Sunday, December 14, 2014

IT DOESN’T SEEM THAT COLD (YET)

When the one in Canada says it’s cold, we probably should accept it! (When the one in Mexico says it’s cold, the eye rolls could give us whiplash.) And still his spirit comes through.


December 8, 2014 
Merry Christmas to all!

Greetings to readers. This week was much better than the previous. I’m fully recovered from my illness, which is nice. It’s been pretty cold here, but all tolerable. I was out shoveling snow, and I realized that my feet were frigid. I looked down and started to consider that maybe my $40 Wal-Mart winter boots weren’t going to cut it this season. They served me reasonably well last winter, but I figured that the cold just wasn’t worth it this time around, Also, I wanted some boots that I could use when I was home. I sold the jacket I bought last winter because I didn’t wear it once (layers, people), so I reasoned that that money could translate to keep a different part of my body warm. So, I started looking. It just so happens that a member I know works part-time at Cabela’s. It also just so happens that he gets a pretty impressive employee discount. It also also just so happens that last weekend Cabela’s had a special event where employees got an even bigger discount. It continued to just so happen that the member I know sold footwear for 14+ years, so he knows his stuff. The so-happenings didn’t cease when I found the perfect pair of boots after much diligence in searching, and that that pair was the only pair available in all of Cabela’s Canada since it was sent to that store by a fluke. And it just so happens that they were my size. The stars aligned, Lady Luck smiled upon me, and the Church must be true. I’ll send pictures next week.

The Christmas party is tonight, so I don’t have any anecdotes yet. We don’t have an outline for the program, so we’re just going to wing it. We’ve got some funniness prepared, but we’ll just have to feel it out. I’m going to channel my best Dave and hope for the best. I’m actually pretty confident that it’ll go over well. Maybe it’s my wit and charm, or maybe it’s the fact that I’ll be wearing a Santa onesie. Maybe we’ll never know! And that’s why so is mankind. Pictures to come.

None of the 3Js could meet this week either! C’mon people. We’ve realized that we need to recommit our finding efforts and branch out a bit. This week we’ve set a goal to get two new investigators, so we’ll see how that works. Our less-active and recent convert teaching pool are about the same, with varied progress and commitment. We did meet with Xavier, but it turns out that he wasn’t even in our area, and that he was already meeting with missionaries! The member who referred him to us failed to mention that. We had a good visit, but we won’t be going back. Good luck to the other missionaries!

Yesterday I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting, and I thought I’d share part of what I shared with you. We have the opportunity as missionaries to study Jesus the Christ. It’s one of my favorite books. I’ve read it twice on my mission and it’s brilliant. I gained an interesting insight about the Atonement as I studied. Leading up to His crucifixion, Christ never questioned or doubted. He endured and trusted in Heavenly Father. In Gethsemane He took upon Himself our afflictions and bled from every pore, all the while submitting His will to His Father. While on the cross, the agony from Gethsemane was repeated. It’s interesting to note, then, that the worst part of the Atonement for Christ was when Heavenly Father withdrew His Spirit. That was what frightened and shocked the Savior the most. Only then did He question. Christ had to feel the results of sin, and that to Him was worse than anything He had previously endured. He had been persecuted, mocked, slandered, hated, falsely accused, beaten, scourged, abandoned and crucified; yet for Him, the loss of the Spirit was the most painful and agonizing consequence. If we really understood what happened when we sin, I think we’d rather endure just about anything else than the loss of the Spirit. But we are fallen and inclined to sin. We choose to lose the Spirit every time we sin. How many of us make concessions to avoid embarrassment or shame? How many of us lower our standards because what we’re asked to do is “just too hard”? How many of us knowingly choose disobedience because it feels good in the moment? Making mistakes is understandable, but rebellion is unacceptable. I’m not coming from a position of righteousness, either. I’m not sharing these things because I’ve mastered myself and repentance. I’m just as guilty of rebellion as the next guy. I’m just grateful that I was allowed this knowledge, and that I’ve got the opportunity to apply it. I know that Christ atoned for each of us, and that He wants us to take advantage of what he’s done. Otherwise it’s wasted. I’m grateful for the infinite opportunities our Heavenly Father provides us to repent and be better. I know this Church is true, and I’m blessed to be a part of it.

Thank you all for reading! I hope you have a stupendous week. Merry Christmas! #sharethegift

Keep the faith,
Elder Eli


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