Week 8 - Richland, Washington

Elder Sugden and the blue glasses, again!

This week went pretty well. We are having a lot of success and it’s so nice to see how hard work is paying off.

This week we had 4 different lessons and its awesome that we have the chance to teach people the gospel and help them understand that this is the true church. This week we also had the chance to take one of our investigators on a church/temple tour.  It was such an awesome experience and she really liked the things that we shared with her. One of the things that she really likes is the organization of the church and that no one gets paid for their efforts.

This week was a little crazy in the sense that Elder Aydelotte had a bunch of meetings that he had to go to, so I was left in charge of the area while he was gone. We also had exchanges with the zone leaders and we had a mini missionary come out with us for 2 days. So this week had a lot of moving parts and just stuff like that.

Elder Sugden, mini missionary & Elder Aydelotte

We found a couple of people this week that just let us into their houses and just wanted to know more about the gospel and it was cool to have the opportunity to help them learn more about what we believe in. We had another one of our firesides this week and while no less actives or investigators came it was still a good opportunity to teach the members of the ward.  The teachers quorum came and we had the chance to answer some of their questions and talk with them about things that are nice to know before you go on your mission.

We also had Zone Leader Council this week and they talked about the different languages of love. I thought of when my mom tried to talk to me about those and I thought it was funny how they have followed me to the mission field. [nice to know he was sort of listening to all my life lessons ;)]

Transfers are coming soon and its crazy to think that I have almost made it through my first transfer. It feels like it was just yesterday that I got out into the mission field and I can not believe how fast the days go by - I thought they would feel like really long days - but its is the exact opposite of what I was expecting.

Something that my companion and I did this week ... because why not, is we both shaved our legs ... so that was interesting. It makes my scars on my knee look better, so that is cool, I guess. [I will have to ask about WHY they thought this was a good idea! and I will spare you all the picture! you're welcome :)]  We also captured a spider and are trying to decide what to do with it [umm...smash it!] and that is pretty much all that happened this week. [I guess you get creative with your down time when options are limited]

Spiritual thought:

This week I want to share part of a talk from Dallin H. Oaks the title is "What Think Ye of Christ"

The Apostle Paul wrote that we should “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philip. 2:12.) Could that familiar expression mean that the sum total of our own righteousness will win us salvation and exaltation? Could some of us believe that our heavenly parentage and our divine destiny allow us to pass through mortality and attain eternal life solely on our own merits?

On the basis of what I have heard, I believe that some of us, some of the time, say things that can create that impression. We can forget that keeping the commandments, which is necessary, is not sufficient. As Nephi said, we must labor diligently to persuade everyone “to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” (2 Ne. 25:23.)

As a missionary this really stuck with me because in our area the members help us so much in our missionary effort. Our area is not the biggest and everyone knows who the missionaries are and it is so helpful when the members invite their friends over because it helps gain the trust of those people and they are more likely to listen to the things that we talk about.

I hope that you will look for friends to share your beliefs with as Elder Oaks talked about.

Love,

Elder Sugden