our speech, and asked us humbly where he might get a copy of the Book of Mormon. Mine and Elder Kiracofe's hearts probably both skipped a beat. We were shocked! We then testified again of the importance of our message and of Jesus Christ and we told him that we give away copies of this Book to all who will read it and pray about it and be willing to act upon its message. He declared his interest in all sincerity, expressed a genuine desire to learn more. We gave him a copy and proceeded to teach him the steps to gaining a testimony and then invited him to be baptized upon gaining a witness from God. He said he would!!
How amazing the change of heart we saw in him! We gathered as much information about him as we could and hopefully we'll be able to teach him again and soon. We haven't seen him yet, unfortunately, but we'll keep trying. And for the other miracles which we saw, we haven't been able to follow up with any of them, YET! But we will. And I'll share with you more stories hopefully next week.
So, I've been thinking a lot about my decision to stay or to leave early from my mission (to start school) and I've made my decision. I have decided that I only get this opportunity to serve a two year full-time mission once and I intend to finish it to the end. Perhaps I''ll have to start school later, but I trust that things will work out. My heart feels good about this decision. I have much more I need to give the Lord before my mission is over and I feel I will be able to do that by September 28th....I know that this is what I need to do. I love each of you so much and all of our family and that is why I am choosing to finish my mission. So make plans to see me in September because that is when I will be returning home. I love you and I truly cannot wait to see each of you again. I have no greater desire than to be with you. I know the time will go quickly, and even before the blink of an eye, we'll be together again, and it will be as though we never left each other. This is a great cause and I ought to finish what I set out to do. I promised the Lord I would complete the mission to the last day before I left and promised Him again out here that I would stay. And I need to keep my promise to Him.
I love you and I hope each of you have a wonderful week and I look forward to hearing from you again next week!
Love~
Austin
Miracles DO happen!
6.13.11
Fleming Island, FL
Dear Family & Friends~
This past week has indeed been a week of miracles. I have never seen so much success and so many changes of heart in such a short period of time in all my mission, let alone my life. The convincing power of the gospel is true. So this week, I do have some stories to tell, all of which have begun with a miraculous start, now we must hope they have the same miraculous finish. Here they are:
Wednesday, June 8th, around 7:00 p.m. I was on an exchange with a new missionary named Elder Haw, who is from Toronto, Canada, and we were out tracting. I decided to take us to some neighborhood I had yet to visit since I've been here in Fleming Island. We had finished almost all the houses on the street, save two, and had little result. On the second to last house, Elder Haw and I went and knocked on the door and came to find out fairly soon that nobody was home. As we turned to leave, however, a small sedan pulled up and stopped near the driveway, and the driver of the vehicle stopped and watched us as we were leaving her property and crossing to the other side of the driveway. Knowing that we ought to wait and at least attempt speaking with her, we waited, as awkward as it was, for her to pull into the driveway and park. We stood a distance enough away so it wouldn't be too uncomfortable for either of us and when she finally opened the door, I offered a quick hello. I felt I had a loss of words in the moment, so as I fumbled around for what to say to start a converstation, our "discussion" began to flat-line, and as it about died, her husband pulled up behind us.
"Great..." I silently thought in my head, "let's make it double awkward". So, rather than allowing the dialogue to finish and hoping to at least somewhat salvage something good from this contact, me and Elder Haw scooted over to the other side of the driveway and allowed the woman's husband to pull into the driveway. He was on his cell phone as he pulled into the driveway, and I watched as he and his wife eschanged glances that seemed to speak, "Yay, it's the Mormon's again!". Of course, there was no "Yay" about it, because really it has already been a long day for each of them and who wants two preachers to show up and speak to them just as they are coming home from work? Despite the busy day and the inconvenience of us being there, when the man got out of his vehicle he kindly introduced himself and asked us what we wanted. I told him we were there to teach him the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. For some reason or another the word "RESTORED" seemed to jump out at him. With a funny look on his face he asked us what that meant. As briefly as possible, and as clearly as I could muster, I told him that because God loves us and desires for us to live with Him again, He has chosen a prophet of God and restored His gospel and His kingdom, or curch, and His authority to baptize again to the earth, after having once been lost since the death of Christ and His Apostles, I shared with him that the Book of Mormon was the convincing evidence that these things are true and that anyone who would humbly read the book, study it out in their mind, and pray about it with sincerity, real intent, and faith in Christ, that God would testify the truth of it to them by the power of the Holy Ghost. And I continued by saying that those who gain this witness will know that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom on earth, preperatory to the Second Coming of Christ and that those who gain this knowledge will then have to make a decision as to whether they will follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by His authority or not. Having recently been baptized, the man then asked me one of the most difficult questions a missionary has to answer, "Can I get to heaven without the Book of Mormon and the Bible alone, or do I need the Book of Mormon to get to heaven?".
