This week has again been very good, as most are out here. Serving a mission is the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life, and yet I am the happiest I have ever been. It is amazing how the Lord helps us all and cares about all of us. He loves us all and cares for His missionaries. I enjoy every fleeting moment of my service and I love being able to put on my name tag each morning. It shows that I truly am a representative of Christ.
I have pondered the significance of our names changing a lot lately. Why do I have to be called Elder Brown by everyone? Why not Jory? After all, that is the name that my parents gave me. To answer my question I turned to the scriptures. I decided to read out of the Bible about Jacob and his family. In the Bible we read about Jacob and how he was faithful and always strived to serve the Lord. Upon Jacob being called to a higher calling, the Lord changed his name to Israel, blessed him, and then expected a higher standard from him. As missionaries, we have been given new names because we too have been given a higher calling and the Lord expects more from us. That was a cool realization! I am so happy to be able to put on my new name and serve the Lord. As members of the church we all change our names. When we are baptized, we covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. We stand as witnesses of Him at all times and in all places. May we remember the covenant that we have made, and strive every day to become more like our Savior and Redeemer.
This past week we were able to continue to work with Balinda. She is doing well and is really starting to progress. We had a little slow down for a while due to some little hiccups in her health, but she is much better now! She is reading the Book of Mormon and she loves it! I was so excited when I heard that she was reading! It is amazing to be able to watch people progress, change, and grow. I am so happy for her, and I will be sure to keep you all posted on how she is doing. Sadly we were not able to see Dani this week because she is in Michigan right now. Hopefully we will be able to see her soon!
Elder Steele and I were able to provide tons of service this past week! We helped a potential investigator, Liz, with her farm. That was really fun and I had a great time! It reminded me of all my little memories on the farms back home. Grandma Cleo's, the Wollenzein's, Uncle Von's, and Grandpa Baadsgaard's farms are all great memories for me. I loved every single minute over there! Liz also raises pigs, so fed and worked with them. Working with the pigs reminded me of when Dad wanted me to raise and show pigs, and it also reminded me of going to the county fair with him. Those were all great memories to revisit and I was happy to be able to enjoy doing that.
We were also able to go clean one of the member’s yards. It was really fun to do that as well. We got to mow the lawn, chop down trees and pull out bushes. Service is great and I love being able to help and reach out to those around me. We were also able to help another member in the ward move out and to their new home. With all eight of us missionaries working it ended up going by really quickly, and it was productive for us all. If we remember to serve others around us, and we will truly find joy and peace will enter our lives!
That is really all for this week. Not too much went on, but it was still very good. This upcoming week, however, should be very busy and fun to report on. We are having Elder Bowen, the apostle who has a Mormon Message called “Reclaimed,” come to our mission for a tour and to teach us all and to interview some of us. We are all very excited for that and to be able to learn from him. We will all be very busy driving to all of our meetings (two hour drives for each of them, yuck)!
My missionary tip of the week is to have hope! Strive every day to be hopeful and to look unto the Savior and His redeeming love. In the September Ensign there is a great article on page 63 that I think all of you should read. It truly is amazing and teaches all of us how to have hope and to apply it in our lives. We all need hope, and as we have it, life will become more enjoyable and easier to bare. If we apply what President Monson has taught and continue to look up and to have faith and everlasting hope in our Savior Jesus Christ, we will be happy.
I love you all so very much and thank you all for your support and care towards me!
Elder Brown
No comments:
Post a Comment