Just a Pic!

This is Christ's True Church

Hey y'all! 

This week was great! We have had quite the time talking to people this week. 

Dallas Daze

So this week we had a pretty awesome pick me up that shows the Lord works in mysterious ways. We had a long week of rejection and it was like to another level. So we had our spirits lifted last night. We were walking around our complex for the last bit of the day, and his lady calls from her balcony, "Mormons!?" We turn around and are all, "Yeah!" We walk over and she's like Samuel the Lamanite status leaning over the railing talking to us from the balcony. She turned out to be quite drunk but was talking about the "Mormon bible" and she loves it. As well as talking about how we are doing the Lord's work and how happy she is to see young men out about God's work. She said we were "soldiers behind enemy lines." Hahaha but ya, it was cool to have a week of hardship and then find someone so happy to see us.

So this week we had much opposition to us and we have been baffled at what the deal is. But we have learned A TON. We have truly been blessed by personal revelation. My message this week was about questions. Many shy away from questions, many rely on the knowledge of others to explain things, many don't want to study and figure out stuff but would rather rely on the explanation and knowledge of others. This is good but will only take you so far. Eventually you will plateau and it will get real, it will get hard, and you will struggle. This is where you can truly access the wells of spiritual revelation. This week we have truly been battered, but it was a blessing in disguise because in our personal studies we have discovered things by the spirit that I couldn't not have a conviction of any other way. We learn of Nephi in 3 Nephi that had such power and spirit that his testimony could not be denied by any. "18 And it came to pass that they were angry with him, even because he had greater power than they, for it were not possible that they could disbelieve his words, for so great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ that angels did minister unto him daily."

Did Nephi come to this strength from relying on others for answers? By relying on the testimony and knowledge of those because he didn't think he could be there? That he wasn't as smart as they were? Of course not. No more comparisons to others, we are children of our heavenly fisher and have divinity in us all, I know that personal revelation can be found for us all, through our personal diligence in seeking wisdom and knowledge. I know this because I've experienced it this week. When you are faced with a question, backed into a corner, that is not readily available, has not been addressed in a general conference talk, has not been solved on LDS.org, with no access to google or any outside resource. You must face one thing, to give up, or turn to the source of all knowledge, our Heavenly Father. Let him know of this question. "8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul."

And then seek the answer, turn to the scriptures. Things can be taught to you by the spirit as you study, it's a miracle of how it works. And I can testify of this, answers may come quick, they may come slow, or very slow. But hold to the faith. Start with the Book of Mormon. Find out its truth. Read it, pray about it, let it pierce your heart. Let it change you. It has power because they are the words of Christ. Have real intent, a broken heart and contrite spirit. And find out if that book is true. And after that, keep learning, keep growing. There is joy in the journey, not in the destination. 

I testify Christ lives, he is the Savior of the world and I stand firmly in my shoes with a knowledge gained no other way than by study of the word of God and prayer, that this is Christ's true church . He appeared to Joseph Smith with our Heavenly Father. He restored the Priesthood here. And through it we may have eternal life to its greatest degree. I testify of this as one holding His authority to preach His gospel to all. And invite all to come unto him, to discover for yourself who he is to you. It's time to plant our own seeds and stop using the labors of another. We need our own foundation laid on Christ that we may not fall. The shafts in the whirlwind are here, let us build upon the Rock of our Salvation.

I'm Christ's name I bear my witness, amen.

Love 

Elder Hiatt.

Pride

Hello everyone!

This week was a crazy week! But to start,

DALLAS DAZE!

So I am actually back in towards Dallas in a place called Prosper, TX. It's literally just huge expensive houses and it's great. Well to start off, yes people here (sorry Texans reading) are pretty fun nuts and that's okay, but sometimes they take too much pride in that. So we were knocking with my ward mission leader showing us around and we knocked on the wrong house. Well it's about 8:00, not too late. But the guy answers the door and is all, "man y'all should never knock on a door at night, you're lucky I didn't bring my gun with me, you never do this again" and then closes a knife he had behind his back and is like blatantly trying to scare us and such. Our ward mission leader was pretty petrified but Elder Parry and I, both having served in east Texas, this was a very common thing out there. People like to show off their weaponry, so we apologized and left but it was hilarious because our WML was astonished people do that all the time to us. It's like once the sun goes down everyone thinks a murderer is knocking on their door. Super weird, but it was hilarious to see our WMLs face. But ya, people here in Texas are very cordial.....except to missionaries.....especially at night .