I've been asked this question many times and I've never really considered answering it as flatly as I did this time, but I told him that it was necessary that he had the Book of Mormon to get to heaven. He was shocked by my statement and needed further reassurance, so he and his wife both asked about the many people who die without a chance to be baptized into this Church, if they were condemned or not. And grateful for the question, and the guidance of the Spirit, we, in his driveway, ended up teaching he and his wife doctrines and principles from the first three missionary discussions and related to him that all people have equal opportunity to either accept or reject this gospel, whether in this life or the next, and to be saved in the Kingdom of God. We taught them that the Book of Mormon was the way to gain a witness of these teachings and we invited them to read and pray. They said they would. I told them the purpose of reading the Book of Mormon was to gain a witness of its truthfulness and then to prepare to be baptized upon gaining a witness of the Holy Ghost, and then I asked them the big question: "Will you, if after having read and sincerely studied the Book of Mormon, and having sincerely, faithfully prayed about it, and having received a witness from God of its veracity because of your real intent (which means you will act upon the witness God gives you), follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by His authority?
Both of them thought about it for a minute...they looked at each other and exchanged more glances, each desiring that the other should speak...and the husband finally voiced his thoughts. He said based off of what we had told him, that if he read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and gained a witness of its truthfulness from God, that he would be baptized again. Shortly after, I asked his wife if she had the same commitment and she smiled and said she would. It was amazing to feel the Spirit throughout our discussion and the way it seemed to life and build each of us as we discussed the gospel. We left each other as if we had been friends all our lives and were overjoyed to have had the opportunity to have met one another that evening. In smiles both husband and wife said they were very interested in learning more and would like us to return and follow up with them the next week. They gave us each a water bottle and thanked us for all that we do and wished us well as we parted ways.
We should be seeing them this Thursday, so pray that it goes well. :)
I want to write down some more stories, but that took me about 50 minutes to write and I have at least five more of these stories to share. Each of these miracles took place in the span of five days. It has been an amazing week. And this week will be no different. Our object is to love people enough to help them understand the message of the gospel and to explain it as clearly and boldly as possible so they might have the opportunity to actually choose between accepting or rejecting this message. Some people don't want to talk, so we don't push the issue, we'll allow them time to go on with their lives, trusting that God will give them another chance some time later; but for those who wish to talk, we'll deliver the message of the gospel as it was given to us. It really does make a difference when you are straight with people...but it makes an even bigger difference when they can tell, and know, that you do love them and sincerely desire for their welfare and to give them the gift of the gospel.
It is amazing what happens when you have "faith to believe" (Alma 37:40) that there are people who truly desire to hear the gospel and that you have been sent to teach them this message...miracles DO happen! WOW!! I never would haveg uessed that I could be a part of so many miracles in such a short time. And to see people change their hearts and minds and become willing to at least hear the word of the gospel, it is such a joy! Who knows what will happen next, but at least we did indeed help at least some people to hear and feel of this great message!
I love you and look forward to speaking with you next week. I hope each of you have a wonderful week!
