False Storms

This past week was crazy. I'm just gonna talk about temporal things and then i can delve into the more spiritual aspect later on. 
Here we are in Illinois just being cold and stuff when all of a sudden this week everyone started freaking out about the weather. It was odd because we don't ever watch T.V. so we had no idea what in the world was going on. The stores were all selling out of bread and milk and stuff and my companion and i were very confused until we found out that apparently we were about to have a huge ice age or something. Well, the ice storm was very very nice... hehe it was the warmest it had been in a long time with some nice misting rain. I guess the weather man was wrong because nothing ended up happening. The craziest part about it is, that our cars got grounded and we were told to not go out at all on Friday. 
Let me say something about that topic. Staying inside all day as a missionary is like death. It is the WORST thing ever. We were so restless and i ended up reading some things Joseph Smith wrote and at the end of the day i just felt so drained. It was cool however to see the difference in my day. When we actually get to go out and work we say a ton of prayers all the time, but when we don't we go a long time without saying a prayer. When we got back to the apartment - i just felt like a good ole prayer. 

So other than staying inside a whole day for no reason, this week went pretty good. We had a lot of opportunity to do good. We have this investigator who has really had a hard life and every time we go over there she talks about how she has locked herself in her house so that she doesn't commit any more sin. We got word that she had run out of food recently so we made it known to a member, and on Sunday we dropped by with three loads of groceries for her and she just started crying and thanking us. She proceeded to tell us that she, 'needs Jesus.' In this moment i learned something and gained a testimony of the fact that no matter who you are or where you have been or under any circumstances, the Lord provides an unquenchable hope for all mankind.  We hope to be able to help her along in the repentance process and bring her to the fullness of happiness that can be hers. 

I just wanna end here with a little thing that I hope will tie this email together. No matter what goes on in our life. No matter how many storms or false storms come our way. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the everlasting path to happiness. I know that it is designed for sinners because we all are. I know that no one is forgotten in the eyes of God. I am so blessed to be a missionary for the only true, everlasting, and living church on the earth today. As I study the scriptures, the Lord just continues to bless me with revelation and love. 

Well that's all folks,
LOVE Y'ALL
Elder Brian

Power of Ordinances

Well folks, it was a great week. Honestly the weeks are all mashing together and I think I can blame having a fun time in the service of God. 

This week we had the Baptism of two girls named Jasmine and Aurora. It was awesome. everything went great and we have two wonderful new members of the Church. Before Aurora's baptism she was getting really nervous because she hates going all the way under water. She was so scared, like literally shaking when she walked into the font. But as soon as she came up she was smiling and laughing and the happiest person alive. It was the cutest thing ever. Jasmine walked right in got baptized and walked right out. It was kinda funny. The next day we confirmed both of them, and they were as happy as clams.

I really have gained a strong testimony of the power of the Ordinances. I can testify that if you truly want to feel God's Power manifest, attend a baptism or simply partake of the Sacrament. If you truly focus on the spirit and strive to have a spiritual experience I can promise that you will have one. The change in me is insane. I recognize now that Sundays are my favorite days simply because I get to partake of that ordnance and remember Him. 

I'm here and I'm happy.

LOVE, ELDER BRIAN

ps. sorry its short.... i have tiredoftyping-itus. 

but i sent pictures 😀

First baptisms

Holy smokes. It is already January. 

Well let me just start off with a little bit of a spiritual slam. 

In the very very short 5 months of my mission i have come to understand so much more of the divine message that i have the privilege to share with the people in the Missouri St. Louis mission. I have come to a further knowledge of the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ being the most correct thing in existence today.  

This past week has been amazing. We have two baptisms lined up for this Saturday and i am so happy for them. Jasmine(13) and Arora(8) are their names. They are sisters and both their parents are less active but are working toward activity. I have never seen anyone be more excited to be baptized then little Arora. She is sooo happy. I cannot wait to see her face when she comes out of the water. 

This past Sunday i gave a talk in Church and it was pretty funny. I spoke on goals and how to set and achieve righteous goals. The whole time i was thinking, if my dad were here he would destroy this topic with his amazing mad skillz at making and keeping his Goals. hehe 

This past week I've focused a lot in my studies in Faith. I just wanna tell everyone a little something i learned. In the Book of Mormon there is this guy named Alma and in Chapter 32 of his book he tells us a little something about faith. I’m not gonna lie, i totally took this chapter for granted all through seminary and in my own reading until i started doing a little bit deeper study. In Alma 32 we learn literally how to GROW FAITH. I want everyone to know that this is the only place, in all of the scripture that we have, that actually tells us how to make our faith grow. Then there is the question, why do i need to know that... Well you need to know that because Faith leads to Repentance which makes you want to keep your baptismal Covenants and by doing so you keep living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Just a thought... hahaha

oh, i almost forgot. I had an awesome experience on exchanges with Elder Cardiff. He was in my district in the MTC so we knew we were going to have a blast. A little thing they frogot to tell me before the exchange was that they were OUT of miles so we had to walk all across creation to make it to our appointments. We had this awesome experience though when Elder Cardiff decided that we should knock on a few doors. I knocked on my first one and a lady opened the door. She was slightly embarrassed because she didn't have her "top teeth" in at the moment so i did most the talkin. I told her who we were and why we were there at her door and she just looked at us and said, "hold on a sec." then she dissipeared into her house for a few seconds then opened the door again with nice white teeth. hehehe She talked with us for a little then i asked if we could share something with her . She obliged and we talked about God and Jesus. She then said, “I already know all this so I'm alright. You boys have a good day.”  But the spirit told us to stand firm so we did. We then explained a little about the book of mormon and the sweet lady became interested in what we were saying. Both Elder Cardiff and I were able to testify of the power of the book and the Joy it will bring and she told us she would read it and would enjoy another visit. BAM someone who is now interested. 

Well thats all I've got and this is the longest one ever. sooo 

Peace

Love elder Brian