Four weeks in, as of today. This first month has proved to be one
of the toughest and most rewarding of my life. I have learned a lot
about myself and about the gospel. I have seen the outcomes of other
people's poor choices, and the outcomes of people changing. Seeing
someone realize that there is a Heavenly Father who knows us and loves
us brings about a change in their behavior. Knowing that there's a man
who suffered for us, who died for us on the cross, and then was lifted
up on the third day so that we can do that, too, changes people. It
really does. Sadly, there are so many people in this area and in this
world who are so lackadaisical to those changes that they can feel
what's right and true through the Holy Ghost, but unwilling to do
anything about it because they're so set in their ways. That's why here
in the CFM we are looking for the "searchers." There are 'searchers' and
there are people. Searchers are the ones that want to know the truth,
so that they can follow the example of Jesus Christ and do the things
which have been asked of them. And then there are people: the ones with
whom our time would be better spent talking about sports and weather.
Pray for us to find the searchers, and pray for yourselves to find them
too. They're out there and we have a responsibility to find them!
This last week has been a lot of work. Last Tuesday I
was able to go to a meeting with all of the Trainers and all of the
Trainees and it was phenomenal. It was so good to see Pres. Gelwix and
to see the Elders that I came into the field with; I loved seeing Elder
Silva and Castaneda, and Artal. I was able to see Sis Johnson, as well,
which was great! We receieved some training on how to better ourselves
as missionaries in the moment, and how to continure to grow and progress
for the time to come in the next 20 months or so. A thought from Pres.
Gelwix I enjoyed was that we, as people and as missionaries, need to use
our choices wisely. The phrase he touched on was "use our time wisely,"
but said that wasn't good enough. We can use our time wisely a million
different ways, but using our choices wisely would have the most effect.
Mom/Family, thanks a bunch for the package!!! I loved
getting those pictures and the snacks came just in time! I could not be
more grateful. Also, my companion doesn't like British candy (crazy,
right?) so he wasn't even tempted to touch that Cadbury you sent. Love
you lots!
We had eight baptismal dates last week, then none of
our investigators came to Church on Sunday, so all of their dates,
except for one, fell through. It was pretty frustrating, but we have
faith that four of our investigators will still get baptized this month,
so that we can accomplish our goal. We need every prayer we can get, so
please pray that we can accomplish 4 baptisms in the Kingsburg Area
this month!!
Lots of changes are coming to the Hanford Stake and the
Selma Ward this week at Stake Conference. I'm not at liberty to discuss
them yet, but a lot of changes are being made. I'll let everyone know
next week! They closed two wards and a branch this month in our Stake
and Selma Ward is huge on the numbers now; there are something along the
lines of 650 members in the ward now. Crazy, right?
I can't wait until the conference edition of the Ensign
comes out. That will be great to read and to study. There were so many
good talks. I've been thinking about conference ever since it ended! I
couldn't get enough!
We've been working on a project in the CFM. It's called
the PMG Project. We are to read the whole Preach My Gospel book. Every
word of every page, and looking up every scriptural reference. Our
deadline is December 24th at 10:30PM. President Gelwix says
that this will be "our Christmas gift as a Mission to Jesus Christ"
showig our dedication and desire to be the best missionaries we can be.
It started October 1st, and I'm about 30 pages in so far. It is a very
time-consuming effort, but I've already learned so much! Preach My
Gospel is a book everyone can use in their lives. I would exhort
everyone reading this to read Preach My Gospel in their scripture
studies! It's amazing!!
So have any of my friends started their mission papers?! I'm super curious!
Well,
everyone, that's it for this week. Let me know how everything is going.
Letters and pictures are much appreciated. Let me know if there is
anything Elder Bolton can do for you! As long as it doesn't take my
focus away from the work, I'll do it!
Lots of love,
Elder Bolton
No comments:
Post a Comment