Love One Another - Week 76

Hey everyone! This last week was one filled with learning and revelation. And since this last week was valentines day I find it quite ironic that the lesson that I learned is primarily centered around love. This is a topic that I feel is usually understood when it comes to what it means to love some one or something. Or in a gospel context what it means to love, but the thing I love about the gospel is that there is always new things to learn! So this last week I was pretty sick and we couldn't do a ton of things for very long before I would feel pretty bad and need to rest. Since I was sick, the primary focus of the week wasn't actually on our investigators,  but more of a week of inner reflection it seemed. And It was in this week that a very inspired question was asked that really changed a lot of my perspective. This question was "Elder Gerrard, what is your testimony of the Savior?" At face value, it may seem like a pretty common question a missionary may get, or even something that a missionary would frequently do. The person asking the question was a convert to the church who use to be southern Baptist and he never really meet with missionaries during his true conversion. He was already converted when the missionaries came in. He was guided and led by Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon and this is how he became converted. So you can imagine when someone with a very strong and personal relationship with Jesus Christ askes you the question that I posed above, I was a little put back because at first because what could I possibly say? Well, in response I bore my testimony of the Savior. This is when he said, "have you felt a intense love for the people you are teaching?" and I replied that this was a pretty common thing. He then said, "This is the greatest testimony of Jesus Christ we can share. That is, letting out Savior's love flow through us to others."  

Sisters and Brothers I have thought more about this and the more I look at the teachings of our Savior its very clear this was a piece of the teachings that he was trying to help us understand. Here are some scriptures that have come to my mind since. 

Matthew 24:12

12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

We see people looking inwardly much more now a days. And when we break commandments we are doing iniquity. So if you cross reference this scripture to John 14:15 you see that keeping commandments helps us love the Savior. 

Moroni 7:47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

John 21:15-17 

15 ¶ So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

These two versus go hand in hand as it talks about simply what are we doing to love our Savior? And how are we allowing the pure love of Jesus Christ flow through us?

This is my message to us all this week. I would. Invite us  to move and progress forward in the gospel and ask our selves what can I do to show my testimony of the Savior. I know that as we do this our relationship with him will strengthen and others will want to come unto him. 

Love Elder, Gerrard

Agents to Act - Week 75

Hey everyone! 

this week has been something else that is for sure! We got our smart phones on Tuesday so we have been trying to digitize EVERYTHING! its going to be super nice though. I have already seen the blessings as we have been using it in our area. I really love how the church is incorporating smart phones into the mission. I love how the official letter we received talked about two reasons for bringing technology in 

" There are two primary objectives with this initiative. First, we want to enable our missionaries to become wise stewards in how they use and apply technology for the rest of their lives. And second, this tool will allow us to share the good news of the gospel more broadly and effectively than ever before."

I really love this the very first reason for doing this is to help us become better in how we use technology in our lives. It makes me think of the 10 commandments in Exodus 20:4-5

"4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;"

As I have been on my mission i have been able to see alot more clearly as I viewed our society and how we operate our smart phones. Prior to getting our smart phones we have under gone alot of training on how to use these phones but also carrying out our missionary responsibilities. It has been amazing as I have recieved this phone how many thinking dispositions and habits have come to the surface that I tell my self. "thats not a good habit." I am not perfect at this but I have already seen how this simple change in our mission will impact me for the rest of my life as I begin to take charge and not let our phone be an idol. Elder M. Russel Ballard has stated.

"Handheld devices, such as smartphones, are a blessing, but they can also distract us from hearing the ‘still, small voice.’ They need to be our servants, not our masters.”

May we each think about how we use our phones and ask our selves are the limiting and restricting our ability to be instruments and lights in the lives of others. I promise as we use these tools better we will be able to help more of Gods Children that are struggling.

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Keep smiling!

Love, Elder Gerrard 

President Sorenson - Selfie

Sister Sorenson and Elder Gerrard

Seeing doesn't mean we come to know - Week 73

Hey Everyone! 

