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
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
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