Realizing Your True Capacity

The person on the right in white is Elijah. Elder Griffiths and his companion
found him and taught him, but then they were transferred.
Elijah was baptized just a few weeks after Elder Griffiths left the area.  

I've been thinking recently about repentance. It's not a popular word in a lot of modern religions. Most people believe in "justification by faith" which is the concept that you don't need to live righteously as long as you believe the Savior covers you for your sins. 

We meet people each day who believe that they are sinners so there's nothing they should do to try and be better. They've accepted defeat and have chosen to play the role of "helpless damsel in distress." It's true that we each have our shortcomings and our own tendencies to sin, but we can't continue to practice learned helplessness and expect God to bless us for that. 

My favorite part of being a missionary is to watch someone repent and realize what their true capacity and capability is. We each have divine heritage and we shouldn't waste the potential God has given us. If we don't repent then we are wasting our opportunities to see how much help God is willing to give us. 

It's certainly some food for thought. I've been thinking about this quite a bit. Repentance is the kind of doctrine that can easily be tested. It will definitely bring you happiness!

The person in white in the center is Christian. Elder Griffiths and Elder Harper
began teaching him but were transferred before his baptism. Christian asked
the new elders in the area to "call the missionaries who found me and
introduced me to this gospel" to let them know he was baptized.

Grateful for the Fullness of the Gospel

Elder Harden and Elder Griffiths.

This week we met a couple of very...peculiar people. We talked to a man who had absolutely no concept of who God was or why God exists but he believed in some sort of Creator and he didn't believe that there was such a thing as right and wrong. He believed that the only thing that determines right and wrong is the inherent instinct in each individual. We talked about where that "natural" instinct of right and wrong comes from. We talked about how there had to be some Being that decreed what was right and what was wrong. It's hard to explain in a short blog topic but we had a very interesting conversation. The bottom line was this particular man had no idea what he actually believed. It didn't make sense and it contradicted itself. It made me grateful to have the fullness of the gospel in my life and that I didn't have to worry about imperfect doctrine because there is a living prophet on the earth being directed by Jesus Christ.

All Smiles

Elder Griffiths and Elder Harden.
Photo credit to Sister Zimmerman in the Port Charlotte Ward (thanks!).

My new companion is Elder Harden. He's lived in different places throughout his life but he claims Boston, Massachusetts as home. He used to wrestle in high school. He likes to run, teach the gospel, and he likes to sing. He's been out for about 11 months and he loves to work hard. I like that he has a positive attitude and he loves the gospel. We teach really well together and we both want to improve. He adapts pretty quickly and serves as many people as he can.

Never Loved It More

Zone p-day. Look at all those suntanned faces!

I have never had so many doors slammed in my face than in this area. I've never loved it more though! Elder Nilsen and I are pushing as hard as we can to get things done and it's working so far. We had three people at church this past Sunday! Getting people to church is one of the hardest things about missionary work and it's also a requirement for baptism. It also helps the ward to see that we're actually doing work throughout the week. That's a bonus. 

I hope "y'all" have a great week!