This week was a really cool week for me. I was able to go back and witness one of the investigators that I taught  in Caldwell get baptized! It is always such an awesome thing to see the continued growth and progress of people I have really come to love. We had probably six other people that aren't members at that baptism as well, which is super awesome! We are seeing a lot of tender mercies in our work here. We don't necessarily find a lot of people to teach for ourselves, but we are finding people that other missionaries can teach! So it all works out! We are enjoying our time so that's all that matters. Its not about how many people you teach! 

My thoughts from the week are centered around coming to know our Heavenly Father. 

An Emeritus Seventy Elder Bruce C. Hafen came and spoke in one of our sacrament meetings and his remarks along with others created a theme for the whole day. 

It centers around John 17:3 

" And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

This one verse in the great intercessory prayer has always grabbed hold of my attention. The idea of coming to know our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is nothing short of a lifetime pursuit. 

In life we seem to shrink when it comes to the presentation of a difficult task at hand or trial before our path. However it is these very events that bring us to know our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Think of the Paul in the New Testament, Joseph Smith in the early days of the church, Alma the Younger in the Book of Mormon. All of these individuals went through such difficult times and what came forth was immense revelation, growth, and knowledge. I wanted to share this poem called "Lamentations" Its a poem about Eve after they left the Garden of Eden. 

And God said, “BE FRUITFUL, AND MULTIPLY –“
Multiply, multiply – echoes multiply

God said, “I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY THEY SORROW – “
Thy sorrow, sorrow, sorrow –

I have gotten a man from the Lord
I have traded the fruit of the garden for fruit of my body
For a laughing bundle of humanity.

And now another one who looks like Adam
We shall call this one, “Abel.”
It is a lovely name“Abel.”

Cain, Abel, the world is yours.
God set the sun in the heaven to light your days
To warm the flocks, to kernel the grain
He illuminated your nights with stars
He made the trees and the fruit thereof yielding seed
He made every living thing, the wheat, the sheep, the cattle
For your enjoyment
And, behold, it is very good.

Adam? Adam
Where art thou?
Where are the boys?
The sky darkens with clouds.
Adam, is that you?
Where is Abel?
He is long caring for his flocks.
The sky is black and the rain hammers.
Are the ewes lambing
In this storm?
Why your troubled face, Adam?
Are you ill?
Why so pale, so agitated?
The wind will pass
The lambs will birth
With Abel’s help.

Dead?
What is dead?

Merciful God!

Hurry, bring warm water
I’ll bathe his wounds
Bring clean Clothes
Bring herbs.
I’ll heal him.
I am trying to understand.
You said, “Abel is dead.”
But I am skilled with herbs
Remember when he was seven
The fever? Remember how—

Herbs will not heal?
Dead?

And Cain? Where is Cain?
Listen to that thunder.

Cain cursed?
What has happened to him?
God said, “A fugitive and a vagabond?”

But God can’t do that.
They are my sons, too.
I gave them birth
In the valley of pain.
Adam, try to understand
In the valley of pain
I bore them
fugitive?
vagabond?

This is his home
This the soil he loved
Where he toiled for golden wheat
For tasseled corn.

To the hill country?
There are rocks in the hill country
Cain can’t work in the hill country
The nights are cold
Cold and lonely, and the wind gales.

Quick, we must find him
A basket of bread and his coat
I worry, thinking of him wandering
With no place to lay his head.
Cain cursed?
A wanderer, a roamer?
Who will bake his bread and mend his coat?

Abel, my son dead?
And Cain, my son, a fugitive
Two sons
Adam, we had two sons
Both – Oh, Adam –
multiply
sorrow

Dear God, Why?
Tell me again about the fruit
Why?
Please, tell me again
Why?

May we look at our trials tribulations with a hope to come to know our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. 

