Charity more than just service - Week 60

October 30, 2017

Hello Everyone,

I hope we are all doing well! Today is a breezy fall day in Caldwell Idaho! Pretty soon im sure we will start to see the first snow of the year! It blows my mind to think how quickly everything has gone! The year of 2017 has truly flown by! Transfers were today and I found out I will be staying in Caldwell for another 6 weeks (Dec 5). Im sad to see that Elder Pettijohn will be going to Nampa South Zone, but my new companion will be Elder Benavides! He is from Connecticut. I'm excited to learn from him and see what the Lord would have us do in this area. We have had a wonderful and busy week as it seems to always be. We were able to take 4 investigators to the Meridian Temple Open House! One of my favorites was our investigator Abdullah. He is from the Middle East and he doesn't speak English much better than an elementary school student, but he knows enough to be taught the lessons. We took him through the temple and he said," I wish you could speak my language so I could tell you more than simply Im very very happy" The temple reminds me how powerful the spirit can be in places that aren't dedicated or blessed. In all reality we can have the same spirit of the Temple Open House in our own homes we just have to allow it! We have almost given out 80 pumpkins in the last 3 weeks. Its been wonderful to see the light in peoples eyes when they register that its for them! 

This week we were also able to set 3 baptismal dates with some of the people we are working with and hopefully we will be able to see them move forward so they can be prepared to make that promise with God. We have also been reaping the reward of diligent service. We taught two new investigators that we found in one of the nicest parts of our area at 8:45 at night. We walked around the corner and found the wife working outside in the dark, and she has been prepared by God. All of her questions about church and religion and the purpose of this life are all essential questions we invite our investigators to ponder and pray about! So it was fun teaching them:) 

My thought of the week comes from my study of charity in the Book of Mormon. 

I was reading in 2 Nephi 33:9-12  

9 I also have charity for the Gentiles. But behold, for none of these can I hope except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation.

10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.

11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.

12 And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day.

I have been striving to understand what it means to have charity. It's soo much more than just doing acts of service. As I have begun to learn more its also about seeing others as Heavenly Father sees us. And that requires us to hope for us to stay and enter in the gate of Eternal Life. We need to see all of our Brothers and Sisters as striving to be on that path to have joy and to be able to repent. The beginning point for all of this is Believing in Christ. For those that are not of our faith and allow that to be the divide between us, Nephi explains it simply that if they believe in Christ they will come to know his words (The Book of Mormon) to be true also. May we also do the same and establish with all those around us that we are disciples of Christ and it is He that we obtain a forgiveness of our sins!  - Elder Gerrard

Elder Gerrard and Elder Benavides (From Connecticut)

The Beautiful Meridian Temple 

Finding our way through a corn maze