This past week was GREAT! It was SO busy, but it was
wonderful. On Monday, we got a referral from a less-active member and
went to contact him. We call referrals "manna from heaven" because they
are typically few and far between ;) D____ is the less-active's
grandson, and is pretty great! He's 16, and has had a ROUGH life
(living out of a car with his mom; dropping out of high school; etc.)
Due to some legal complexities with his mother, he is now living with
his grandmother, the less-active who gave us the call. It has been
GREAT getting to know him better, teach him, and see the changes already
take place in his life! Since he's out of school right now, we were
able to teach him 4 times this week! We got him to pray out loud for
the first time in his life! It was a very touching experience. He was
SO NERVOUS, and we had to re-assure him like whoa, but after a few
awkward minutes of waiting, he finally opened his mouth and offered a
very humble prayer. :) He and his grandma even came to church
yesterday despite the CRAZY blizzard! D____ will be the key to getting
his grandmother re-activated, and he as already accepted our invitation
to be baptized! WOW! I think he is able to see and feel how Heavenly
Father and the Spirit can and will help him through this hard time in
his life, and further down the road.
We had another amazing lesson with C____, the widow
that we have been visiting. We are always touched by her humility and
earnest desire to find the truth. We are going to give her a chapel
tour this week, and commit her to be baptized on February 1st!
W_____, the young man we've been teaching has been
flaking on us... but we're not giving up on him! This past week we
received a text from a part-member/investigator family we've been
working with. They are VERY poor, and were out of food, so we gathered
up the extra food we had and some gift cards we received at Christmas
and headed over to relieve them. They were SO humbled and thankful.
After shoveling their driveway, we were able to teach K____, the
non-member about faith and baptism. We are SO excited for this family.
They have made some pretty poor choices in the past, but are now
choosing to put their lives back in order. I really admire people like
that! I am SO thankful for the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ
that makes it possible for each and every one of us to repent, and
become perfected through Him. What a blessing to know that no matter
how far we have strayed, there is ALWAYS hope; there is ALWAYS healing;
it is NEVER too late to make things right.
We had a C-R-A-Z-Y snow storm yesterday and today,
and because of it, we are not allowed out, so Sister Porter, the Mission
President's wife, asked us to take our patriarchal blessings out, and
do the following with them:
- Make an "I am..." list from your entire PB. For example, "I am from the tribe of..." or "I am born of goodly parents" etc.
-
Next, make an "I will..." list from your entire PB. Make the "I will"
statements things you will do/accomplish as promised in your blessing.
- Lastly, make an "I won't..." list from your entire PB. If your blessing has any warnings, write them down in this format.
I
was able to take some time and do this activity, and I was BLOWN AWAY
at all the wonderful things Heavenly Father has in store for me. I was
better able to see who I am, and how my Father sees me. It will inspire
you to live up to your divine potential!
I love you SO much! May this new year bring a
renewed determination to stay faithful, have fun, and BECOME who
Heavenly Father wants us to be.
Love forever,
Elder Jason Allred
PS - Transfer calls come this morning, so stay tuned for a potential change of address!
Pictures:
Elder Allred has some "Swag"
SNOW SNOW SNOW! two feet on the McClellan's deck!
No comments:
Post a Comment