The Power in the Book - Week 74

Feb. 5th, 2018

This week has been a pretty good one for Elder Wheeler and myself we are going to be busy this week with a baptism of a YSA investigator that the sister missionaries have been teaching but he will come to our YSA ward. So that's pretty exciting. We had to leave our living quarters half way through the week so we have been staying with other Elders in the mission, which has been pretty fun to get to know them as well and learn how we can better help them in their missionary services. Things have been kinda interesting since Elder Wheeler came into the area haha. This weird phenomena has happened where since he got in the area we haven't taught a single lesson with our investigators! Its the craziest thing! But i know that Heavenly Father waits for the time to be right and then things will happen. Our job is simply to remain diligent and do the things that we know we should be doing and then let Heavenly Father do the rest! 

We are also working on organinzing and putting togeather a musical fireside. Elder Wheeler plays the guitar and I play the cello so we both really enjoy music. We are getting some people together to play songs centered on Jesus Christ and it should be pretty awesome if we can get it all together!

This week I just want to bear my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I really have come to know that the Book of Mormon brings power. It is truly an incredible gift. I would add my testimony again to the apostles and prophets that reading the Book of Mormon will bring a mighty change to our hearts and lives. The gospel is amazing and love being able to testify about it!

Breath, Believe, Battle - Week 72

Jan. 28, 2018

This week has been one of gratitude and thanks. I feel so blessed for my understanding of gospel truths that bring me so much peace and happiness in times of great struggle. In our area here in Meridian North we have seen some wonderful progression in some of the people that we are teaching. If all goes well we should see a baptism in the near future. I heard that my area in Caldwell is moving forward very well and that 4 of the people that I taught are still on date and should be meeting their baptismal dates! So if all goes well I will be seeing some wonderful people in whom I have grown to love very soon! This week was transfers! I found out that im staying and im going to be training a New Zone Leader. His Name is Elder Wheeler! He came out one transfer after I did and I have actually served around him alot so that should be really fun to be with him. Elder Rymer is actually going to my area in Caldwell! I know he is going to help some of those people really well. This last transfer has been a transfer of great personal growth and evaluation, which im very grateful for. I love how missions mold us when we allow us to be molded and to repent. This isnt the kind of repentance that is due to commandment breaking but to submitting oursleves to the will of Heavenly Father and allow ourselves to be molded into the person Heavenly Father knows I can be! 

My thought comes from this really awesome scripture I rediscovered in Alma chapter 11: 40-41

40 And [Jesus Christ] shall come into the world to redeem his people; and [Jesus Christ] shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else.

41 Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God, and be judged according to their works.

I love this verse as it talks about the relationship between us, our Savior, and repentance. He will take our transgressions from us when we believe in him. The Question then comes: What do I do to believe in him? 

We know now that it requires us to follow the Doctrine of Christ, that is faith, repentance, baptism, recieve the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. 

It makes me reflect on 3 Nephi chapter 11. I love how the first thing the savior talks about is first his divinity and then about baptism. which is then followed up by how contention is of the devil. I know that all the Savior can do is confuse and keep us from believing and following so what he does is try and bring outside and inside contention into our lives so that we wont repent and so we wont allow Heavenly Father to mold us. My invitation to each of us is to ponder how we can remove contention from our lives take a step back breathe and then battle ! have a great week !:)

Angles on High - Week 70

Jan. 8th, 2018

Hey everyone! 

This week has been a good one! Its sad to hear of the death of our prophet Thomas S. Monson but its been really cool to be able to talk to others not of our faith about how a new prophet is chosen! 

We are starting to get back into the normal routine so hopefully we will be able to meet with our investigators on a more regular schedule haha. 

My thought for the week comes from a interesting trend of testimony that was talked about in fast and testimony meeting. Many people talked about angels that are around us and building us up.

In the Bible Dictionary- "Angel" we read:

These are messengers of the Lord and are spoken of in the epistle to the Hebrews as “ministering spirits” (Heb. 1:14). We learn from latter-day revelation that there are two classes of heavenly beings who minister for the Lord: those who are spirits and those who have bodies of flesh and bone. Spirits are those beings who either have not yet obtained a body of flesh and bone (unembodied) or who have once had a mortal body and have died and are awaiting the Resurrection (disembodied). Ordinarily the word angel means those ministering persons who have a body of flesh and bone, being either resurrected from the dead (reembodied), or else translated, as were Enoch, Elijah, etc. (D&C 129).

