Transfers - Wek 83

04/16/18


Hey everyone! So this week was transfers! And I have been transferred again hah!  I believe this is my last area as well.... I am serving in horseshoe bend, sweet, and garden valley Idaho.

This is the real deal rural area that was bound to be headed my way eventually! It's beautiful green rolling hills and mountains. I cover two branches and one ward. I am pretty excited to be able to finish in a area with soo much potential!  I am no longer serving in any leadership capacities in the mission so its pretty awesome how much time I have to just devote to the area! I'm grateful for the precious lessons thst have and are still being learned from my transfers in mission leadership. It truly isn't about whether we are in leadership it's all just different patches of the same vineyard. I pray that we as members don't get to caught up on the idea that there is some kind of latter to achieve in callings in the church. I testify that it truly is inspired of God. 

My new companion is Elder Dunham. He has been our for 9 months and he is from Georgia. I'm excited to work with him and see what awesome things we can accomplish in our new area. 

I was also able to use technology and reconnect with one of my investigators in an old area that moved away and was able to begin teaching him again and also to see him come to church. It's really awesome to see how the lord prepares people in miraculous ways. 

My thoughts from the week come from 

The Perfect Lie | Tiffany Webster
http://mediasrv.lds.org/media-services/ML/size/5211572394001/1280/720/1408043

I just want to bear my testimony that we are enough for our Heavenly Father. He takes us at whatever stage and he transforms. I'm grateful for the enabling power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. I love, love being a missionary. If you haven't talked to your missionaries lately. Ask them what you can do to help fellow ship! 

Come Follow Him - Week 82

04/9/18

This was a really uplifting week! We had Elder Nattress of the Seventy visit our mission and he had a lot of really great things to say. After we had a super awesome lesson with one of our investigators. We put her on date for baptism! we made a video to record our experience. So if you click on the link you will be able to hear about that experience. ​

 DSCN8853.MOV

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I also had the really awesome experience to see one of my investigators from my last area get baptized! She was from Cambodia, and she had a dream that she talked with Heavenly Father so she wanted to get baptized and join the church. She was also visited by her grandma in a dream and she was stuck somewhere and she was asking Sokmon to help her get out.. Pretty cool stuff so hopefully she will be able to go to the temple for her grandma. ​​  

I also had another baptism for an awesome girl named Samantha. She is one of the coolest people ever! She is the first one to join the church in her family. And she is just super solid. There is no greater thing than being able to see others at their baptisms. 

In closing I just want to share my testimony that I know Jesus Christ lives. This is his Gospel! And this is his work. We can feel the Holy Ghost so strongly when we do the things that God asks us to do. I know the power of the Priesthood is very real. 

--

Keep smiling!

Love, Elder Gerrard

Inner motivation. - Week 81

April 2, 1018

Hey everyone. 

This week has been a wonderful experience being able to reflect on our saviors last weeks. we have had some good experiences. 

Some thoughts that I would like to share from this general conference weekend made me think about this quote from Elder David A. Bednar.

"There is no such thing as motivation. the word motivation stands from a Latin root "movere" and what that means is "to make move". Nothing outside of you makes you move for any sustained period of time. The only thing that will cause you to move is what's Inside."

"The Lord works "from the inside out;" the world works "from the outside in." What the world is talking about, "from the outside in," is incentives, and punishment, and rewards, and all that "stuff". That's the typical motivation; "stuff". "

"The only motivation that matters comes from within and is a function of seeing what we really are, the difference between what we really are and what we ought to be,... and recognizing that in the strength of the Lord through His grace and the enabling power of his atonement, "what-looks-so-overwhelming-that-I'll-never-get-there", I don't have to do alone and He will help me close the gap."

"if we really are coming unto Christ, then our capacity is being enlarged through His atonement to do things that on our own we could never do. That is the mighty change of heart; it is the change from within that comes through the atonement (of Jesus christ) and workings of the spirit"

My invitation for everyone is to reflect on the things that they would like to accomplish as a result of General Conference and remember that changes starts from within. With the help of our Savior Jesus Christ and His Infinite and atoning sacrifice. 

I know that President Nelson is a prophet  of God. I know that this is the church of our savior Jesus Christ.

