Endure, and you shall triumph

May 28, 2018

Jesus Christ said "he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

To endure means “to remain firm in a commitment to be true to the commandments of God despite temptation, opposition, and adversity.”

 

Even those who have had powerful spiritual experiences and have given faithful service could one day go astray or fall into inactivity if they do not endure to the end. Keep in your mind and heart the phrase “This will not happen to me.”

 

When Jesus Christ taught in Capernaum, “many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

“Then Jesus said unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?”

Many of us have made sacred covenants with Jesus Christ and he may ask us, “Will ye also go away?”

The response Simon Peter said when this question was asked I hope would be ours: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”

Be faithful to what you believe and know. If you have not been living according to that knowledge, change. Sinners who persist in their sins, and do not repent, sink deeper and deeper into filthiness, until Satan claims them for himself, significantly jeopardizing their opportunity to repent, to be forgiven, and to be blessed with all the blessings of eternity.

No one will be able to make excuses before our Lord, Jesus Christ when that time comes.

When baptized, we make covenants with the Savior, agreeing to “take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end.”

Sacrament meeting is one way we can evaluate your determination to serve Him, and the growth of your faith in Jesus Christ. Others are daily, pray and read the scriptures. Weekly, partake of the sacrament with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Pay your tithing and your monthly fast offering.

And throughout your whole life serve in the work of the Lord.

 

In Elder Zivic talk he tells a story, it says. 

Several years ago, while on vacation, I wanted to go kayaking for the first time. I rented a kayak, and full of enthusiasm, I launched into the sea.

After a few minutes, a wave overturned the kayak. With a great deal of effort, holding the paddle in one hand and the kayak in the other, I was able to regain my footing.

I tried again to paddle my kayak, but just a few minutes later, the kayak tipped over again. I stubbornly kept on trying, to no avail, until someone who understood kayaking told me that there must be a crack in the shell and the kayak must have filled up with water, making it unstable and impossible to control. I dragged the kayak to the shore and removed the plug, and sure enough, out came a large amount of water.

I think that at times we move through life with sins that, like the leak in my kayak, impede our spiritual progress.

If we persist in our sins, we forget the covenants we have made with the Lord, even though we keep capsizing because of the imbalance that those sins create in our lives.

Like the cracks in my kayak, the cracks in our lives need to be dealt with. Some sins will require more efforts than others to repent of.

 

We must strive to obey the commandments and pay close attention to those that are hardest for us to keep. The Lord will be at our side, helping us in times of need and weakness, and if we demonstrate a sincere desire and act accordingly, He will make “weak things become strong.”

President Craig always tell us in ZC when he talks about obedience "obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles" exact obedience to God's commandments will give us the strength to overcome sin.

 

I know as you do your best to overcome the hard things in your life that the lord will not leave you comfortless, he will help you through anything you struggle with.

Enduring to the end is sometimes as hard as it sounds but I know as you keep and follow the commandments that making it to the end won't be as hard as it would have been had you not followed the teachings of Christ. "Obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles." I know each and every one of us can make it home again. Whatever our personal situation may be, I know heavenly father and Jesus Christ are there beside you helping you every step of the way saying "I am with you, you can do this." 

 

Till We Meet Again

May 21, 2018

This week has been pretty good. Did some driving around with zone conference and all that. It was President Craig and Sister Craig's last ZC.... They took all the time during it. Usually there are portions from the Zls, STLs, and the APs but not this round they took all 6hrs. 

It was really good. Learned lots about how we can better ourselves and our areas we are in. Did lots with drawing on the powers if heaven that's a book that President Craig has made into slides for us to study out of to help us better the work. 

Near the end of ZC out zone did a musical number with "God be with you till we meet again" and we started out with just a little piano solo of it then after about 2min we all stood up and started to sing it. Needless to say we got them and a few of us crying. I could even feel a few tears wanting to come out but I stayed strong haha the mission is going to be so different with them gone. They are what makes the Can Win mission the best. But they gotta go I guess and we will have a new president- president Hitchcock who shouldn't be all too bad we hope, maybe he'll be even better then P Craig who knows.

Been doin some tracting this week. Haven't found too many new people yet but they are coming I can feel it!

Helped out at Kevin's farm again this week putting some tires on his tractors getting ready for farming so that was nice.

Got my hands a little dirty finally with more than just the paint off the old doors we knock. 

