Leaving others to Serve the Lord

Among the many difficult moments that a missionary experiences is heeding the Lord's call to serve new people in a new location. Recently the spirit of the Lord called me away to Laurel, MT. So in loving memory of the wonderful experiences that took place, I thought I would share a few of them with you.

One of the more memorable experiences of service was helping fix the sewage/ holding tank at our homeowners place! It was a tough job but with the help of everyone we got the job done relatively fast (roughly 45 minutes).

Fixing our homeowner's sewage system

I was praying hard that they
wouldn't drop me!

Rescue Missions (Part 2)

Some rescue missions are a successful and some are not. When and why do they fail??? I know of at least one reason, in which Elder Carter and I were involved.

It was a normal sabbath morning... or so we thought. We prepared for the day and went to church like always. When we got there Elder Carter and I noticed that there were quite a few members missing from the congregation, along with most of the bishopric. Half way through the meeting the only bishopric member on the stand, left the meeting and never came back.

Crazy, I know.

So we ended the meeting on our own; singing the closing hymn and having the benediction. After the meeting was over Elder Carter and I soon discovered the reason why there were so few members at church and why the Bishopric was no where to be found. The boy scouts and their leaders had never returned home the previous night from their 20 mile hike.

Rescue Missions (Part 1)

The other day Elder Carter and I were knocking on people's doors in an effort to spread the message that God speaks once again through modern day prophets and apostles! Upon arriving at a certain house we heard a peculiar noise...

What was it? The answer... a kitten stuck in a tree!

Isn't it cute!

Due to the fact that it was a complete stranger's home and because I was afraid the poor thing was going to keep climbing higher, as they often do, I quickly raced up the 10-15 ft of branches to get it down; rather, than take a picture first. So instead I took a picture of a different kitten that lives at our home.

I can still hear the mew's of detest at this frantic kitten's plight. As I reached up and heroically grabbed the kitten, it immediately began to fight and protest. However, upon reaching the safety of solid ground the kitten began purring and rubbing back and forth against my leg. Delighted, I took roughly thirty seconds to embrace the new found devotion. Elder Carter and I walked up to the owner's door and knocked. Meanwhile, the kitten shadowed my every move and continued to rub against my leg.

When no one answered we decided to continue with our original plan of sharing the marvelous news that God has once again restored his true church on the earth today! Jokingly, I pointed to the kitten and commanded it to wait for its owner. To my great astonishment, it did precisely just that.

Like that kitten, we all find ourselves needing to be rescued in life. The Savior has provided the way for us to be saved from sin. Through his suffering we can wash away feelings of doubt, shame, or guilt that comes with sin and in its place find faith, joy, and confidence. Jesus Christ has provided a way for us to be rescued and brought back into the prescence of our loving father in heavern (God). When we experience this relief of being rescued from sin, we too feel those same feelings of devotion to the Lord as that small kitten. We will follow his commandments because we have full confidence that he only wants what is best for us!

He has also allowed us a wonderful support system through his church. We can receive an added measure of faith, peace, joy, etc. through the Lord's servents- his prophets and apostles. Furthermore, we can receive these feelings through our fellow church leaders and members who will continue to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ. We can feel at home!

Chrono Trigger: Alternate endings

The concept and story line for Chrono Trigger makes it one of the best video games EVER! As you may have guessed from the picture above, throughout the game you find yourself traveling through different time periods; traveling from 1000 A.D. where the game begins to 600 A.D., 2300 A.D., back to 600 A.D., to 12,000 B.C., etc. 

The game starts as Chrono, the main character, is spending an ordinary day at the fair with Marle (princess of the kingdom). While there they find Lucca and her father demonstrating her new teleporter at the Millennial Fair. When Marle volunteers to be teleported, her pendant interferes with the device and creates a time portal that she is drawn into and disappears in a rift between time. Their journey to rescue the princess leads from one thing to another until ultimately they are placed in a position to save the world from utter destruction.

Throughout the game you are posed with different dilemmas and how you respond to them actually changes the final ending to the game. Our life on earth is similar.

The key is in the "p"

The phrase watching your p's and q's has been passed down for generations.

For little children this phrase reminds them to make sure they haven't switched the letter "p" with the letter "q" and/or vice versa.

For more experienced writers in the English language, it helps us remember to check our work before we turn it in; it helps us prepare for the grade that we will receive.

However, the letter "p" plays a much more prominent role in our lives than you might, at first, suspect. Check it out!

Overcoming Unexpected Changes in Life

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by change? I know I do!

This week in Greybull, Elder Carter and I had a pretty unexpected change in our everyday routine of being a missionary; we hit a curb and blew out our tire! After getting our heart rates to drop back to normal we called our vehicle coordinator, Elder Ives, to receive council and wisdom on how best to proceed. In the meantime, we had a jack and spare tire to help us get by until our car would receive a replacement tire.

The Plunge

Ever jump off a really high cliff? If so, than you have experienced the nervousness that accompanies your first attempt when jumping a new cliff. Your heart beat starts racing as the adrenaline pumps through your body. A battle begins to take place within yourself as what you will do. 


Either you will gain the exhilarating experience of plummeting, through the air, into the water or you will walk away, the same as you came.

 
Committing 100% when cliff jumping is imperative. If you don't fully commit during take off than you risk the possibility of hitting the cliff side or other undesirable obstacles, before reaching the water. Furthermore, if you are jumping from high enough, than you had better point your feet down or dive appropriately so that you will emerge from the water unscathed. You must be committed from take off, through your airborne descent, and finally upon entering the water itself.