Good-bye Mr. Rat & Beware of Tunnel Vision
Update from Elder Langford: April 15, 2013
Hey everyone,
What a great week! And a
long one too... Elder Packard and myself have been very blessed in
this area, and have been humbled by the work of God that is being
hastened in the mission field! We were able to have another baptism
this week for an 11 year old whose parents were less
actives that we got sent to see by the Bishop, and it was a really
good program! We sang the hymns in Spanish, the first speaker gave his
whole talk on baptism, and when Elder Packard baptized him, he came
and said “that was AWESOME!” That's been a good laugh for a
while.
We also... caught a rat!!! We've been hearing noises for a while, but finally, our electric
mouse trap box thing worked!!! As we were sleeping, we heard, Zaaaaap
Zaaaap. Haha! and we went over, and sure enough, a little tail
was poking out of the box!! Crazy! That Rat's been running ramp-id
for too long!
We had a really good
miracle with one of our ward members. He really caught the fire on
missionary work, and sent us over to his uncle's house. He used to be
a baptist preacher, but he really loved the message of the
restoration, and he committed to being baptized once he learned more
about the Book of Mormon! He was able to come to church this Sunday
and he really enjoyed it! It's great to see how God works and changes
people, making them ready and willing to accept the message of the
gospel.
Ok I admit it... We went
out on an exchange to go see an investigator (who also said he's going
to be baptized :D) and on the way back his car broke down... and in
his car, I left my planner....I don't know
how it happened.... so
all the things that I had to be written down today are sitting in
there!! We even called him and went by his house this morning to grab
it, he wasn't there His son was, but he wouldn't wake up to
answer the door -_-... so I believe that there's something else that
needs to be said instead... something that someone needs to hear,
that wasn't in there to write down...
Oh yeah! Last Thursday
was the big missionary gathering of 2 zones (about 40 missionaries)
and we had our annual activity day with capture the flag ultimate
Frisbee, and soccer. We wanted our district to match, so we all
bought these shirts at Wal-mart with a really big pug face on them...
Hahaha it was so funny showing up together. Funny pictures there. I
used up every ounce of my energy that day... I was literally
towards the point of dying the rest of the week, and could barely get
through all the biking and the walking that we ironically had to do
for the rest of that week. We worked our very hardest this week, and
the Lord saw fit to bless us with a lot of success!
Something
interesting that I've seen lately, that's really dangerous and good to
stay away
from, is Satan's tool of giving us an even more limited version of
'tunnel vision' than we already have... If we were able to have a
perfect perspective of the way that this life is laid out, and the
reasons why we're here and the things that we're supposed to be
doing, think how much differently we'd act and how changed our
natures would be! The amount of perspective that we have, is the
amount of light we posses. The amount of Hope we have. If we have
very little hope in anything, and always feel down trodden and
discouraged, we constantly feel that all we can see, is an inch ahead
of us, and that we're never going to be able to make it anywhere
in our lives. We've been promised, that as We follow our Savior's
commandments, we shall receive blessings and increased happiness. It
is by obeying and striving to live by these commandments, that we
gain more and more light and change the perspective we are under. The
atonement has made it possible, in this darkened state we're in, to
access the light of Christ, and to open up our eyes to the potential
that we posses. As are so many things in life. It's our choice to do
so. It's through our agency, that we choose to strive for more light,
or to be comfortable in the darkness we are in. Satan tries so hard
to keep us complacent in the state of vision we are in, because of
his knowledge of the Potential of hope we posses to inherit our
eternal reward. It is so easy on the mission to feel like you are not
doing your best, that you are not progressing at the right rate, or
that you've stopped and have been satisfied in your darkness. Pushing
through those feelings requires a daily effort of meaningful prayer
and scripture study. The increase of faith. Faith is the force that
we have to show, in order to charge up that light that we're offered.
Faith is the battery to our light in the darkness. If we
want to really see more, better understand ourselves, and take on a
more perfect brightness of hope, we must show that we want it!
Believe in Jesus Christ, for he is the light of the world, and there
is no darkness thick enough that his perfect love cannot penetrate.
He can change us. He can not only show us the way, but more
importantly sometimes, he can give us the desire and ambition we
need, to WANT to be shown the way, to have that actually be
our main focus. It's funny how sometimes when you're struggling with
something yourself, and then you write it out, and you begin to
answer your own questions... I'm glad that I forgot my planner and
was able to write this out! If no one else needed it, at least I did
;) Haha it's always a good reminder!! Please, please, please, remember
how much your Heavenly Father and your Savior Jesus Christ love you.
If you do not have the desire now to become the best person you can
be, and to progress in your conversion to the gospel, that's always a
good thing to start praying for :) One of the biggest changes that
repentance gives, is the ability to change our perspectives. The
world my not change, your life may not change, things may even get
worse, but in your perspective, in your light, in your heart, you
will have peace from the comforter, for his peace, is not peace of
the world, but the for taste, and reminder to you, what the
everlasting perspective is like. He is the light of the world, and in
the darkened state we live in, we need his help everyday, to lighten
our perspective to the hope we have of eternal progression :) I love
you all so much!!! and I'm gluing my planner to my forehead next
week!!!! LOVE YOU!!!! Elder Langford
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