Went out to the Buchanans on Saturday for the day. We helped Eoin (Owen) and Jessica set up a fence around their rabbits, then we went and played around with the horses, cows, pigs, and ducks. Abadicio pet his first bull and steer.

Cracked the bull whip a bit. We played a game called hurl or Hurley or something like that we can't remember the name of it. It's like a cross of hockey, baseball, and lacrosse it was pretty fun. 

While Jessica and Eoin were making dinner the kids decided they liked me and their little girl Bella she's 7. She sat by me on my chair and told me all about her DS and the game Mario something 3d as she played it. After about 30min of this her mom tried to use the old if you don't leave the missionaries alone or behave they will teach you a lesson trick on her to try and get her to leave me alone for a bit, but when Jessica tried that Bella just looked at her then me and got a big smile on her face haha that's when Jessica leaned over to Eoin and said I think Bella has a new crush... Haha sure enough she did cause later she was hugging everyone and when she got to Abadicio she thought about hugging him but she decided against it. Then she got to me.... She decided I looked nice enough she could hug me haha so she did. 

A bit later Ben their 8yr old son he decided I wasn't too bad either so he showed me his pictures of when he went on a truck drive with Eoin. I had both kids sitting around showing me different things for a little while. Eoin and Jessica were like well I think we know who their favorite missionary is! 

After dinner we sat around and visited for a bit while the kids went back outside to play. Shortly after they left Ben comes to the door and yells in "elder Nelson do you want to come watch me skid!?" so I went out and watched them run up and down the drive on their bikes drifting around. 

Once we finally got outta there we stayed the night in Estevan with bro and sis Woodruff. Had a fire and played guitar all night (till 10:30) and yeah it was a good day.

Not a whole lot else happened Sunday just the usual tracting and stop byes. Had lots a people at church had 25 I think!

Today we were in a weird mood it seemed haha during the hymn for Sunday school we sang hymn number 225 and it's like a marching hymn and so us and bro Woodruff started to do a little march while singing... Haha yeah we are a couple a goons.

Mailing things is a lot nicer now that I have a personal mail man that goes to Ab every so often. Had him take some stuff down this week for me. He's a member from Ab that is moving up here for work shortly so he still travels here and back home every so often. 

Bro brown had us come over last night to visit him. When we got there the first thing he said was hey guys I’m going to Catholic Church now, I don't want you guys coming around so much anymore. I hope you understand.

He was having one of his days were his skits is kicking in a bit partly cause he went off his pills for a few days, so I wasn't too worried when he told us this. Soon enough he'll be coming back to church again. He told us also that one of our members was Satan haha said that he was brought to our church by him and couldn't leave till now. He told us he was told to save us and bring anyone else to the Catholic Church that he could. It was an interesting visit to say the least. Anyway that concludes this week for us. All in all I'd say it was a pretty good week. 

Love ya all talk to ya next week!

70 X 7

May 14,2018

“Success,” it has been said, “isn’t the absence of failure, but going from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm.”

Thomas Edison purportedly said, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

Hopefully, each mistake we make becomes a lesson in wisdom, turning stumbling blocks into stepping-stones.

why does He allow us—to flounder and fail in our attempts to succeed? Among many important answers to that question, here are a few:

   

First, the Lord knows that “these things shall give [us] experience, and shall be for [our] good.”

    

    

Second, to allow us to “taste the bitter, that [we] may know to prize the good.”

    

    

Third, to prove that “the battle is the Lord’s,” and it is only by His grace that we can accomplish His work and become like Him.

    

    

Fourth, to help us develop and hone scores of Christ like attributes that cannot be refined except through opposition and “in the furnace of affliction.”

 

So, amid a life full of stumbling blocks and imperfection, we all are grateful for second chances.

While we are grateful for second chances following mistakes, or failures of the mind, we stand all amazed at the Savior’s grace in giving us second chances in overcoming sin, or failures of the heart.

If to err is human nature, how many failures will it take us until our nature is no longer human but divine? Thousands? More likely a million.

The opposition which He allows can often seem insurmountable and almost impossible to bear, yet He doesn’t leave us without hope.

To keep our hope resilient as we face life’s trials, the Savior’s grace is ever ready and ever present. His grace is a “divine means of help or strength, … an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts.”

Repentance is God’s ever-accessible gift that allows and enables us to go from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm. Repentance isn’t His backup plan in the event we might fail. Repentance is His plan, knowing that we will.

If we partake with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, He proffers us weekly pardon as we progress from failure to failure along the covenant path. 

