ONE YEAR BABY!

Dated:  February 24, 2014

This was a fun week. We have had sunny weather for the most part! We had Zone Conference this week which was just fantastic! I always love those meetings. We talked about a lot of things that our mission is doing to become. We are a Becoming Mission. We are seeking to be about a Zion mission, and that is what we are working to become.

Karen is doing great. She had us over for dinner a couple of times. We made Chocolate Dipped Strawberries with her. YUM! We also had her come to a lesson with us to a new investigator that we found. She bore powerful testimony to her. Karen also brought another investigator to church with her. His name is Jerome. He is 12 years old. We have been trying to contact his aunt for a while now. There are 3 sisters that all live in this house, and they all have kids. One of them is Jerome's mom. He asked us when we were there on Saturday if he could come to church with us. His mom said he could, so we went and got Karen and introduced her to him. She picked him up the next day and he LOVED church. He was a little rowdy during the 2nd and 3rd hour, but he did good. Before Sacrament started, he went to each person in the chapel and introduced himself to them.  They all got a kick out of that. It really impressed all the people there. The ward loves him. Hopefully he will come back. When Karen took him back, she talked to his mom and invited her to church. She said she would come next week.

Other than that we walked around the West Side a bunch and handed out cards and tried to talk to people this week. It feels good to be a missionary.

This morning I was studying prayer, and something took me to the first vision. I learned some things about the power of prayer through studying it. I’ll share it with you.

We know the importance of ASK, SEEK, KNOCK. We must first have a question, and we then must ponder. Then we go to God. We see this in Joseph Smiths account:

JSH 1: 11  ...I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

 12 Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.

 13 At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.

He had a question, he pondered, studied, sought for the truth, and he found out what he needed to do. He gained wisdom, and that wisdom was in a sense, God can give me more wisdom so I can know what to do if I but ask Him. He acted. Lets see the wisdom he gained from his prayer.

I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, (We know that God is the Light of the world. Other words for light is Spirit, and Truth. The Glory of God is Intelligence and intelligence is Light and Truth.)
 which descended gradually until it fell upon me. (We don't gain understanding or knowledge all at once. It comes gradually.)
 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. (We know that light dispels dankness, truth helps us stay away from evil. The more truth we know, the more we are able to stay away from the traps and snares of the adversary)
When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages,  whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. (Joseph Smith came to know who our Heavenly Father is  and who Jesus Christ is. As we pray, we come to know them too. We see how much they play a role in our lives. We start to understand who we are and who they are.)
 One of them spake unto me, calling me by name (Joseph Smith learned from this that God knows him personally, and that he does speak to men in this day and age. The HEAVENS ARE OPEN! God Knows each of us personally and as we seek his guidance and help, he can speak to us though the Holy Ghost)
and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. (We learn how God feels about his Son, Jesus Christ, and we can know that when we follow Jesus Christ, He feels the same way about us)
 Hear Him! (Christ is calling each of us to come unto him. Are we listening? That is the same invitation that we, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are declaring. HEAR HIM!) P.S. Also notice the exclamation point.

That is just something I thought I would share with all of you. I don't know why, but it is something that has helped me understand the power of Prayer. Joseph Smith learned about more than what he was seeking. "Sometimes we ask for a slice of bread and he gives us a loaf" -Sister Crapo. Joseph Smith received more wisdom, so he could know how to act. In our life, we have choices to make. Our agency gives us the ability to choose how to act. We need to gain wisdom so that we can act correctly. We will be judged by our actions and the desires of our hearts. So as we gain wisdom we will be able to make correct choices. We gain wisdom from studying the scriptures, praying, and keeping the commandments, and as we act on the wisdom we receive, we will receive more.

Anyway, that is enough from me. I love you all. Keep up the good things you are doing. ALWAYS PRAY!!! Ask, Seek, Knock and it shall be GIVEN you. :D
Love you all!

Love,

Elder Josh!

P.S.  This is my Hump Week. One year baby! I am so glad I still have a full year. I have so much to learn and work on. Love you all! Keep it up!