Monday, July 8, 2013

Light and Darkness


7/8/2013
 
 

To Everyone,

 

Sorry about not writing very much the last 2 weeks.

 

This week was great! We had an all day P-day for the 4th of July!!! We spent it with the Watson Family; our Ward Mission Leader in the Victorian Village Ward. Sister Watson is the same lady who went to Texas and had lunch with my family. We got to meet most of her family and hang out with them. There was a HUGE firework show that was put to music that played over the radio!!! We even got permission to stay out late to see the show!!! 

 

Austin Olsen, the son of Sister Olson the woman who was baptized by her husband at the beginning of last month, went out with us twice this week. He got his mission call to Kansas! He has biked around with us and sat in on lessons and gotten to know what we do a little better. He’s a great kid and really good at talking so that takes a little off of me who is terrible at talking!!!

 

The work has been really slow. We haven't been able to teach much of our investigators. They have all been gone doing stuff or busy during this holiday week. We could really use prayers for the people we have found and teaching.

 

The last baptism we had was Shayla on the 15th.  I set a date with Ali Cook for the 22nd but it fell through.  The people who are close to baptism are Karli Schmitt, Sharon Hill, Ali Cook and Tajha Snook.  (ha ha wow, all girls).  We are hoping to have one soon but I’m here to help people become truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, not just make a half-way decision, get baptized and then not be active in the Lord’s church.  So we are taking it at their pace.

 

This next Sunday Elder Stephens and I will be singing "A Childs Prayer" in the Therwood Ward. I’m super nervous and not looking forward to it. But I will do what I can to help as much as I can.

 

I read President Uchtdorf’s talk on Light and Darkness today. This talk has become such a huge strength to me in healing from loosing Madie. Today when I read it, it was obvious to me that the way to get out of the darkness is to look outside yourself and serve others. He said "As you walk toward the hope of God’s light, you will discover the compassion, love, and goodness of a loving Heavenly Father, “in [whom there] is no darkness at all." Compassion, Love, Goodness; these are all attributes of Charity, the pure love of Christ. As we enable Charity to come into our lives and help us act in others’ lives we will step out of the darkness and become the light for others. I will try and pray that I will be able to do just that. Step out of the darkness and become a light.



Love y’all!

Elder Eldredge
 

To read the sermon Elder Eldredge talks about go to:
 http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/the-hope-of-gods-light?lang=eng

From the sermon:
"To me, the darkness and light in this painting are a metaphor for life. It is part of our condition as mortal beings to sometimes feel as though we are surrounded by darkness. We might have lost a loved one; a child might have strayed; we might have received a troubling medical diagnosis; we might have employment challenges and be burdened by doubts or fears; or we might feel alone or unloved.
But even though we may feel lost in the midst of our current circumstances, God promises the hope of His light—He promises to illuminate the way before us and show us the way out of darkness."
 
Entrance Into Enlightenment by Johan Benthin

 

 

 

 

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