DOUBT NOT, BUT BE BELIEVING!

DATED:  August 4, 2014

Transfers went very well. It was a long drive. We showed up to transfers and it was so fun to see a bunch of the missionaries that I really care about. I learned Elder Ramirez is now a zone leader in Huntington. That made me super happy to hear that. There was a big group that went home, and a lot of missionaries that I looked up to went home in this group. It is sad to see them leave. The new group of missionaries was awesome though. They look like a solid group. As they were each introducing themselves, every one of them was from a city north of Salt Lake. Like Layton, Ogden, Kaysville, Clearfield, One was from bountiful named Elder Davis, and a bunch more. Since some of the new missionaries’ trainers are too far away to come to the transfer building for transfers, they assign chaperones to help the new missionaries get to their new areas. I was asked to be a chaperone for 2 new missionaries. It kind of fun. Their names were Elder Eyre and Elder Maloy. So we then drove down to the Bluefield Zone. The 2 new missionaries met their trainers there, then I met Elder Baty and we drove to Richlands.

Other than that, this week, we just did missionary work. We went and saw some people, met the members. I caught a cold which is no fun. I am just hoping that I can make a difference here.

I studied a few different things this week. I would like to share something that I learned. First off, I was studying faith. It was a pretty typical study of faith till I decided to turn to Mormon 9. I love how Mormon and Moroni write directly to us, in our day. So usually when I read this I think of atheists. Mormon rebukes those who don't believe in Christ. But this time I realized that all of us sometimes lack faith in Christ. So when I read it this time I read it to apply it to ME. I feel at times each of us go though different levels of Faith in Christ. Sometimes we have more faith, and sometimes less. Sometimes we are unbelieving and sometimes we are very believing. But for those times we lack faith, this is a good chapter to read. The first scripture that stood out to me was Mormon 9:6.

O then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day.

We constantly need to turn to the Lord and cry to him in prayer. We need to put our faith in front and trust God. When we trust God we keep his commandments. We might say, I want to skip church today, but I know that Jesus Christ has commanded me to go to church, and I trust him so I will go. Eventually our hearts will change so we never desire to skip church.

The other scripture that stood out to me was Mormon 9:11  I will show unto you a God of miracles. Mormon then, after that scripture, goes on to tell about the plan of salvation, and redemption though Christ. Go and Read Mormon 9. It is amazing. The message I got from it, and I think what Mormon is trying to say is that Jesus Christ performed miracles, he did it before, and he does it now. No matter what trials are in our life, we have a God of Miracles whom we worship and wants to help us. If we have Faith in Him, he will perform miracles in our behalf. I heard once that a Miracle is a manifestation of God’s will. No miracle is small.

"DOUBT NOT, BUT BE BELIEVING"

I hope that all made sense. Sometimes it is difficult to write your thought process down into an email so quickly. But I hope to strengthen faith in Christ because I know that as we trust God, we will find happiness and peace, and we will be able to live with our Father in Heaven again one day. I love you all and hope you all enjoy the glad tidings of great joy that we have been blessed with.

Love,

Elder Josh Spencer