But just how many times will He forgive us? How long is His long-suffering? On one occasion Peter asked the Savior, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”

“Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”

Obviously, the Savior was not establishing an upper limit of 490. That would be analogous to saying that partaking of the sacrament has a limit of 490, and then on the 491st time, a heavenly auditor intercedes and says, “I’m so sorry, but your repentance card just expired—from this point forward, you’re on your own.”

 

“Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.”

But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven.”

Real intent implies with real effort and real change. “Change” is the principal word the Guide to the Scriptures uses to define repentance.

we need to continue getting up each time we fall, with a desire to keep growing and progressing despite our weaknesses.

 

I know as we continue to apply the atonement in our life's we can be forgiven as many times as we need. Like it says in this talk there is no repentance card, we have no limit. But we must always try and improve once we have made a mistake. I know we can over come hard things in our lives and get back on the right path. It takes time and effort sometimes but I know we can do it if we truly want to be better. 

 

I Can Smell the Horses

May 14, 2018

Well we started off the week with a pushup competition which went on for 15-20 min and ended with me doing 201 pushups and Abadicio doing 190. The way we did it was I do 1, then he does 2, then I do 3, and so on. By the end we had done 201 and 190. Abadicio ended up taking a nap the next morning haha said this was the first time he has worked out on his mission. 

Got some rain here on Tuesday night. It was like a mini hurricane that came through here. Had the trees bending over pretty good and the rain was coming down so hard that it was making everything look like there was fog in town, and we were out walking in it haha we got some interesting looks from people as they drove past. 

Found a few people Tuesday before the rain came! Kyle and then Rosalie. 

Met with Rosalie Wednesday and got to share lesson with her, and even set a baptismal date with her!

The other day we were walking around stopping by people and there wasn't to many people out due to the cloudy weather that day, not even many cars were out driving but as usual with our luck we had the one car that did pass us on the road we were on something weird happened. The car that passed us was full of girls about our age and not to our surprise they were all staring at us but we noticed something different about then as they drove by, they were all wearing mustaches.... We kept on walking wondering what the heck we just saw when all the sudden we could hear the car coming back to us. They pulled up right beside me and unrolled their windows and trying to keep straight face they asked if we wanted a mustache ride. Haha I have no idea what their plan was once they got us in the car but we didn't find out! I went along with their little joke and all but in the end I told them no we were okay walking. As they drove off Abadicio looked at me and said "what just happened...?" haha it was pretty strange, but it brightened up our boring day. 

Friday and Saturday there was a rodeo goin on right across the road from our place. Not a big surprise due to the fact we live right across from the rodeo grounds and track. It has been the worst thing!! All day I see kids on horses and hear the rodeo announcer telling what's going on, and I can smell the horses... It's killin me! I never thought I'd saw I can't wait for a rodeo to end. 

Little random thing that almost happened the other day. We were walking down the sidewalk takin and all the sudden a bird craped like 2 inches from me, no joke! It was so close to gettin me! It actually wouldn't have got me it would have hit the book of Mormon in my hand but still it was close. 

Most the rest of the week was spent walking around tracting. Found a few new people that said come back so hopefully we can get in the door with them.

Talked with the fam last night. That was pretty good. They mostly talked and I listened haha not much has changed there I’m still quiet. 

So other than the rodeo and the bird almost gettin me it was a good week for us here!

Love ya all, talk to you next week! 

 

Weyburns Amazing Race

May 7, 2018

To start off the week we went up to swift current for exchanges, mostly cause they forgot their area book in our car from when they were here for exchanges and they needed it.

Me and Fowler went up to Gull Lake for the day on Tuesday to do some work in the area book there. The first lady we stopped by was a LA (less active) that loved the missionaries so before we left she gave us 40 and said better go have lunch while your here! She told us a few. Good places around town that we should try, so we went to Lily’s bar and grill. 

When we walked in we weren't too sure if the place was even open, there was no one in it but the lady and her husband that were running it. So she gave us the option of sitting where ever we wanted! We sat in the not bar area. It was pretty good.

