Received Monday, September 23, 2013

I you get some mail from me this week…seems like I might have sent something, but I just can’t remember. I sent Quinn a sweatshirt which he got…. (I JUST remembered what I sent!! It was great!! Hope you got it!!)

what sweatshirt? you should make one that says "I'm wearing this because it feels chili" and have a picture of a chili dog or something. I just thought of that, could maybe use some work before final production.

 I feel like I've gotten a lot from home recently. Last P-day I got the package with the Chocolate stick thingys which I gobbled. Also it had another chocolate bar thingy, which Elder Gallagher and I saw earlier that day at BJ's and we considered buying one, and huzzah you sent it! Also I have a orange skull mug (which is good to drink chocolate milk out of). Also I got airheads. All was much enjoyed by me and my compadres

 

OH! I will get your magic cards sent today!! Expect them at the end of the week.

So you won’t be playing Magic for p-day today, what is on your agenda?

nice. If they're too hard to find or something don't worry about it.
So last P-day elder Gallagher bought a magic card box that cost 20$ that had like 225 cards in it, so we easily built 2 decks out of it, so it IS on the agenda.  There is a monday holiday coming up, and a member mentioned maybe playing basketball with us, which has a slight chance of happening, but I might be the only missionary in the area (out of the two of us) who is super keen on it

Do you have an organist at church, or someone playing the piano?

organ! but the she is only there like half the time (she travels a lot. Chinese. Married to our branch president. Great family. She sometimes asks funny questions).

 

How were the talks at sacrament meeting on Sunday?

pretty good. There was a youth speaker, an adult speaker, a stand up rest him (I think every ward should have one) and one more adult speaker. A lot about prayer. The last speaker is the 1st counselor and he talked about how when they pray as a branch presidency, president kemsley doesn't just start talking right away afterwards, he sits and listens for a moment. It made me stop a think for a minute about having the faith to listen after we pray. Some thing I've thought about a lot actually.

 

Do you (and your companion) stand at the door and greet the people as they come in?

often. When there's not someone I'm specifically talking to or introducing myself to then that's the standard go too point.  I really try to make sure I know who everyone is who comes in/introduce myself if I don't. Yesterday I did miss someone, but found out later from someone else who she was.

What did you do for your exercise today? What do you usually do? Lizzie rolls over. She has great core strength.

We have a bench for bench press with some weight on it, and I did one set of those. I got on the ground to do crunches, which is my normal routine, but I was super tired so I got on the bench and did something to make sure I wouldn't fall back to sleep while lying down. Normally I try to do I do 200 little cruches and then about 30 (perfect) push ups.

 

Conference is coming up; how/where will you watch it? How far way is your church building….time to drive there?

I bet we'll watch it at the chapel. Maybe we'll be able to have our investigators over at members homes and we'll watch it with them. Our church is about 15 mins from where we live. Many people here live about 40 mins away. People have been that far away in each of my areas so far, makes you grateful for being so close.

 

I will just close my letter today by telling you how grateful I am for the gospel; to have it in my life, to understand my purpose here on earth and that I can improve myself. I am grateful to have the scriptures. They are beautiful and they do have eternal truths. I know that Jesus in our Savior. I know that he knows each one of us and loves us. I feel so blessed to have this empowering knowledge. I am grateful to you that you are spending your days sharing your testimony and the message of Jesus Christ to others. It is the sweetest gift.

Thanks mom!

We had a couple interesting things this week. Like I mentioned last time we had interviews. President always just kind of asks "how are you doing?" and then "what do you want to talk about?" The past couple times he's had a cushion to kneel on. He mentioned about how he wants Elder Gallagher to be a district leader before he goes home, and he decided to make the switch right then! none of us knew you could switch the DL without being transferred or you could switch it half way through. I told him I was un-offended and liked the idea. we talk together about the decisions and everything and it's good.        

We're still working on building the branch mission plan. President Kemsley decided he wanted to read the book Power of Everyday Missionary before finalizing any ideas, which I think is pretty neat. He's always very complimentary and grateful towards Elder Gallagher and I.

We're worried about one for our investigator families, they're learning and likeing the gospel, but theres a couple key things they're not repenting of and it's making them feel really guilty. I just read Mormon chp 9 recently and there's a couple verses that explain something really well. It's basically the LDS doctrine of the big H E Double Hockey Sticks. He says when you understand your sins and you understand god you would be far more miserable to be around him, a pure being, than with the other unclean souls. As our investigators come to know God better the guilt is building and soon they're really going to have to decide whether to truly repent or they'll end up pushing god totally away again. It's a little scary, but we're doing all we can to help the choose right!

One more thing, I'll ask for help about (anyone who wishes may reply). Mom's testimony reminded me I was going to ask. can you share with me some different ways sharing the gospel has blessed different aspects of your life? Brought our family closer together? reduced stress? brought peace?

we're really trying to help the memebrs here see and feel how sharing the gospel does bless every part of life. I can feel it and see it so clearly because thats my whole life right now. The more personal experiences and testimony I can have te share with others would be awesome if that's ok to ask.

Thanks you everyone, keep choosing the right! Jacob says "Oh be wise, What more can I say?" I've always liked that, we know the truth, so just be wise and live it!

Love, Elder Zak