Pumpkin - Pumpkin Pie - Week 59

This week was a really quick one thats for sure. We were able to fill our truck bed full of pumkins twice. So we had a total of 64 pumpkins. We have been giving to others. Its been really fun! We had some tender mercies. It amazes me how the Lord really does put people straight in our path that are soo prepared. Its really that simple. We just need to talk to them. We have some people lined up to go with to the temple open house which should be a really fun time! I know this email is short and sweet...

More to come next week

Keep Smiling,
Elder Gerrard

Do we have Charity for ourselves? - Week 58

October 16, 2017

Hello everyone!
This week was a pretty crazy week for us! We went on a hike last P-day to a place called Jump Creek. Which is just a short simple hike to a pretty neat waterfall! That was pretty fun to enjoy the Wilderness haha. We also had zone conference this week. Which unlike most zone conferences.. We just did fun competitions all day with all of the missionaries. So we began by running a 5k. I got 27th place with a time of 29 min 50 sec. Boy was I not ready for that 5k haha I was SOOO sore the next day haha well.. I'm still sore. Its funny because most of the missionaries that beat me are the missionaries that just got here in the mission. So next time they run they will probably feel the effects of being a missionary. But for the weekend we spent most of the time in the hospital because one of the missionaries in our zone had to go to the ER.

I am pretty darn exhausted from this weekend that is for sure. We had another pretty good week however! We found another investigator. 4 came to church. We set another for baptism on November 18th which should be pretty awesome! 

Our mission president extended a challenge for us to read the Book of Mormon in 3months so I will be studying the Book of Mormon with a lens of all the examples/ teachings of Charity throughout the next three months of the mission. 

My thought about charity from the past couple weeks comes from 1 Nephi 18:9-21

9 And after we had been driven forth before the wind for the space of many days, behold, my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and also their wives began to make themselves merry, insomuch that they began to dance, and to sing, and to speak with much rudeness, yea, even that they did forget by what power they had been brought thither; yea, they were lifted up unto exceeding rudeness.

10 And I, Nephi, began to fear exceedingly lest the Lord should be angry with us, and smite us because of our iniquity, that we should be swallowed up in the depths of the sea; wherefore, I, Nephi, began to speak to them with much soberness; but behold they were angry with me, saying: We will not that our younger brother shall be a ruler over us.

11 And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel did take me and bind me with cords, and they did treat me with much harshness; nevertheless, the Lord did suffer it that he might show forth his power, unto the fulfilling of his word which he had spoken concerning the wicked.

12 And it came to pass that after they had bound me insomuch that I could not move, the compass, which had been prepared of the Lord, did cease to work.

13 Wherefore, they knew not whither they should steer the ship, insomuch that there arose a great storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest, and we were driven back upon the waters for the space of three days; and they began to be frightened exceedingly lest they should be drowned in the sea; nevertheless they did not loose me.

14 And on the fourth day, which we had been driven back, the tempest began to be exceedingly sore.

15 And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea. And after we had been driven back upon the waters for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that the judgments of God were upon them, and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities; wherefore, they came unto me, and loosed the bands which were upon my wrists, and behold they had swollen exceedingly; and also mine ankles were much swollen, and great was the soreness thereof.

16 Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praisehim all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions.

17 Now my father, Lehi, had said many things unto them, and also unto the sons of Ishmael; but, behold, they did breathe out much threatenings against anyone that should speak for me; and my parents being stricken in years, and having suffered much grief because of their children, they were brought down, yea, even upon their sick-beds.

18 Because of their grief and much sorrow, and the iniquity of my brethren, they were brought near even to be carried out of this time to meet their God; yea, their grey hairs were about to be brought down to lie low in the dust; yea, even they were near to be cast with sorrow into a watery grave.

19 And Jacob and Joseph also, being young, having need of much nourishment, were grieved because of the afflictions of their mother; and also my wife with her tears and prayers, and also my children, did not soften the hearts of my brethren that they would loose me.

20 And there was nothing save it were the power of God, which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts; wherefore, when they saw that they were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea they repented of the thing which they had done, insomuch that they loosed me.

21 And it came to pass after they had loosed me, behold, I took the compass, and it did work whither I desired it. And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed the winds did cease, and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm.