After that we did a few stop byes. Guess there's a Matt Nelson in Gull Lake that the elders used to teach, couldn't find him though... Asked a few people on the streets around town of they knew him, but they said no. We ended up tracting this one house that we were close to when we decided Matt wasn't around anymore, and the lady there I can't remember her name it starts with a K though, she sat there and talked with us for an hour about her 15 kids that live with her (not all her kids) the about her daughter that died when she was 18, and her brother when he was 19. We taught a little of the plan of salvation with her but she didn't like to talk about it too much. She did take a book of Mormon though and a few pamphlets for the boys. When she heard we were from Alberta and the states she ran and called the boys up ha-ha she's said boys I want you to meet these guys here, he's from Ab and he's from the US. The 5 boys that came up to see us were like okay.... Cool. Ha-ha it got a little awkward for a second. After a bit though we got talking with the boys and they asked a few questions about some stuff. Only one of the 5 boys there at that time was hers, the others were friends and other boys that moved in with them. All of them were 14-17yrs old and seems a little rough around the edges but they were good kids. One kids we asked what he liked to do for fun and he said drink. Elder Fowler was like how old are you? Old enough he said. Ha-ha it was kinda interesting. The lady we were talking to was super nice. Even told us we could use her cars if we needed to, or stay at her place with the boys. She told us we were welcome at her place anytime.

Was probably one of the more awkward, cool experiences I’ve had on the mission I'd say.

Random fact. If I was a sister I'd be coming home next transfer. Also I have 42 P-days left....

The rest of our week consisted of visiting our friends in Weyburn since we gave no "investigators" and the ones that are "investigators" live 4hrs away... 

Talked with an older couple Jeff and Kathy one night. Guess they used to have elder over all the time a few yrs. ago. They are ranchers so we get along good! They might even take us out to see the horses today! They asked if we wanted to ride them. I was so tempted to say yes....! But I didn't. 

On Saturday we had the Weyburn Amazing race for the Regina stake youth. It was pretty fun! They did a big Easter egg hunt kinda thing all around town and it would take them to the next place with the next clue. Our stations were the obstacle course and the frozen t-shirts. 

While we waited around bro Woodruff had us run the obstacle course a few times to see if we could beat our best time haha we did it in 5 min. Most everyone else that went through after took 7.

The t-shirts was fun. It took most groups 20min to get it apart haha the sat in their cars with the heat on full blast on a 28° day... Some tried to run it over, others just beat it against the rocks there haha one even stuck it in their shirt! 

By the time it was all said and done it was 4:30 and we started at 11:30. It was a long crazy day. Got a nice tan though!

Church in Estevan we had 7 total for testimony meeting so we all got up and did a testimony. It was pretty good! Weyburn we had about 20 people so not all had to get up. Pretty different from being back home when it's fast Sunday. 

Can't believe it's Mother Day next week end. I'm thinking I'm might not call home... I'll see them all in a few months anyway! Haha I'm just kidding. Mom might not like that too much.

Well love ya all, talk to ya next week! 

 

The Essential Role of Member Missionary Work

May 7,2018

John 21:15-17 says

So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

In these verses it says if we love God and Jesus Christ then we are to feed his sheep. Those sheep are us, the people we associat with everyday, the ones that don't know about his gospel, and even the ones that do. We as members of the church are to help build this gospel along side the full time missionarys. In revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith, the lord puts it simply "it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbour." If there was a big storm or something coming your way and you didn't know about it wouldn't you like someone to tell you about it? We are to warn everyone we know, and help them make the necessary steps to help them become ready. 

Throughout the church they have worked hard to help the missionaries to increase their spiritual maturity. This effort has been referred to as "raising the bar." As the church raises the expectation for the missionaries, we as members must also raise the level of expectations in fulfilling our missionary duties. You are needed for support and assisting missionarys in finding and baptizing new converts. To watch over, protect, and inspire the missionarys in your areas. If the standard is raised, it is raised for all of us. 

We must prepare ourselves to help the missionaries in finding those who are prepared, and will embrace the message of the restoration. 

Memeber are the full time finders. Missionaries are the full time teachers.

When we work together in unity we will have so much more success in finding those lost sheep.

There are a few steps we need to take to help become the best memeber missionarys possible. 

First is we should exercise our faith and pray individually and as families, asking for help in finding ways to share this gospel. Ask the lord to open the way. Prayerfully set a date with your family to have someone in your home for the missionaries to teach. Remember, this is the lords church. Let him guide you through constant prayer. With a prayer in your heart, talk to everyone you can. Don't prejudge. Don't withhold the good news from anyone. Not everyone you talk to will except what you say and that's okay. If we expect everyone we talked to to get baptized and become a member of the church we will have failed. We are here to invite and it is up to the person to except or reject what we share. We succeed when we invite. 

