Cody portrait

Cody portrait

Monday, November 28, 2011

"How grateful I am to be able to share these simple truths."

Hello Family!

First off,  talk about a blind-side email! Dallin is life-flighted on a vacation in St. George. Haha, what?!? I'm glad to hear that everything is ok. Thank you for the pictures uncle Paul! I’m glad I wasn’t the one to tell mom...   

Well, we indeed celebrated Thanksgiving this past week. The other set of missionaries and ourselves were invited over to the Worthington's home for a first time celebration of that glorious day. Sister Worthington emailed one of her friends from America and asked for many Thanksgiving ideas. They were all put to the test, and I can tell you it was a great meal. We were very grateful top the Worthingtons in helping us have a Thanksgiving. They enjoyed how we would go around the table saying what we were grateful for, and for the idea of cornbread. (not heard of around these parts)
This past week we had our Zone Leader Council, and as always it was great to see all the buddies: Elder Moss, Elder Cunningham, Elder Fawcett (new ZL...trained him in Liverpool) Elder Hughes (from Oklahoma, first person I met in the airport) and many others that I have become good friends with. 
Updates:
Kirsty accepted to be baptised on the 17th of December! We had a lesson on “Questions of the Soul” and found answers in the Book of Mormon. A testimony of the Book of Mormon is what we have been working towards for awhile now, and as we taught this lesson we asked, “Do you believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God?” The answer to that question has repeatedly been “I don’t know” until this past week, she finally answered a resounding “Yes, I do.”
We then had to figure how. And so we asked and she explained herself by telling us how her prayers had been answered. She related to us feeling a peace and warmth after praying. She went on to say how she now believes in a God, and knows that he answers prayers. 
I cannot explain how those moments are...in the room it was just calm, and you could feel a confirmation of what she was saying. I know that this conversion process she has been going through, has come through her desire to know truth, and her diligence in reading the Book of Mormon.  
Bianca was able to attend a Relief Society activity this past week, and there was able to create a lot of new friendships. The Relief Society has really taken her under their wing and has helped her out tremendously in terms of making her an established member of the ward. 
She was also able to meet with Bishop to finalize wedding plans for January.
Nicky and Mathew are still moving along. Mathew really wants to be baptised, but Nicky is still cautious.  The ward has been a great help with them as well. The Wilcox family had her and Mathew over for Dinner last night without us even knowing! I honestly cannot say enough about how great the Chester Ward is. They are just all go for missionary work. 
I told you about the musical item that we were preparing for. Well, it went through and apparently it didn’t sound too bad. How do we know? We have been signed up for the Christmas Carol concert.
This week we have been teaching many Chester University students. And the doctrine that we keep hitting is the “purpose of life.” I would have to say that 90% of the students we meet on the street do not believe in God, or are agnostic. They give the glory to science and pure chance rather than point to a divine origin. This has given me a chance to think about that very subject-- the purpose of life. Scriptures that I have been reviewing have been from Alma 34. It speaks of how this life is a preparatory state, a time to repent.
I know that there is purpose to our lives, and that there is a meaning to our existence. We each are sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us. And we have been given the opportunity to become like Him.  We have the gift of free will and the light of Christ. Through our righteous actions and keeping commandments we come to know God more completely. With this knowledge that we gain, the answers to life great questions begin to be unraveled. We start to understand why we go through hard times and see the errors that are in the world. 
But I would say more importantly, we start to see our need for Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice in our lives. We see that it is only through Him that “real” happiness can be achieved. 
As I have been on my mission, I have come to realize these things in more clarity. How grateful I am to be able to share these simple truths.
This upcoming week is a big one. On Tuesday I have my driving test, and we are having a Christmas Zone Conference up at the Temple with Elder Donaldson.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Eliason

No comments:

Post a Comment