So we thought this week wouldn't be busy since transfers were over last week. We were wrong. We still didn't have time to proselyte again :/ But it's okay! Maybe next week!
Oh my goodness, made me sad to hear about Mueller Park Jr High. You'd think things like that would never happen close to you. I hope everyone involved in that incident is doing okay. So Weber lost the big game, huh? :( Dang! Hope Helam's not too down. He's probably glad it's over in a way. Except for a 2 year break, he's been playing for a long time. Well, you know what, they had a fantastic season! He was a part of a team that grew from Ground Zero to being ranked in the FCS. That's Awesome!!!!!!
Well here is kind of the rundown for this week.
Mon- A lot of work came pouring in for us so we spent the whole day working in the office. We also had a meeting for a while with president to plan out Specialized Training on Wednesday. Elder Dikes of the Seventy will be touring our mission next week as well so we are making all the preparations we can for his visit. After the long meeting we went to FHE and had a great lesson on the Atonement.
I was actually just studying the Atonement earlier that day and I read something interesting in the Bible Dictionary. It says that the Atonement can "correct or overcome the consequences of sin." Think about what that really means! In reality, the Atonement can help us fix what we've done wrong, to alleviate the consequences of permanent separation from God! And then it says it also can OVERCOME sin. I interpret this 2 ways: the first way is of course that the Savior overcame death, He broke the bands of death and created a way for us to be reconciled with God as it teaches in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. And the other way is that the Atonement offers a way out from sin. You see, God won't tempt us beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), so if we apply the Atonement doesn't that mean we can overcome any temptation? Doesn't it mean that if Christ suffered for us and provided an escape, nothing is too hard to overcome with His help? We can overcome all sin through Christ. That's a fact. The hard part for us is using the Atonement and applying it in our times of need. So the Atonement took on a deeper meaning to me after that.
I was actually just studying the Atonement earlier that day and I read something interesting in the Bible Dictionary. It says that the Atonement can "correct or overcome the consequences of sin." Think about what that really means! In reality, the Atonement can help us fix what we've done wrong, to alleviate the consequences of permanent separation from God! And then it says it also can OVERCOME sin. I interpret this 2 ways: the first way is of course that the Savior overcame death, He broke the bands of death and created a way for us to be reconciled with God as it teaches in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. And the other way is that the Atonement offers a way out from sin. You see, God won't tempt us beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), so if we apply the Atonement doesn't that mean we can overcome any temptation? Doesn't it mean that if Christ suffered for us and provided an escape, nothing is too hard to overcome with His help? We can overcome all sin through Christ. That's a fact. The hard part for us is using the Atonement and applying it in our times of need. So the Atonement took on a deeper meaning to me after that.
Tue- Just more paperwork we needed to do for the week. We spent the day running errands and moving cars around for the office. So not much to talk about that day :/
Wed- Specialized Training. Here's where we train all the new missionaries who came in about 10 weeks ago (so last transfer). We teach a lot about how to talk to people, how to bridge a gospel conversation, and we discuss how we can become better missionaries. It's funny, this was the 6th Specialized Training I've taught and I still receive revelation every single one. The trainees in this group were very prepared. I learned a lot from them and I was taught most by mainly the spirit. I think the biggest lesson i learned in that conference was humility. Being out for a while, I think I've become complacent with the little things. We can all fall into that habit. When things get too comfortable, life becomes just more of a motion than an experience. And when we are "comfortable" we tend to stop progressing and, in turn, we tend to harden our hearts. I feel as though that's what happened to me the past couple of weeks. I'm hoping I can continue to change and move forward instead of backwards. Anyways, the training went well and it was a great conference!!
Thursday- So this day we actually had to shuttle some missionaries over to the mission home for an interview with President, and they lived about 2 hrs away. So we did that. We went to the office in the morning and we took care of all we stuff we needed to, then we had to take the missionaries over and wait till their interview was done, then take them back. So the whole day was spent running errands but it was still a good day and I'm still happy to be out here :)
Friday- So another missionary went home early on Friday for school. We decided that we would take him to visit all his converts, and the people he loved, before he went home. I'm not sure if I mentioned him before but he was the other companionship in the White River Ward when I was training Elder Ellsworth. His name is Elder Cruz and he is a GREAT missionary! He helped me a lot with stuff when I was in White River and he has always been a good friend throughout the mission. It's an honor for me to be able to take departing missionaries such as Freeman and Cruz around to see their converts and special families before they return home. This time, we visited some of Elder Cruz's recent converts and then had dinner with a Hispanic family he taught. When we walked up to the door, Elder Cruz told us that this sister didn't have heat or a finished house, so he said it would be cold. We walked through the door and he was right. This humble convert was living in half a house. And there she was making food for us and not just a couple of burritos or tacos. It was a FULL meal. I looked at Cruz and I felt bad that we were eating her food because she obviously didn't have much. But I think Hema and Helam can attest to this: Hispanics always make tons of food for guests and they are almost offended if we don't eat a lot. So I did ;)
This sister told us the story of how she was taught for 4 years. And I thought, "That's a lot of frustrated missionaries!" But then she said 1 missionary came and she told him to go away. And what did that missionary do? He visited her every day even when she told him not to! Because of his genuine care, tenacity and determination, this sister finally decided to listen and then, just a couple of weeks later, she was baptized. She is a strong member of the White River Spanish Branch. After we visited all those people, we took Cruz to the mission office and waited for his sister who actually drove to Indiana to pick him up. So that sums up our day on Friday.
This sister told us the story of how she was taught for 4 years. And I thought, "That's a lot of frustrated missionaries!" But then she said 1 missionary came and she told him to go away. And what did that missionary do? He visited her every day even when she told him not to! Because of his genuine care, tenacity and determination, this sister finally decided to listen and then, just a couple of weeks later, she was baptized. She is a strong member of the White River Spanish Branch. After we visited all those people, we took Cruz to the mission office and waited for his sister who actually drove to Indiana to pick him up. So that sums up our day on Friday.
Today we had service and we are planning to see Elie tonight :) With all the conferences and preparations for upcoming events we haven't been able to hit our area hard yet but we are still working on it :)
Anyways that's about it! Tell Dad thanks for the money. We have been on the road A LOT so that helps so much. I really appreciate it. Our mission Christmas event is on the 21st. We have a lot of preparations to make for that, haha! How are the Christmas hirings going? I know you're really busy around this time of year, so thank you for everything you do for us mom!:) Tell grandpa happy 80th birthday from me and give him a nice big hug from me! I miss him a lot and I miss grandma too! Love you lots!
Ofa Lahi Atu
'
Elder Heimuli
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