What is our role? - Week 80

March 19, 2018


Hey everyone this week was a really great week! Our area is alot similar to my previous area in Nampa. We had a really cool experience this week.  Me and Elder Denney made some contact attempts one night for some of the random referrals we know nothing about in our areabook app. To start we said a pray that our tongues would be loosened and we would testify and talk to everyone we see for their blessing and benifit! We got out of the car and walked to contact 3 homes and talked to 3 people outside at our first stop. First house and 1 person nothing. Second house and second person nothing. The third house finally opened and gave promising hope for a over aged youth who told us she wanted to be baptized and learn. And the last person outside was walking and wasn't interested in stopping in the cold... so we walked with him all the way home and he said he would actually be interested in learning more! It was 8:30pm and we decided to stop by our WML house but we drove past someone working in the dark on his car so we stopped the car and walked down the street and started talking to him, we learned he went through a divorce recently so we talked about the blessing of the family in the gospel and he said we could come back as well and maybe his sister and brother in law would be interested as well! Of the 3 houses we tried 1 was a success as we talked to everyone outside 2 of 4 was a success. We may not teach any of these people but just the other day  I was on exchanges with Elder Nicholas in an old area of mine and we visited one of these same type people that was found by talking on the street (one year ago)He was still open to learning more and talking and his friend that was with him wanted to come to church as well with his wife and daughter. This work is all about planting, nurturing and harvesting those seeds! 

We also had a really cool opportunity to use our technology to teach some of my step family in the Philippines. That was a really neat experience to prepare them for the local missionaries in the Philippines. 

My thought for the week stems from a statement made by a member that I really enjoyed. The question was who is responsible for the teaching of our children. I thought about it and its interesting because most members of the church would be on the same and say that it is their responsibility. 

But as I thought about it.. I realized that if a child comes home from school and didn't learn anything do we as a society blame the teacher because they didn't teach their son or daughter? As I thought about it... it made me soo grateful for such a awesome thing that our prophets declared to us known as The Family: a proclamation to the world. 

" HUSBAND AND WIFE have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations."

Im grateful for the guidance that God has given our prophets that help us remember what our responsibility are as a family in our day today. 

We are the evidence - Week 78 & 79

March 12, 2018

Hey everyone! 

I apologize for not writing a letter last week! But transfers did indeed happen! I have been reassigned to serve in the Nampa North stake, which coincidentally is the same stake i was in last year during this time of the year. I will be covering a different part of the stake so none of my old area, but i really have grown to love this part of the city. My new companion is Elder Denney! He is from Riverside, California! We came out into the mission field at the same time so we have both been out for 18months and we have both served in this stake before as well. Im really excited about this zone. there is alot of good things to come! We are working with a few people right now and hopefully a few will progress to baptism! I am very appreciated of my last area. In Meridian North it was a area full of great trial and tribulation. Which is totally not a bad thing! I have learned soo much from that area about myslef and what God wants me to be. And there are some phenomenal people there as well. The work was great. I love being a missionary and being able to just give my whole self to the lord and allow him to mold me into a different person!

My thoughts from the past two weeks that I would like to share with you all this week comes from a few different things. There has been a theme that has existed in the past couple of people that we have talked to in the last little while. Many of these people are deeply sincere and love to have us over, but they make a remark simlar to this. "Well, I love what you guys are saying and I can feel of the sincerity, but show me something factual. Where is the city or the people and civilizations that the Book of Mormon talks about?"  Its sad to hear people begin this dialect because they just don't want to settle for a feeling inside to be the means by which they base their salvation upon. In response to these individuals I posed a simple question.. Can you be your own evidence for something? So these are my thoughts about how we can be our own evidence.

It makes me think about this video. 

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/the-music-of-the-gospel.

Our Savior, Jesus Christ in talked about the importance of this principle when he asked his disciples the question Whom say ye that I am? The response is as follows in Matthew 16:16-17

"16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."

There are eternal truths that will never have the evidence to back it up in the worlds standards as Elder Bednar puts it in his talk, "learning by faith" he talks about faith. 

" These teachings highlight three basic elements of faith: (1) faith as the assurance of things hoped for that are true, (2) faith as the evidence of things not seen, and (3) faith as the principle of action in all intelligent beings. I describe these three components of faith in the Savior as simultaneously facing the future, looking to the past, and initiating action in the present. 

Faith as the evidence of things not seen looks to the past and confirms our trust in God and our confidence in the truthfulness of things not seen. We stepped into the darkness with assurance and hope, and we received evidence and confirmation as the light in fact moved and provided the illumination we needed. The witness we obtained after the trial of our faith (see Ether 12:6) is evidence that enlarges and strengthens our assurance.