So my message this week is about being doubled in to an area and what that has been like. Elder Parry and I showed up and the area is awesome, but not a whole lot of records have been kept. So we were in the dark all week. But we said whatever, we are here for a reasonable no let's do whatever feels right. So we started with what we had, which wasn't much. But we did what we could. As the week went on things were happening. Stuff was organizing in a way that was really quite miraculous. But the end of this week with no info at all about the area. God provided a way to meet with the bishops, the ward mission leaders, meet tons of members, get elder Parry a bike, fix my bike, find 2 new investigators, and my companion and I are basically the best friends already. Literally so cool. When you do the little things and try, God magnifies your efforts. Sometimes we feel in this life we have no direction, idea where to go, what to do. Sometimes we end up somewhere where there is no background info, no info moving ahead, and only prayers of faith and figments of ideas. Sometimes we are placed in a situation where we don't have the tools to work, where we may seem truly alone. But fear not, it is a lot like the life we have here. We are born into a vast world where Day by day we learn the skills to move on. Nobody gives you a blue print of life, but what we do have is the blue print to make the journey ahead joyful. To make it hopeful. And to make it enjoyable. That is the gospel, the little things God asks of us. As elder Parry and I tried, did the things we knew were good things and just tried, God choreographed our day that things worked to our benefit. In 2 Nephi 32:9 is the key. "9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul." Are you praying always? When we pray for things, many say formal, usual prayers, "thank you for my life, for my house, bless so and so" so on and so forth. But the shocking thing is, God cares about your questions, he cares about your desires, and he wants to help you. Have you ever asked a question exactly this way in prayer, "Heavenly Father I really want to pass this class. I have come up with a study schedule that if I follow it I feel I will be able to pass with an A. Will you help me as I try this? Whatever your will is, let it be done. And I ask for your help moving forward to know if this is a good plan and if so, be able to have your help." Let god know
your plans, ask for his help, and move forward and try. You'll find that whatever may happen, good or bad, will be consecrated to the welfare of your soul, sometimes that means trial, sometimes that means success. So keep going, keep trying, and smile. Enjoy the journey,
because the journey is eternal, and joy isn't a destination. I can testify of this that if you will go  to god, pray to him always for it is a commandment, and let him help you in your life, he will consecrate your performance to you. But it takes trying on your part. You can't expect God to do it all. It's hard to magnify your efforts when your not putting your efforts in in the first place. I can tell you is because I've experienced it this week. I love y'all


Here's some pics of our apartment

Allergies!

Hey y'all!

So this week was awesome! I'm being transferred back towards Dallas so that'll be good!

Dallas Daze

So this week we walked outside one morning, and man our car looked great! It was covered in yellow powder and it was interesting, everything was blooming oh it was beautiful. Then it happened the next day......ALLERGIES......CRAZY RIDICULOUS ALLERGIES......I FELT LIKE I HAD THE FLU. So yeah, if you have allergies and you come to east Texas, imagine being crop dusted by pollen. It's lovely. Thanks to some members I got some good help though so we good. Just a raw nose. We also got to meet a lemur, so that's cool.

So this week was way cool. We had a guy who has a non member wife that wants to know the gospel is true. She has been seeking it for years and her husband is a less active guy that has been to church in years. We've been working with them and being quite bold. Boldness requires love because if not, it is overbearance. So as we have done so they have slowly changed. They are now coming to church and really living it. It's a process and I hate to be transferred in the middle of it, but God knows what he is doing, and I have faith things will work out. It'll be awesome.

Sorry for the short letter, transfers make Monday busy!

Love y'all!