It just kinda makes me think about the words that Helaman spake unto his sons in Helaman 5:6-14.

6 Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good.

7 Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them.

8 And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers.

9 O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world.

10 And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.

11 And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.

12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty stormshall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

13 And it came to pass that these were the words which Helaman taught to his sons; yea, he did teach them many things which are not written, and also many things which are written.

14 And they did remember his words; and therefore they went forth, keeping the commandments of God, to teach the word of God among all the people of Nephi, beginning at the city Bountiful;

I know that as we do family history and become better aquainted with our kindred dead and Remember the things that we once knew about our fellow brothers and sisters that we will be able to feel the more and more as a central roll in our lives. May we strive to remember more of the things that are important for us! 

Come as you are - Week 71

Jan. 16, 2018

Hello Everyone:

What a wonderful week this has for me. So many things have been exactly needed to be heard and they have come from my own personal studies, President Monsons Funeral, and others in Sacrament services. 

As far as the work goes. We were able to put one of our investigators on a baptismal date for the month of march which was really awesome! And we have definitely been able to be where the Lords needs us. We have had the opportunity to hand off some refferals of other people interested in hearing about the gospel to other missionaries in different areas. So its been super nice to be able to help the work for others. 

My thoughts have been centered around one particular theme, that is charity and love. 

I enjoyed some of the things talked about in President Thomas S. Monson's funeral.

“By following the promptings of the Spirit, our simple acts of service can also be answers to prayers, and we can carry on this legacy by serving others.”

I enjoyed the phrase that He would say often.. "I feel like we have done some good today."

The story of Ammon is a really great example of charity as he tends to the flocks of the King

may we know how to better serve others and do some good today!

Love you all Elder Gerrard

I'm a disiple of Jesus Christ - Week 69

Jan. 1, 2018

Happy New Year!

Its crazy to think that the only full calendar year that I will be a missionary for is over.. Im not to excited on how fast everything is going that is for sure. But if their is one thing for certain it is the fact that I am really loving the time that I have to serve the lord. This week was a really great week for us. In my prayers I have been really praying to find some  new investigators, since we don't really have a whole lot right now and we got a call from a member that said that his little sister and her fiancee want to take the discussions! Later this week we found out that there is another person that comes to church pretty regularly with his Girlfriend so we are planning to talk to them to and hopefully we will have another investigator to teach there! If there is one thing that I have learned it is the fact that Heavenly Father really does help us accomplish our righteous desires.. The important part is that e make sure that they are actually righteous desires! But when they are.. they will always been in His will! I had the opportunity to see one of my investigators in Caldwell get baptized! He walked into church all by himself and he had a copy of the Book of Mormon that was given to him by a friend who runs cross country with him. It was such a neat experience to be apart of his story. He is the first of his whole family to join the church! In our first lesson I set a baptismal date with him for December 29th and he was at first hesitant, because he didn't know if the Book of Mormon was true or anything, but we told him that the date just simply means that we are showing the Lord real intent and the date can always be moved. Ultimately, He got an answer and was baptized on that day. I love this story because it just shows us the power of setting goals and then including Heavenly Father in those goals. 

My thought from this week comes from 3 Nephi 5:12-13 

"12 And, behold, I am called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish the church among the people, yea, the first church which was established among them after their transgression. 

13 Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."

I really liked this verse because it made me ponder, What would I say to describe myself? Would I describe myself by my job or family? Where would saying that im a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints come in? Or that im a disciple of Jesus Christ? These are all things that are really important but its interesting to see how the things of the world have really grabbed hold of the way that we think or process information. I know that when we set our priorities on the things of God and then the rest follows the Lord will bless us for our sacrifice to be obedient to keep his commands.  May we each evaluate our lives this new year and reset our priorities. With our Savior's help, we can truly achieve these thing I do testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Keep smiling!

Love, Elder Gerrard