Assurance, action, and evidence influence each other in an ongoing process. This helix is like a coil, and as it spirals upward it expands and widens. These three elements of faith—assurance, action, and evidence—are not separate and discrete; rather, they are interrelated and continuous and cycle upward. And the faith that fuels this ongoing process develops, evolves, and changes. As we again turn and face forward toward an uncertain future, assurance leads to action and produces evidence, which further increases assurance. Our confidence waxes stronger, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. " 

Brothers and Sisters my testimony is simple. Our faith is powerful enough to produce that evidence that we all wish there was a little more of, but our Heavenly Fathers plan is soo much more than just seeing something and touching something to believe. His plan is to learn, act and share the evidence of why what we do comes from God and we become the evidence of the living gospel. I know this church is true!

Gifts of Peace and Holiness - Week 77

Feb.26th, 2018

Hey everyone! ahh I just love this work. We went to the temple two Fridays ago so because of that we had to use one of our preparation days to be able to do that so we were proselyting for 11 days straight. And honestly I just love it haha I could honestly go with out preparation day because I would rather be helping people learn about the gospel than helping myself buy groceries. (which I really need to get better at that). There is just soo much to learn from a mission and its amazing because well we can continue to grow our entire lives. The work is going well in our area. A really important that i dont know if it really gets talked alot about is patience. Sometimes you can do everything in the world to find new people to teach, but if the timing isnt right, then the timing isnt right! We are to remain diligent in our efforts to find but usually its always when the timing is right that we find people to teach. After all, Its the Lords work not ours! We are seeing some of our patience paying off! We have a few really nice potentials coming on the horizion so im excited to see what comes of it. We have transfers next week so we will see what happens, but you will hear from me next on Tuesday!

My thoughts from this week are centered around a few different things. 

I have been studying some gifts of the spirit and I wanted to share two of the gifts that I have learned about. The gift of Holiness and the Gift of peace. 

The gift of Holiness:( quotes taken from  "The Beauty of Holiness" by Carol F. McConkie)

"Holiness is a gift of the Spirit. We accept this gift when we choose to do those things that will increase the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost in our lives."

I thought this quote was really interesting because the Idea that holiness can be given as a gift never really hit me as something that was achievable. And we learn that this is possible as we become santified by the Holy Ghost in our lives. This made me think of one scripture.

Moses 6:60 "For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified;"

I want to cross reference the phrase "By the Spirit" with D&C 11:12.

"12 And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit."

So as we pray to recieve the gift of holiness we have to follow the spirit which will lead us to do good and then because of our Saviors sacrifice we can become santified by his blood. I just love the relationship that Holy Ghost has with us in coming closer to our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. Sister McConkie makes another statement that goes right along.

 "If we would be holy, we must learn to sit at the feet of the Holy One of Israel and give time to holiness. Do we set aside the phone, the never-ending to-do list, and the cares of worldliness? Prayer, study, and heeding the word of God invite His cleansing and healing love into our souls. Let us take time to be holy, that we may be filled with His sacred and sanctifying Spirit. With the Holy Ghost as our guide, we will be prepared to receive the Savior in the beauty of holiness."

The gift of peace: (quotes taken from "My Peace I Leave with You" by Elder Eyring.)

Your power to do good as a group of God’s daughters will depend, to a great degree, on the unity and love that exist among you. This is another gift of peace that comes through the Holy Ghost.

Unity is necessary for us to have the Spirit in our class and in our family. But you know from experience, as I do, that such loving unity is hard to maintain. It takes having the Holy Ghost as a companion to open our eyes and temper our feelings.

I remember once a seven- or eight-year-old son of ours jumping on his bed hard enough that I thought it might break. I felt a flash of frustration, and I moved quickly to set my house in order. I grabbed my son by his little shoulders and lifted him up to where our eyes met.

   The Spirit put words into my mind. It seemed a quiet voice, but it pierced to my heart: “You are holding a great person.” I gently set him back on the bed and apologized.

   Now he has become the great man the Holy Ghost let me see 40 years ago. I am eternally grateful that the Lord rescued me from my unkind feelings by sending the Holy Ghost to let me see a child of God as He saw him.

   The unity we seek in our families and in the Church will come as we allow the Holy Ghost to affect what we see when we look at one another—and even when we think of each other. The Spirit sees with the pure love of Christ."

My Beloved brothers and sisters to our Savior Jesus Christ. What can we do to allow more Holliness and Peace into our lives? I can testify that change is hard. but it is not impossible. May we continue to keep the faith and set goals that will help us continue to grow and utilize the Atonement every day of our lives.