I should probably clarify that this week was really good, I just lost my keyboard (I found it today) partway through the week which made it rather difficult to make remarks for most of the week. Because I didn't write as much as normal, make many remarks, that made this "an unremarkable week"
1/19/2021
Today was a great day. We’ve been really trying to focus on doing everything that we can to reach out to new people lately, and so we’ve spent a lot of time trying to incorporate finding into every other activity we do. We have a lot of studies we try to do throughout the day, and I spent most of my time listening to what I was studying instead of reading so that my hands and eyes would be free for the other tasks I was doing. I spent all that time drawing and prepping for a painting, the drawing has been going really well and should be done tomorrow. The painting is also progressing a lot. Some of what I wanted to do was complex enough that I couldn’t imagine it, and so we asked our District Leader who was on splits with Elder Bott to help us with a photo. We wrapped him in a tarp so that he wouldn’t get wet, and then I poured a pitcher of water in front of his face, obscuring his right eye, while Elder Gomez sat two inches away taking as many photos as he could. The shots turned out really well, but what we were doing definitely looked a little weird. I wonder when everyone’s going to get sick of my antics.
1/20/2021
Today was a really good day. We got to have ward correlation with our ward mission leader, and he payed us all a really nice compliment, saying that he was really excited about missionary work in this ward right now, because he believed us to be the best missionaries that they had ever had. Our ward has been progressing a lot under our care.
1/21/2021
Today I got to go on divisions with Elder Humes, and it was a lot of fun! Elder Humes has been our District Leader for about two weeks, so it was really fun to get to spend some one on one time with him and get to know him. I was very impressed by everything that he would talk about, Elder Humes is a very smart guy, and it was a lot of fun to study with him because he was so intelligent. We had a District Counsel today, and my favorite part was the roleplays that we did. We all roleplayed various aspects of teaching the message of the Restoration (to members and nonmembers), and it helped me realize that my teaching style had grown a lot. I used to give a sermon and hope that people got it all by the end, but now my lessons are entirely question driven. Because of the studying that I had done, it no longer felt like my lessons had to be confined to the given format or they wouldn’t work, but rather I could tie in individual topics and principles to the answers to questions I would ask. These lessons were no longer something that others would have to work to make relevant to their lives, I would tie it together for them. When we were roleplaying the people who were sitting next to us must have been confused about where I was taking the message of the Restoration, because I overheard them say, “Is he still teaching the Restoration?” I’m glad that my teaching has changed to make it easier to understand, relevant to people’s needs, so that we’re able to meet them where they’re at. We also got to have a super cool lesson with the Bynum family tonight, where we practiced having them teach us. Brother Bynum had prepared a message about recognizing Christ, and started with physical attributes which we discussed from artistic renditions, and then gradually moved to the more spiritual attributes of Christ. That was an awesome lesson.
Super Summary:
We had interviews with President, he was very interested in our Ward Mission Plan and the incredible growth our ward has been making, it has been exceptional.
We had a package misdelivered to our house this week, it contained women's clothes which we got to give away as a gift. It taught us a powerful lesson about how Heavenly Father is mindful of our needs.
We taught an above average number of lessons, including one to the entire quorum of Elders about our Ward Mission Plan. Our emphasis on this plan and goals for it as a ward are why we've been finding so much success. Our Members are being missionaries!
We also just had a Bob Ross painting activity as a district. It was my first time ever using oil paints, and was done in about a half hour. If my art teacher from high school sees this I fully expect to be ridiculed for the rest of my life for it.
The scripture that I first saw when I opened my scriptures today was our mission scripture from Manaus. It's found in D&C 20:37 and reads: And again, by way of commandment to the church concerning the manner of baptism—All those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church.
There's a lot of great scriptures that we can memorize, and so why focus on this one, one that's seemingly so lackluster in terms of moving spiritual truths? I memorized this because when you disect it, it is plain and easy to see the powerful truths that it contains, that sometimes we're tempted to write off as just a "checklist for baptism". Baptism is the gate, and the first thing that we see is how necessary it is to humble ourselves. Baptism isn't an attractive, well painted, iron gate that seems to stetch high over our heads, it's a worn, wooden frame, that would seem to come only to our eye level. Baptism is an entrance that requires us to stoop down, bend our neck, and trust that this well worn entrance is the one that we need to take. It may seem illogical to think that something so demanding and seemingly unimpressive would be so critical to our salvation, but the truth is, that God works through small and simple means. That straight and narrow path that baptism sets us on may feel difficult to follow, and that's because it was meant to be that way.
Baptism is meant to change us, it is to help us see past the limits of our expectations and into the eternal grandeur of God's way.
I testify that if we are humble enough to look beyond what we see, with an eye of faith, we will find eternal life through the waters of baptism.
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