Nampa Idaho Mission 2016-2018: Week 15

Hey everyone!

I hope the first days of December have treated you warmly:)

This week was pretty crazy since I was called to train a new missionary on Monday night. I went to President Sorensen's home and participated in a new trainer meeting that they hold, which was great! it really comes down to being a great example no mater the circumstances or conditions!

My new companion is Elder Shoemaker! He is from San Diego, California he loves to skateboard, surf, and just enjoy the warm weather! I just asked him if he could describe himself in one word what would it be and he said, "Gnarly" I think we will get along just fine haha!

The first day we were togeather it snowed on us so if you can imagine.. two Elders one from California and one from Las Vegas Nevada.. We were just having a grand ol time laugh about how funny this is that the two Elders from some of the warmest places you can go are stuck in Idaho biking in snow! We enjoyed it and had smilies on our faces so thats all that matters the work goes on!

So if you remember Jaden from last email we set a baptism date for January 7th with him so that's gonna be awesome to see his progression for that day to enter into that sacred covenant! This was huge and amazing news! Its a testimony that God places people that are prepared and ready! We just have to find them! For the Christmas Initiative we did all day of service on Thursday where we went to a store similar to a goodwill or DI and just helped them sort through things and do whatever they needed! they were soo thankful and impressed to see all these missionaries come and help them out! And today we are going to visit some sick members of the ward and just visit with them! What amazes me is that we don't need to wait for a specific day to do any of these things! All we need to do is simply look for Christlike opportunities to serve others around us!

The thought I would like to share items from the training I gave to other missionaries in my zone based on the talk this past General Confrenece entitled "You Are Enough" by Elder Cornish. To demonstrate the principle that I wanted to teach I proceeded to tell the zone that I have worked out every day since I got into the mission so I'm feeling pretty strong and felt like I could beat someone in an arm wrestle compition... well I have three videos all proving that I lost all three times the last one being to a sister missionary! So clearly my confidence in my abilities and streghthes were shot.. the point I extended to the zone is we shouldn't compare oursleves with anyone because we will allways come away disappointed in our selves and our abilities, since thats all we do as human beings! So I suggest we simply look back at ourselves and set goals and work towards them and thats where true happiness lies! Not in the lives of others, but in our own lives!

We also got to make a youtube video with some members talking about the Christmas initiative! There channel is called "Judkins Journey" and the link is supposedly https://youtu.be/oOZKt78zGs4

I also played in the Christmas ward party this last Saturday so it was fun being able to play "O Holy Night" for them! I sure do miss playing the cello for people! I encourage us all to look for those opportunities to participate in the light the world!!

Keep Smiling

Love Elder Gerrard