I found it pretty interesting when we look at this example in the scriptures and put ourselves in the place of Nephi being the one bound upon the tempest. Sometimes we are the ones that cause our very own issues and dilemmas in stumbling blocks in our lives. We bind ourselves to the tempest due to our own actions and thoughts like Laman and Lemuel. And we read that the pleadings of grandparents, spouses, and even little children can't soften the hearts of Laman and Lemuel. Can you imagine someone not having compassion on a child that is crying for their father to be released?  What I love about this example is that sometimes the only way we will remove ourselves from what we are going through will be us having charity upon ourselves. This is sometimes why we go through hard times, because the Lord is softening our hearts to see and have charity on ourselves to allow ourselves to change and repent. And we see that like Nephi, when we are released we will immediately turn to the Lord and we will receive peace and comfort. I Love being a missionary and I love seeing people change!:) 

Love you all,

Love Elder Gerrard

Beautiful Site

Hike - Jump Creek 

Elder Gerrard and Elder Pettijohn

In the Zone -P-Day Jump Creek Hike

You Got this Rocky

Elder Gerrard and Jump Creek Falls

"They Labored Exceedingly" - Week 57

October 9, 2017

Hello! 

This week has been a really great week for us! We are able to see the baptism of Kiera! she is the coolest 9 year old out there haha she got baptized this Saturday and it was awesome to see her whole family come and the best part is she even invited her teacher to the baptism who wasnt a member and he came! I love being able to sit in a baptismal service.. Me and Elder Pettijohn taught the restoration after the baptism and they were getting changed into dry clothing. It was really cool how powerful the spirit was when Elder Pettijohn talked about the 1st vision experience of Joseph Smith. This week we were also able to gain 6 new investigators to work with. This has been such a huge blessing! We have been working with some of these individuals for the last 6 weeks. And finally they are coming around to being investigators. Most of them are actually referrals from members that are their co-workers and stuff so its great to see the members of the church obeying and heeding to promptings of the Holy Ghost. Many of them are alot more prepared to meet with us then what they expected! I love being a missionary and enjoying the spirit that accompanies each and every day that we allow it to accompany us. Its crazy how fast time is flying with Elder Pettijohn we were able to invite some of his family that are not members of the church to go to the Meridian Temple Open House with us and they accepted! Its going to be soo awesome!

My thought for the week comes from Mosiah 23: 1-5

1 Now Alma, having been warned of the Lord that the armies of king Noah would come upon them, and having made it known to his people, therefore they gathered together their flocks, and took of their grain, and departed into the wilderness before the armies of king Noah.

2 And the Lord did strengthen them, that the people of king Noah could not overtake them to destroy them.

3 And they fled eight days’ journey into the wilderness.

4 And they came to a land, yea, even a very beautiful and pleasant land, a land of pure water.

5 And they pitched their tents, and began to till the ground, and began to build buildings; yea, they were industrious, and did labor exceedingly.

I just really loved these short versus and how many amazing principles and examples of faith it shows of a people that heeded the warnings of the prophet and after fleeing for their lives for 8 days they got to a new land labored exceedingly. I thought this was cool. that when we encounter "new lands" or circumstances in our lives are we going to labor diligently and do our best to make the most of what we have? The lord already promised that he will strengthen us! I love the promises of the Lord!

Have a great week!

Love you all,

Love Elder Gerrard

We  will Go and Do

Kiera's Baptism

Beautiful Sunset here in Caldwell

Peter on the Sea of Galilee - Week 56

October 2, 1017

This week was a really great opportunity to be able to work with some other missionaries in the mission. Me and Elder Pettijohn went on two exchanges this week. I went with one of our District Leaders in Nampa and then with one of the Assistants to the President in their area as well. It was alot of fun. There is nothing quite like a solids day of missionary work. We were able to find a few new potential investigators, teach some lessons, and to top it all off a dollar shake at the local burger joint to top of the night. With General Conference this time around it seemed like everyone was on the same page with the idea that you treat General conference like the Super Bowl. We were able to watch each session with a different family and some investigators this go around. The only problem in this is each family feels the need to go all out for us. Saturday sessions of conference I ate a 1/2 pound burger, mac-salad, fresh honeydew, We then headed to the next session where they had cinnamon rolls, sliders, meat tray, veggie trays, and expecting us to eat it all. I don't know how it happened but i did it! The only side effect is I when it came around to dinner time it was impossible to eat any more haha. 

My thought from the week comes from the account of Peter on the Sea of Galilee. I was pondering a talk that was given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf to the new mission presidents called in the year 2017. President Uchtdorf states: 

It was Peter who, when he saw the Savior walking on the Sea of Galilee, called out, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." While the other disciples were content to remain safely in the boat, Peter somehow knew that with the Lord's blessing, he too could walk on water. So when Jesus said,"come," Peter boldly stepped out of his boat, and for a few steps he had such great faith that he could walk on water! But " when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me." (
Matt. 14:23-33) immediately, impulsively, automatically, Peter reached out to the Savior for help.