Love~
Austin
Fleming Island, FL
Dear Family & Friends~
This past week has indeed been a week of miracles. I have never seen so much success and so many changes of heart in such a short period of time in all my mission, let alone my life. The convincing power of the gospel is true. So this week, I do have some stories to tell, all of which have begun with a miraculous start, now we must hope they have the same miraculous finish. Here they are:
Wednesday, June 8th, around 7:00 p.m. I was on an exchange with a new missionary named Elder Haw, who is from Toronto, Canada, and we were out tracting. I decided to take us to some neighborhood I had yet to visit since I've been here in Fleming Island. We had finished almost all the houses on the street, save two, and had little result. On the second to last house, Elder Haw and I went and knocked on the door and came to find out fairly soon that nobody was home. As we turned to leave, however, a small sedan pulled up and stopped near the driveway, and the driver of the vehicle stopped and watched us as we were leaving her property and crossing to the other side of the driveway. Knowing that we ought to wait and at least attempt speaking with her, we waited, as awkward as it was, for her to pull into the driveway and park. We stood a distance enough away so it wouldn't be too uncomfortable for either of us and when she finally opened the door, I offered a quick hello. I felt I had a loss of words in the moment, so as I fumbled around for what to say to start a converstation, our "discussion" began to flat-line, and as it about died, her husband pulled up behind us.
"Great..." I silently thought in my head, "let's make it double awkward". So, rather than allowing the dialogue to finish and hoping to at least somewhat salvage something good from this contact, me and Elder Haw scooted over to the other side of the driveway and allowed the woman's husband to pull into the driveway. He was on his cell phone as he pulled into the driveway, and I watched as he and his wife eschanged glances that seemed to speak, "Yay, it's the Mormon's again!". Of course, there was no "Yay" about it, because really it has already been a long day for each of them and who wants two preachers to show up and speak to them just as they are coming home from work? Despite the busy day and the inconvenience of us being there, when the man got out of his vehicle he kindly introduced himself and asked us what we wanted. I told him we were there to teach him the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. For some reason or another the word "RESTORED" seemed to jump out at him. With a funny look on his face he asked us what that meant. As briefly as possible, and as clearly as I could muster, I told him that because God loves us and desires for us to live with Him again, He has chosen a prophet of God and restored His gospel and His kingdom, or curch, and His authority to baptize again to the earth, after having once been lost since the death of Christ and His Apostles, I shared with him that the Book of Mormon was the convincing evidence that these things are true and that anyone who would humbly read the book, study it out in their mind, and pray about it with sincerity, real intent, and faith in Christ, that God would testify the truth of it to them by the power of the Holy Ghost. And I continued by saying that those who gain this witness will know that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom on earth, preperatory to the Second Coming of Christ and that those who gain this knowledge will then have to make a decision as to whether they will follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by His authority or not. Having recently been baptized, the man then asked me one of the most difficult questions a missionary has to answer, "Can I get to heaven without the Book of Mormon and the Bible alone, or do I need the Book of Mormon to get to heaven?".
I've been asked this question many times and I've never really considered answering it as flatly as I did this time, but I told him that it was necessary that he had the Book of Mormon to get to heaven. He was shocked by my statement and needed further reassurance, so he and his wife both asked about the many people who die without a chance to be baptized into this Church, if they were condemned or not. And grateful for the question, and the guidance of the Spirit, we, in his driveway, ended up teaching he and his wife doctrines and principles from the first three missionary discussions and related to him that all people have equal opportunity to either accept or reject this gospel, whether in this life or the next, and to be saved in the Kingdom of God. We taught them that the Book of Mormon was the way to gain a witness of these teachings and we invited them to read and pray. They said they would. I told them the purpose of reading the Book of Mormon was to gain a witness of its truthfulness and then to prepare to be baptized upon gaining a witness of the Holy Ghost, and then I asked them the big question: "Will you, if after having read and sincerely studied the Book of Mormon, and having sincerely, faithfully prayed about it, and having received a witness from God of its veracity because of your real intent (which means you will act upon the witness God gives you), follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by His authority?
