2 April 2017
Hey everyone,
This week was great. We did exchanges in B, Elder VG and I split and went out with two of the Elders in the area which was my first area ever! That was amazing to see that place again. I love those people. They were really surprised to see me, curious as to what were the circumstances that allowed me to come back. It was a great day of work. I went with Elder H. He is one of the greatest missionaries I have ever worked with. He is one of my friends from this mission as well.
Along with that, a big part about this week is we dropped quite a few of our investigators. The Gospel works if you act and if you don't act, you won't have any testimony. That's why we need to be active in the Gospel. Keep the faith. The world will throw everything at you to convince you to be lazy feel that "spiritual things" are not in anyway beneficial and that we shouldn't try. I've been listening to some talks by Bruce R. McConkie recently which have enlightened me in many ways. Go find some of his talks, especially "Obedience, consecration, and sacrifice". He's way bold and I love it. It makes me sad that we decided to stop working with some of our investigators but I am really excited because it gives you room to find those who are humble, willing, and desire.
This past week I have taken some time to think about how to help the church progress here. One thing is by helping the people have more opportunities to develop Christlike attributes. So this next week we will be trying to put together a little program for a few people we are working with to help them gain study habits and develop themselves. I am really excited for it.
One thing I have studied recently is the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians. Lots of things stick out to me but one thing that aided a ton in my study is the fact that most of the books following the 4 Gospels is simply, the pleadings of the Apostles to the different branches of the church to not become apostate and to have their eye on the Christ and not adapt it and dilute it to the ways of the world. Eventually, the Apostles were killed as they were gradually rejected. Disputations and disagreements on the interpretation of doctrine lead to hundreds and eventually thousands of types of Churches. We see that this happens frequently throughout history as God's prophets are rejected and man chooses to follow their own teachings mingled with scripture. A Restoration of Christ's teachings after thousands of years of confusion was needed. That's where Joseph Smith comes in. I have prayed and read the evidence of the prophetic call from Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith and have felt the Holy Ghost testify that he is indeed a prophet of God. A servant of Christ to restore His Church and Teachings, the results of which bring pure happiness and peace. Thank goodness God loves us. Thank goodness He doesn't want us confused and arguing. Pure Truth is a rare substance and has been brought back. Anyway, I haven't watched it yet, but this week for me and this past weekend for you (for the most part) was an even called General Conference. That is scripture given to us in the latter day as preparation for the second coming of the Messiah. If you haven't watched it and listened to the messages given, watch it. Listen, and learn with an open heart. It's truth. Anyway. You're probably wondering why I said the storm before the storm.
WELL, this past week had quite a few things happen. 2 exchanges and a lot of teaching. Next week, 3 exchanges, MLC (Mission Leadership Council), General Conference, and then Transfers the week after.
I'm gonna have some grey hairs by the end of this week but it will all work out.
OH. A story. On the way back from B, we were on the bus and halfway back, it stops at BN to fill up gas and to let passengers get food. So. We arrived, after that, I looked in my bag for my wallet to discover it wasn't there. I felt I had left it at a burger stand in B. I spent the next hour on the bus being mad at myself (I was just sitting on a bus, what else to do) and stressing out about it and pouting and it benefitted me nothing. Once that was a realization for me, I realized that acting like that was not happy and good therefore not of God. So I took a second to pray and repent. Immediately felt happier and more at ease. I accepted that it happened and decided to be calm and accepting of the situation. Well, a bit later, we arrived in M. I felt a distinct feeling to look in between the seat and the side of the bus before I left. It was a feeling I now know was from the Holy Ghost. I decided to go out of my way to look and sure enough found my wallet there. I know that if I didn't take the time to repent in that time, I would have no good spirit in me which would've withheld spiritual promptings. In effect, I wouldn't have found my wallet. It really works.
Anyway, that's it for me.
love,
Elder Hanks
With birthday buddy, Gabriel!
