Dear my homeboys and homegirls!
Well yet another week
has passed me by in this beautiful valley. I now realize that September is
coming up really soon! I'm going to blink and it will be here! It's been a
rough week as well for the work in this area. This Welby Stake has been
"dead" and by that I mean, there has been little to no fruits from
our labors (no baptisms, no reactivations and no one to teach). It is difficult
because (and I've seen this before in many of my areas that I newly came into)
when nothing is happening the missionaries just wait around until someone pops
up that they can teach. You can tell that by the records they keep in the Area book,
by the phone, by the calendar and what they've spent their time doing. It looks
like not much has been done here for a while. My companion and I have been
busting our butts to find people to teach! This whole week we went out in the
rain, snow and heat (Crazy Utah weather) to visit potential investigators of
the church, former investigators, Bishops, Ward Mission Leaders, and members in
the many wards we cover. We've talked to a lot of people and have been blessed
to have shared messages with many, many families, but we ask every time for
referrals and not much ever comes from it. There aren't many non-members in our
area, and those that aren't members of the church don't give us an inch to
speak, or never open their door! Haha
On the plus side,
we've gotten to know the area a lot better and we've met a lot of awesome
families! We've also found many service opportunities! Spring time is here and
I swear, (I don't actually swear) but everyone was outside on Saturday. It was
in the 70"s and I got sunburned. We walked by a man digging around some
sprinkler heads on his lawn and we saw his wife trimming trees. I though to
myself, "I know how to do these things!" So I bothered the man until
he let us help them. He was very stubborn but I was more stubborn. We ran home
quickly and changed and came back and got all their yard work done that they
needed. From the experience my brother Ryan and my brother Greg gave to me back
home (and from the 4 sprinkler systems we put in people's yards last summer) we
had some fun fixing this absolutely horrible sprinkler job. For those that know
sprinklers, the previous owner had put 9 zones around this very small house and
yard. There was 5 zones alone in the front yard and about 20 crappy sprinkler
heads. To make things better, instead of taking the sprinkler heads right off
of the main lines that run from the box to the front of the house, he treed
every head off about 6 feet from the line like this:
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I hope you can
understand my little aerial view of this sprinkler system. It was a lot worse
than that but that is the basic premise of how he ran his 3/4" pipe. We
had a fun time digging it all up to try to understand what he did and how to
fix it. I got to put my digging skills to use! We also cut down some trees
which I have some experience doing. It was fun! We got everything done that
they needed in less than 2 hours. It helped a lot because the husband is away
every week and is only home Saturday and Sunday. So he only has those two days
to spend with his wife and their three kids, so it felt nice to help
them.
Many service
opportunities came from us walking out and about searching for people to teach
by going to members homes and sharing a message with them about their Savior.
That is the thing, if you go around telling members and bishops and leaders in
the church what they should be doing or what they need to work on so that we
can have people to teach is wrong. We cannot tell others what to do or influence
them in that way. "...only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness
and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which
shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile... Let thy
bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith,
and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax
strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil
upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant
companion..." We need to love people into this work! Instead, "...we
talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of
Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to
what source they may look for a remission of their sins." Jesus Christ is
the life and light of the world! If we but provide an environment to feel the
Spirit testify of these divine truths that we share about our Savior and
Redeemer, then we can feel the Holy Ghost testify to our heart, mind and soul!
He can tell us who is ready to hear the gospel! He knows the hearts of these
people and will help us find people to teach! I know It! We must keep working
hard and showing Heavenly Father how much these blessed two years mean to us! I
read a quote this week that really changed me by Elder Holland.
"You only get one
chance to serve a mission. It is your responsibility, your duty, to use it to
it's fullest; to give every last ounce of energy until you collapse in
exhaustion at the end of it. All the hardships, all the tears, all the hard
work will be looked back upon as the best thing you've ever done, not because
you enjoyed it, not because you baptized everyone, but because you gave it
everything you had, even when you didn't think you could, and especially when
you didn't want to. Live your mission to your fullest, work harder than you've
ever worked before. Let people know that this is the most important thing in
the world to you... If you do not run until you have nothing left to give, and
then keep on going anyway; cry and pray and work and sweat and plead until you
are so drained that all you can do is turn to the Lord; if you don't do this,
then these people will not come to this joy because of you -- their failure to
come to Christ will be partially upon your head. Come out of your mission proud
of what you've done, and this experience will bless the rest of your
life." - Elder Jeffery R. Holland
This really changed me
inside as I felt the Spirit of the calling I've been given to Preach His
gospel, Christ's gospel; the very essence of joy, peace and love emanate from
our Savior who is the "author and finisher of [our] faith." It is His
gospel that changes lives, and hearts, to prepare us for the time when He will
inevitably come again to this earth that we may be exalted as He is; that as
our Father in Heaven is, we may become also -- for it is His work and His
glory, "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." I
know Christ lives and love us! He has paved the way for us to return back to
our Heavenly Parents, to overcome death and sin. I love Him with all of my
heart for what He has done for me personally and how he has miraculously
changed my heart and fortified it against the temptations and lies of the
adversary. I know that the Book of Mormon is true! It's pages ring with eternal
truth and speak peace to my wearied soul. I know Joseph Smith was a true and
living prophet who ushered in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
and supplied the place and time for us to receive, once again, the mighty
Priesthood of God and all the saving ordinances that come with it, especially
in the temple where our families can be sealed not only for time, but for all
eternity. I know that we are currently led by a living Prophet of God, Thomas
S. Monsoon, who holds all the keys necessary for us in this dispensation of the
fullness of times to prepare us, like I stated earlier, for the Second coming
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I hope you all have a great week! I love
you so much and can't wait to see ya'll again soon! :)
Love Elder Patterson
Elder Ruiz and I
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