Both of them thought about it for a minute...they looked at each other and exchanged more glances, each desiring that the other should speak...and the husband finally voiced his thoughts. He said based off of what we had told him, that if he read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and gained a witness of its truthfulness from God, that he would be baptized again. Shortly after, I asked his wife if she had the same commitment and she smiled and said she would. It was amazing to feel the Spirit throughout our discussion and the way it seemed to life and build each of us as we discussed the gospel. We left each other as if we had been friends all our lives and were overjoyed to have had the opportunity to have met one another that evening. In smiles both husband and wife said they were very interested in learning more and would like us to return and follow up with them the next week. They gave us each a water bottle and thanked us for all that we do and wished us well as we parted ways.
We should be seeing them this Thursday, so pray that it goes well. :)
I want to write down some more stories, but that took me about 50 minutes to write and I have at least five more of these stories to share. Each of these miracles took place in the span of five days. It has been an amazing week. And this week will be no different. Our object is to love people enough to help them understand the message of the gospel and to explain it as clearly and boldly as possible so they might have the opportunity to actually choose between accepting or rejecting this message. Some people don't want to talk, so we don't push the issue, we'll allow them time to go on with their lives, trusting that God will give them another chance some time later; but for those who wish to talk, we'll deliver the message of the gospel as it was given to us. It really does make a difference when you are straight with people...but it makes an even bigger difference when they can tell, and know, that you do love them and sincerely desire for their welfare and to give them the gift of the gospel.
It is amazing what happens when you have "faith to believe" (Alma 37:40) that there are people who truly desire to hear the gospel and that you have been sent to teach them this message...miracles DO happen! WOW!! I never would haveg uessed that I could be a part of so many miracles in such a short time. And to see people change their hearts and minds and become willing to at least hear the word of the gospel, it is such a joy! Who knows what will happen next, but at least we did indeed help at least some people to hear and feel of this great message!
I love you and look forward to speaking with you next week. I hope each of you have a wonderful week!
Love~
Austin
Faith to Believe
6.6.11
Fleming Island, FL
Dear Family & Friends~
I've had a few experiences with prayer lately, which have been particularly meaningful to me. I read a scripture in Alma 37:40, which stated that the Liahona gave Nephi and his family directions if they had "faith the believe" that the spindles on the compass would point the way they should go. They still needed to be humble and obedient for it to work, but the key phrase for me was about having "faith to believe". The scriptures, in the same chapter, are later compared to the Liahona. If we have "faith to believe" they should point the way we should go, they will.
Before I continue with my experience with prayer, however, I have to share a few thoughts about having "faith to believe". I think for the greater portion of my life I have believed that having faith meant being perfect. Since I have never been perfect, many times I found it difficult to believe that God would ever work miracles in my life. Whether the miracles were wrought in sports, school, or any number of things, since I didn't feel I was perfect, I thought I was faithless, and so I was unsure that Heavenly Father would work things out for me. Yes, I have always believed that in the end everything would work out, but I never believed they could work out in the present. I thought that the now was a time for suffering, and not joy. I'm not sure where I learned that view, but somehow and for some reason I picked it up. I see now, thankfully, that it is possible to have joy in the present, and that we don't have to wait until after we're dead to be happy. We can be happy now! That is the purpose of the gospel, to help us to be truly happy! I realize that having "faith to believe" means trusting that if you will do your very best, trusting that God will answer your prayers and press forward with a "perfect brightness of hope" that God will work a miracle for you, you will see the blessings of fulfilled faith much sooner.