And the Lord did save him, and as Peter followed Jesus, he continued to show remarkable courage, mixed with a  good measure of human weakness. he was always willing to take risks, to open his mouth and say what was in his heart. At times this led to blunders, but more often it led to precious learning experiences not available to those who held back." 

I really loved this description of the experience of Peter. It makes me think about who would I be? Would I be the one to step out of the boat and draw nearer to the Savior? Or would I be one of the disciples that wanted to remain safely in the boat where I would feel comfortable?  

I loved hearing the words of our modern day prophets and apostles. Elder Holland talking about how we all aspire to be more Christlike. So we should see one another as human beings striving to progress forward to help each other. President Uchtdorf talking about how much light do we have and allow in our lives?  Are we allowing comfort and habitual routines to hinder us from obtaining more light?

May I add my testimony to the ones in which we have already heard this weekend. The Book of Mormon does and will add more light into our lives as we not only read it, but ponder the message it contains and then to ask God to open our understanding.

Love you all,

Love Elder Gerrard

Elder Pettijohn has some kicks!

The Enabling and Strengthening Power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ - Week 55

9/25/17

My dear friends,

What an amazing week every week can be thanks to the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have. This week was full of very interesting and bizarre events haha. We had to move back into a different apartment so my new address till.   There is only a slight ant infestation in this apartment so the lord has most definitely showered us with more blessings from above! I can say that im in winter phase 1 as we are hitting temperatures of 60 at the highest. This is not that cold, but when thats the "winter" temperature of las vegas. You can't blame me right? We got pranked by some of our investigators this week as they recorded us to try and catch our reactions. But being the old prankster that I am.. I spotted the hidden camera haha. Can't say i have ever been recorded before though. We also got a brand new 2017 Toyota Tacoma to drive around ahah it had 60 miles on it when we got it so that has been fun to drive around haha. 

My thoughts from this week come from a few different sources and insights. Over the course of the week I realized once again how much I am under utilizing one of the greatest gifts our Heavenly Father has given us. That is the enabling and strengthening power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

I would say that many of us are quite familiar with the redemptive power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. But do we as latter-day saints and children of God utilize the enabling and strengthening power?

I love 1 Nephi chapter 17 because Nephi was asked to do alot of different things in this chapter that I would add.. weren't exactly the easiest things either. 

in verse 3 we read about one of the most stressed and talked about principle in the Book of Mormon.

 "And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness."

We later read in verse 51:

 "And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?"

We can take that verse and change "that I should build a ship" to any commandment of our Heavenly Father that we are struggling with. The key is are we accessing that enabling and strengthening power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ? 

In Elder David A. Bednar's talk " In the Strength of the Lord" he shares a powerful example:

"Examples of the enabling power are not found only in the scriptures. Daniel W. Jones was born in 1830 in Missouri, and he joined the Church in California in 1851. In 1856 he participated in the rescue of handcart companies that were stranded in Wyoming by severe storms. After the rescue party found the suffering Saints, provided what immediate comfort they could, and made arrangements for the sick and the feeble to be transported to Salt Lake City, Daniel and several other young men volunteered to remain with and safeguard the company’s possessions. The food and supplies left with Daniel and his colleagues were, to say the least, meager and were rapidly expended. I will now quote from Daniel Jones’ personal journal and his description of the events that followed:

“Game soon became so scarce that we could kill nothing. We ate all the poor meat; one would get hungry eating it. Finally that was all gone, nothing now but hides were left. We made a trial of them. A lot was cooked and eaten without any seasoning and it made the whole company sick. Many were so turned against the stuff that it made them sick to think of it. . . .

“Things looked dark, for nothing remained but the poor raw hides taken from starved cattle. We asked the Lord to direct us what to do. The brethren did not murmur, but felt to trust in God. We had cooked the hide, after soaking and scraping the hair off until it was soft and then ate it, glue and all. This made it rather inclined to stay with us longer than we desired. Finally I was impressed how to fix the stuff and gave the company advice, telling them how to cook it; for them to scorch and scrape the hair off; this had a tendency to kill and purify the bad taste that scalding gave it. After scraping, boil one hour in plenty of water, throwing the water away which had extracted all the glue, then wash and scrape the hide thoroughly, washing in cold water, then boil to a jelly and let it get cold, and then eat with a little sugar sprinkled on it. This was considerable trouble, but we had little else to do and it was better than starving” (Daniel W. Jones,Forty Years Among the Indians [Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1890], 81).

