So this week was a good one. We had two exchanges, one in
Branson, Mo, and the other in Joplin, Mo. My Joplin exchange was with an
Elder Samuel Anders. I went on exchanges with him almost a year ago while I
was in Fort Smith. I had a very neat experience while on exchanges there. I
have been studying about the Law of Moses out of the Book of Mormon and the
Doctrine and Covenants for the past few weeks and I have learned some
interesting things about it. Well, in our first appointment with a man named
Richard a few questions were raised that caught Elder Anders off guard.
Richard made an observation as he read from Mark about John the Baptist
teaching that the Jews didn't have the gift of the Holy Ghost because they
didn't have the Holy Priesthood. Then Richard went to 2 Nephi 31 and
observed that Nephi was talking about the gift of the Holy Ghost 600 years
before John the Baptist taught that he could only baptize by water and not
by the Spirit. So, with my studies and with the aid of the Spirit we were
able to answer his question. This lesson gave me a stronger testimony of how
the Spirit can bring things to our minds and reveal to us things that may
seem to be a mystery. I felt really good that I was prepared for this
lesson, because I normally only get a few minutes to prepare my thoughts in
lessons because I only find out just hours before who I am teaching and what
I am teaching. It made me feel useful, not that I don't already feel useful,
but it was very special because I served a specific purpose. Sometimes when
I see these Elders teach and hear about what things are going on in their
area I get envious and start to think about what I miss out on and start
wishing I had what they have. This isn't an uncommon thought. I have been
fighting it the whole time I have been here in Tulsa. I haven't thought this
for a long time, but sometimes I catch myself in the thought. What I have
learned to do in order to correct this thought is to seek revelation and
find my purpose. As I have found my purpose for serving here I have also
found who I am and what things I can do to help others. I guess this is just
me explaining what everyone seems to go through at some point in their life
when they are searching for a purpose and a direction. For some reason I
feel more like an investigator of the church more than I do a missionary
right now.
Things are going good with my companion. This week we taught
Sister W. and Crystal again on Saturday. Saturday was pretty slow till the
appointment. We came back from Joplin and spent the afternoon cold
contacting people from the ward list. We are still in a transition period
waiting for things to happen in the next few weeks. I think these last few
weeks have begun to teach me to how to get over the rest of my fears of
doing missionary work. I have always had a fear of not having anything to
do, I am always a little hesitant when it comes to finding something
effective to do for several hours at a time with no real plan, but with my
latest set of trials I am getting over my hesitations and I have become very
trusting. Like on Saturday, we had a three hour block of the day where we
went out and tried our best to be the most effective we could. The
motivation behind most of it was that I knew there was going to be a great
blessing given at six o'clock when we got to Sister West home. I was willing
to put up three hours of collateral in doing whatever He wanted to receive
the blessing of teaching Crystal at Sister W's. I also worked hard for those
three hours because we needed Him to come through in getting us an exchange
for the night so that we could go into the home for dinner. I know that God
does fulfill His promises and that he makes His promises Known to us through
prayer and the scriptures.
That's all for this week family. I want to keep on writing, but
we are going to be very busy here in the next few minutes. I love you and
thank you for all that you do for me!
Love,
Elder Kelly Conrad
PS the picture is of all the office staff, from left to rightSister Koning,
Sister Nokes, me, Elder Anderson, Sister Mills, Sister Bowers and Elder
Bowers. these have been my friend and family for the past 8 months and they
are all leaving me in the next two weeks. Mom you have to forward my emails
on to these Sisters, their emails are; bjm1943@msn.com;
jjkoning@infowest.com; tavanokes2246@yahoo.com; thank you so much!
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