Or at least a
bigger weekly. Seems like every time I miss a week...the less motivated I am to
fix it the next week... so this is gonna be massive because I've finally
decided to stop procrastinating and get all caught up again. So first.... a
bunch of excuses!
First of all... I
truly love frisbee. On a level most people have trouble understanding. So for
the last several weeks I've been with a companion who actually plays and
appreciates frisbee, if not quite as much as I do. Therefore distraction. Also
my mom informed me that she was an email behind in posting a week or two ago...
which meant I was off the hook right cuz no one wants two posts in one week....
then this week we went to the temple, and thanks to a new worldwide missionary
policy change we can only attend the temple on Pdays. And since most temples
are closed on mondays... that means tuesday pday. This morning I definitely had
more excuses... but I forgot what they were. Oh well.
Next point...
those of you who thought I was dead... you're all just silly. And don't know me
at all. I am clearly invincible in regular life, and even more so as a
missionary, literally nothing can kill me. So there. In addition, I refuse to
die before getting married, and before the Millennium comes so thats
another reason to stuff it... and on top of all of THAT, I have way too many
adventures left in my life to die now. Besides the obvious reason that I have yet
to play Breath of the Wild and until that happens the Millennium is
straight up not allowed to come. That might be blasphemous... but oh well.
So there ya go...
as for the last few weeks. No I have not been smashed by any cows lately. I
haven't even gotten to wrestle any cows in weeks. We have done some herding but
thats it. In other news I caught my first fish today... in like 9 years or
something like that... and I was the only one to catch one I might add... so
ha. Also went to the Manti Temple today which is always good... oh I hate catching
up when I fall behind... you'd think I would just keep up but no... I haven't
learned my lesson yet. Haha I just hope you all realize how lucky you are, I
get emails from some missionaries, and my companions send theirs.... sometimes.
I'm more consistent than all of them, and I write way more :P ok I'm done
complaining... back to work...
Well maybe not
that massive. I think I'm just gonna write a bunch of cool things that have
happened and not even gonna try to make them in order or anything like that.So first....
my new companion that nobody knows about. So transfers happened and Elder Baker
headed to Provo. I know have Elder Bayless, and I swear I'm gonna kill him by
the end of the transfer. Literally. He's going home this transfer and I'm his
last companion. Its been fun. A little about him, he’’s from North Carolina,
wants to get jacked, loves music and frisbee, and is super chill. Its good
stuff. To be fair... he is kind of trunky, so sometimes it’s hard to stay focused,
but that’s just about the only problem we ever have. Unless I do something
dumb, which as you all know, happens more frequently than any of us would like.
Any who, we get along great and it’s been really good for both of us I think.
We've gotten to play lots of frisbee, do some duets, and now instead of just
me, we are both taking voice lessons once a week together. Also been really
good for both of us. Can't remember if I told you about this, the Bishops
daughter in Emery and her husband and family just moved in a little while back,
he got called as ward missionary, and she’s a pro voice teacher so... yeah, the
stars aligned. Its been a ton of fun, and I've learned so much. I thought I
knew an awful lot... but shoot. I don't know anything. And I've been doing
things wrong for so long... theres a lot of relearning going on as well. And
now I don’t even have to feel bad for dragging my companion to these things...
cuz he does it too!
Any who... miracles,
let them begin. J finally decided to take the lessons and get baptized, we got a
self referral for a 21 year old who wants to be baptized and apparently some
other family members want to as well. Then we got a referral from a less active
in one of our wards for a lady who has actually already quit smoking and got a
book of Mormon before we ever met her. Needless to say, all three of them are
now on date for baptism, and for sure two of them will make it on the first
try, and the other probably will as well. So that was pretty amazing to say the
least. Looks like we can finally start working with some others that we've been
waiting on for some time. Don't get me wrong, there was bad stuff too. We got
chewed out by a random lady, some people yelled at us to go away, several sets
of kids we can't teach because of their stinky annoying parents who have
something against the gospel for no real reason.
Oh also so
Fathers Day didn’t really happen... we had an emergency stake conference
because our stake president is moving away... so that was fun. And now, somehow,
we are singing in Emery with the Bishops family next week for it. We also got
asked 3 days before zone conference to prepare a special musical number... so
we did. And then my mic died halfway through and I was behind the piano
playing... luckily I'm apparently obnoxiously loud so every one could hear
anyway ;P Other things from zone conference... we were renamed the Canyon Land
Zone instead of the Price Zone... that only lasted a few days though...
everyone couldnt stop saying Candy Land instead. So now we're the Red Rock Zone
which is so much better.
In the past
several weeks I've gotten to give several blessings to people and I feel like
its really blessed my life. We go to the Nursing home every Wednesday morning
to sing and have some music time and we were able to give a dear old lady a
blessing for the chronic pain she'd been having. We also were able to have a
meeting with the activities director and her family, her grandkids are staying
with her for the summer and their parents are less active so we were able to
have some music time their as well and teach them about the Plan of Salvation.
It was a nice break from the norm. We also did service for like 6 hours putting
in fence stays in someone fence. It was a lot of fun, then we installed some
custom parts on a side by side after that. Again, a nice break from the same
old same old. We were gonna go help with some more branding, but then they
branded a cow which then laid down and died so instead we just herded them and
put them out to pasture anyway.
It was pretty
cool we just decided to stop by someone who we have awesome fellowshippers for,
we just figured that they would be ok, and the fellowshippers were doing
everything they could. But we hadn't been able to meet with them in sometime so
we stopped by just to invite them to church and we had a really good discussion
and set a lesson. Which fell through because of cows, and then a double ear
infection, but it was cool to see how their eyes lit up from that personal
contact, and the progress we instantly made. Their fellowshippers really are
fantastic, but they also fear going too far just as we all do. If I had any
advice for you people out there, its just do it. If they tell you to shove off,
then give them some space. But until you do something for them and at least
invite them, give them the opportunity to learn, you're accountable in some
degree in the judgement for not reaching out. Does that mean that you'll be
cast off just because you didn't tell one person you were a member of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints? Of course not, but when those
people, especially your friend and neighbors and family members, find the
truth, dont you think they'll ask why you didn't ever tell them. They may not
have accepted it right then, but ask yourself this... Do you love them enough
to offer them the peace and joy you've found in your faith? Do you love them
enough to offer them Eternal Life and Glory with their families and with God?
Or another thought... do you hate them so much you would keep those things from
them? I've been saying for a long time I have a lot of regrets from before my
mission, people I should've and could've reached out to, people who wanted to
know, and I didn't. People that I loved and cared about, some of my closest and
oldest friends. But apparently I never cared enough to give them eternal life
and happiness. Or maybe I didn't believe as much as I thought I did, maybe my
testimony wasn't strong enough. But I know now, and I've decided to do
something about it. I know that by opening my mouth I can change the lives,
even the eternal destinies of the people I love. I know that by small and
simple things; by building our faith through prayer, scripture study, and
church attendance; really simple things, we can be happier, we can have fuller
more rich experiences, we can love deeper, and be loved, we have eternal
support in every trial we face, we can one day receive the great blessings of
the temple, we can be sealed to our families for eternity, we can have a
fulness of joy and live with God again. I know that the church is true, I know
that the Book of Mormon, and the principles contained in it, are true. I know
that following the principles of the gospel will lead to joy and happiness and
all it takes is a bold invitation backed with love. Do it and your joy will be
full as well. Don't do it, and that becomes your problem in the end.
Have a great day,
have a great week, have a great life.
Love,
Elder DeFord
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