President Hinckley said " it will be a great day when our people not only pray for the missionaries throughout the world, but ask the lord to help them to assist the missionaries who are laboring in their own ward."

Second, leaders must lead by example. The spirit will prompt and guide you in finding those interested in our message. Your personaly worthiness will give you the courage and the spiritual power to inspire your members to actively help the missionaries. 

Third, memeber missionary work doesn't require the development of strategies or gimmicks. It does require faith-real faith and trust in the lord. It also requires genuine love. This is the first and great commandment. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Most all of us want to enjoy peace and happiness in this life. That is a natural human desire. We all want to find answers to problems we face. This is increasingly true in the world we live in.

Some members might say "I'm afraid to share the gospel because I might offend someone." people are not offended when the sharing is motivated by the spirit of love and concern. How could someone be offended when you say something like this " I love the way my church helps me." and then go from there. It's when we appear to be making them and an assignment and fail to express real interest and love for them that we offend them. 

Be watchful and reach out to one another. As you do this I know that the gospel we live will show its self to those we are helping. It will show them the blessing the gospel has to offer.

I know as we share this gospel with everyone that we will fine success. We will not convert everyone we talk to, but we will touch their lives is a way that they will always remeber. "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!"

D&C 18:15-16

There are people all around us that are searching for the truth and happiness that comes from living this gospel, we just need to find them. Act on those prompting that come from the spirit and 9/10 you'll always be right. 

We succeed when we invite. 

"I'll be calling you later boys"

April 23, 2018

So this week has been kinda crazy, slow, but fast. The weather has been super nice the last half of the week. We hit 18 the other day... It was so hot! Had no wind either. Hasn't been colder than 10 the last four days. 

For work this week we did some service with a guy named Kevin that the elders have become close friends with over the years. Helped him do some chores out on the farm that was nice. Told him all about Alberta, the ranch, and all my stories. Says he has to go to a ranch rodeo now. Ha-ha
Had dinner out at the Regniers again on Thursday! She gave us so much food, we almost died...! 
Had exchanges with swift on Friday down here. I was pretty good. We had 3 guitars in the apt when they were here and Fowler had me put strings on the 2 he brought down. One is his investigators, and the other is sister T's. Needless to say we had a little jam session.

The other night we got a call from a long lost referral named Dennis. He called us outta the blue asking if we were around town and could meet for coffee. He was on his way back from Calgary and was coming through Weyburn soon and wanted to meet up. 8:00 we met him at Tim Hortons, and we did the quickest most in depth L1 (restoration) I have ever done. We did everything in not even 30min and at the end he slapped down a 100$ on the table and said "you boys are out here working hard, treat yourself to something nice." got up and walked out the door and said "I'll be calling you boys later! I'm going to read this book!" we sat there for a sec wondering what just happened.... On the way out of Tim's we ran into our now former investor Corney as of earlier that day, so I stopped and talked to him for a second with all his family and friends around. They looked a little confused to see him talking to us. I don't think they knew he met with us the once. It was a pretty crazy day. 

Sunday me and Abadicio gave talks in church on missionary’s ha-ha good topic for us I guess! We even got our new friend Kevin to come listen to us speak! After we got done he said “I loved them both! You could really tell you had the spirit with you both as you went up there." And believe it or not I talked the longest out of us two...after church in Weyburn we ran down to Estevan for church there. And after church there we did a few stop bys, and then went to the Woodruffs for dinner and a little jam session doing a song bro Woodruff needed help doing some writing on. So it was a good day!
Right now us and the weather are having a love hate relationship. 20 degrees is nice but dang it's hot! Bring back winter! Jk

Well love ya all, talk to you next week! 

 Enos 1:3-6

Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.

And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.

This is probably one of my favorite scriptures to read for a little spiritual thought. I like it because it shows that Enos he listened to what his parents had taught him, and he not only took it to heart, but he says my soul hungered. 

He wanted to be forgiven of whatever he had done so bad that his soul hungered for it. He prayed all day, and all night until he heard a voice say to him Enos you are forgiven. He knew God could not lie, and so his guilt was swept away. 

We to can have this same experience in our own life's if we choose to use the atonement. God does not want us to fail in life so he gave us this gospel to follow, and his atonement so we can be forgive when we fall. I know that when we use the atonement in out life's that we can be forgive when our hearts are in the right place. I know God loves you, he knows each of you personaly, and he wants you to return to his presence after this life. He knows what you are going through every minute of the day, and he wants to help you in any way possible.