Back to prayer, I had a few questions I needed answered and so I exercised "faith to believe" that God would answer my prayers as I opened the scriptures and studied them. I prayed believing fully that He would answer me right then and there as I read the scriputres and I read with a sure hope that He would show me the answers in the scriptures. I asked two questions in the span of 30 minutes and found both my answers in the same chapter of the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 1. Perhpas if you read it you'll discover what my answers were. :) Then on Sunday I asked another question, and I was less sure about my prayer being answered, so as I opened the scriptures thoughts like, "He's not going to answer this question, it's too specific, and too big of a question to be answered" crept into mind. But I stopped...and I threw away my fears and repeated the statement about having "faith to believe" in my head again, then I flipped open the topical guide. I found some scriptures relating to my question and turned to them. I was led to Hebrews 10 in the New Testament. I read the beginning of the chapter and I somewhat questioned the relevancy of the chapter, but I continued on anyways. I read to almost the end when I came across the verse that let me know without a doubt that Heavenly Father had heard my prayer. The scripture said, "Cast not away your confidence...for ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." I know it may be difficult to understand what that scripture meant to me, but it meant everything. God wants me to be confident in Him and to trust His plan and His will and not to throw away my faith because of my fears, but to believe Him. I can make it and I'm doing good, I just can't give up. All of us can make it if we will keep our confidence in the Lord and not throw it away because of our worries.
I love each of you and hope you have a wonderful week. This week we are going to spend much time tracting in the neighborhoods of members. I know we'll find people to teach and it is going to be a good week. I love you all!
Love~
Austin
Fleming Island, FL
Dear Family & Friends~
I've had a few experiences with prayer lately, which have been particularly meaningful to me. I read a scripture in Alma 37:40, which stated that the Liahona gave Nephi and his family directions if they had "faith the believe" that the spindles on the compass would point the way they should go. They still needed to be humble and obedient for it to work, but the key phrase for me was about having "faith to believe". The scriptures, in the same chapter, are later compared to the Liahona. If we have "faith to believe" they should point the way we should go, they will.
Before I continue with my experience with prayer, however, I have to share a few thoughts about having "faith to believe". I think for the greater portion of my life I have believed that having faith meant being perfect. Since I have never been perfect, many times I found it difficult to believe that God would ever work miracles in my life. Whether the miracles were wrought in sports, school, or any number of things, since I didn't feel I was perfect, I thought I was faithless, and so I was unsure that Heavenly Father would work things out for me. Yes, I have always believed that in the end everything would work out, but I never believed they could work out in the present. I thought that the now was a time for suffering, and not joy. I'm not sure where I learned that view, but somehow and for some reason I picked it up. I see now, thankfully, that it is possible to have joy in the present, and that we don't have to wait until after we're dead to be happy. We can be happy now! That is the purpose of the gospel, to help us to be truly happy! I realize that having "faith to believe" means trusting that if you will do your very best, trusting that God will answer your prayers and press forward with a "perfect brightness of hope" that God will work a miracle for you, you will see the blessings of fulfilled faith much sooner.
Back to prayer, I had a few questions I needed answered and so I exercised "faith to believe" that God would answer my prayers as I opened the scriptures and studied them. I prayed believing fully that He would answer me right then and there as I read the scriputres and I read with a sure hope that He would show me the answers in the scriptures. I asked two questions in the span of 30 minutes and found both my answers in the same chapter of the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 1. Perhpas if you read it you'll discover what my answers were. :) Then on Sunday I asked another question, and I was less sure about my prayer being answered, so as I opened the scriptures thoughts like, "He's not going to answer this question, it's too specific, and too big of a question to be answered" crept into mind. But I stopped...and I threw away my fears and repeated the statement about having "faith to believe" in my head again, then I flipped open the topical guide. I found some scriptures relating to my question and turned to them. I was led to Hebrews 10 in the New Testament. I read the beginning of the chapter and I somewhat questioned the relevancy of the chapter, but I continued on anyways. I read to almost the end when I came across the verse that let me know without a doubt that Heavenly Father had heard my prayer. The scripture said, "Cast not away your confidence...for ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." I know it may be difficult to understand what that scripture meant to me, but it meant everything. God wants me to be confident in Him and to trust His plan and His will and not to throw away my faith because of my fears, but to believe Him. I can make it and I'm doing good, I just can't give up. All of us can make it if we will keep our confidence in the Lord and not throw it away because of our worries.
I love each of you and hope you have a wonderful week. This week we are going to spend much time tracting in the neighborhoods of members. I know we'll find people to teach and it is going to be a good week. I love you all!
Love~
Austin
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