All that I have read thus far is a preparation for the next line from Daniel W. Jones’ journal. It illustrates how those pioneer Saints may have known something about the enabling power of the Atonement that we, in our prosperity and ease, are not as quick to understand: “We asked the Lord to bless our stomachs andadapt them to this food” (Jones, Forty Years, 81; emphasis added). My dear brothers and sisters, I know what I would have prayed for in those circumstances. I would have prayed for something else to eat. “Heavenly Father, please send me a quail or a buffalo.” It never would have occurred to me to pray that my stomach would be strengthened and adapted to what we already had. What did Daniel W. Jones know? He knew about the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He did not pray that his circumstances would be changed. He prayed that he would be strengthened to deal with his circumstances. Just as Nephi, Amulek, and Alma and his people were strengthened, Daniel W. Jones had the spiritual insight to know what to ask for in that prayer. “We hadn’t the faith to ask him to bless the raw-hide, for it was ‘hard stock.’ On eating now all seemed to relish the feast. We were three days without eating before this second attempt was made. We enjoyed this sumptuous fare for about six weeks” (Jones, Forty Years, 81–82).

The enabling power of the Atonement of Christ strengthens us to do things we could never do on our own. Sometimes I wonder if in our latter-day world of ease—in our world of microwave ovens and cell phones and air-conditioned cars and comfortable homes—I wonder if we ever learn to acknowledge our daily dependence upon the enabling power of the Atonement."

I know this power is real. May we use it. May we also prepare ourselves to head to the words of our modern prophets and apostles to hear what commandments the Lord will ask us to accomplish. We aren't alone in this life! we never are!

Look to the Lord, He will guide your Path! -
Elder Gerrard and Elder Pettijohn

Working the Car Wash!

Grey Means More Wisdom..Right? - Week 54

9/18/17


Hello Everyone,

Man oh man. It seems like the weeks are each one crazy whirlwind after the next! We just got transfer calls again! And I will be staying in Caldwell for another 6 weeks! So thats exciting because this is where I will be when the Temple Open House comes along! Its going to be soo cool to be able to take investigators through that temple! Its just one of those things that will completely change their perspective. This will probably be where I will have to go into hibernation mode also for the winter time. its comin. not sure how i feel about it all ahah!

I do have a announcements to make.. This week I came across a astonishing realization. This week I discovered that I have not 1 not 2 but 4 grey hairs! I really thought i would live longer than this... but I guess you just need to trust in the lords timing right? Everyone has to start looking like their old man (aka Dad) right? 

We had some really awesome tender mercies this week. We are still meeting with a man who is a shama (someone who dedicates their life to the pursuit of knowledge.) So he knows all sorts of stuff. But within his family he has his own version of the brass plates pretty much! the first couple of pages are made out of animal hide but he is currently debating whether to be baptized and leaving behind some of the traditions of his family! We had a really neat experience walking up on a lady moving a couch out of her apartment so we helped her move it down the stairs and bringing the new one into her place and we got to talking with her and she accepted to meet with us this Saturday so we are super pumped! We also have begun teaching this man from Central Asia so we are teaching him out of a Urdu language Book of Mormon which is crazy haha. 

I can definitely look back and see all the things im learning right now from my experiences with Elder Pettijohn and in helping and encouraging other missionaries in our zone. I would encourage everyone to really make the Book of Mormon a serious study to allow the power of the book enter into our lives. It truly will make us happier:)

Love you all,

Love Elder Gerrard

Lords Timing - Week 53

9/11/17

Hey Everyone!

This week was a incredible and blessed week. I had the unique opportunity to witness one of the people that I taught in my first area 1 year ago get baptized. Her name is Shirley. The spirit was very strong. I always knew that she would get baptized back into the church. But once she left back to Tonga I thought I would never see them again. But the Lord showed a Tender mercy as she moved back to that area right before I was transferred, and one year later she has prepared herself to make promises with God. There are just so many wonderful experience that we have on a weekly basis. We got a referral from a member about a  man named Khan. We began teaching him yesterday we talked about the Book of Mormon and how we need to pray about it. His response was," Why do I need to pray about it when I already believe it to be true." Its wonderful to see how the Lord prepares people through Members, Non-members, and missionaries to hear the Restored Gospel. I feel very blessed and fortunate to be a missionary here. I love teaching the Gospel, becasue I know its true. The lords timing is always the perfect timing. next week I will include my talk from this Sunday on faith. 

Love you all so much.

Elder Gerrard