Caity is looking good though, and I am sure she
did her best to look her best for that picture haha. I received
letters this week from a lot of people in the ward so I will do my
best to respond to as many as possible :) Christmas is different
here in many ways, one of those ways is that it is about 90 degrees
here during Christmas haha but there are also a lot of fireworks and
everyone slaughters a Chicken for dinner (not prime rib but thats ok).
Nothing to special but we are not allowed to go out on Christmas eve
or Christmas so we just hang out at our apartments.So here is the
weekly update on the work in Johannesburg :) We had a much better week
than last week partly because I wasn't sick but also because we have
started working harder than ever! We really felt like we could do
better and so that is what we set out to do. We started to talk with
everyone we could and it has proved to be of great worth to the area.
We set 12 appointments with different people and also 3 appointments
with new families that we are very excited to see. So our finding
efforts are being blessed by the Lord right now. He is showing us that
as long as we depend upon Him we cannot fail :) Things are looking up
for the city of Johannesburg and I hope to leave this city in a much
better situation than when I found it. No health problems this week
but there has been a lot of rain, thunder and lightning and when it
rains it pours, sometimes for hours at a time. It was like that
yesterday. We were walking and we just came out to a street corner and
it was raining cats and dogs so we sat there for about and hour,
contacting people as they braved the storm, and waited to be picked up
for our dinner appointment, Which was a wonderful dinner :) Well that
was my week in terms of the work and I look forward to what this week
will hold and hope that we can maintain the spirit of finding more
people to teach and help on their way back to their Father in Heaven.
One lesson that I have learned this week is about depending fully on
the spirit and the lesson was put so clearly and beautifully by our
Bishop on Sunday when he spoke at Sacrament meeting. I want to relate
to you the example he used from the scriptures that really opened my
eyes to our possibilities. In Matthew we read of the account of where
Peter was saw the Savior walking on water and asked that the Savior
would bid him come unto him and he knew then that he could do the
same. So the Savior bade him come and Peter stepped out of the boat
and began to walk on water focusing his attention fully upon the
Savior. Now this is the part that got my attention, as soon as Peter
looked away from the Savior and looked down at the waves beneath him
did he falter and begin to sink into the depths of the sea. Then the
Savior calmly extends his hand returning Peters focus to him and they
both continue on to enter into the boat. We can do anything the Savior
can do if we will turn all of our focus to him and then not deviate
from that focus for anything. I think it kind of goes along with
having an eternal perspective but I think it is a lot more focused
than that. Learning to trust in the Savior fully and completely is not
easy. It involves a lot of blind following on our part, a step into
the dark or unknown, or as Nephi puts it going without knowing what
you are going to do before hand but knowing that the Savior will not
leave us alone because he loves us and we are putting our trust and
faith in Him. This is a lesson that I am trying to learn right now.
did her best to look her best for that picture haha. I received
letters this week from a lot of people in the ward so I will do my
best to respond to as many as possible :) Christmas is different
here in many ways, one of those ways is that it is about 90 degrees
here during Christmas haha but there are also a lot of fireworks and
everyone slaughters a Chicken for dinner (not prime rib but thats ok).
Nothing to special but we are not allowed to go out on Christmas eve
or Christmas so we just hang out at our apartments.So here is the
weekly update on the work in Johannesburg :) We had a much better week
than last week partly because I wasn't sick but also because we have
started working harder than ever! We really felt like we could do
better and so that is what we set out to do. We started to talk with
everyone we could and it has proved to be of great worth to the area.
We set 12 appointments with different people and also 3 appointments
with new families that we are very excited to see. So our finding
efforts are being blessed by the Lord right now. He is showing us that
as long as we depend upon Him we cannot fail :) Things are looking up
for the city of Johannesburg and I hope to leave this city in a much
better situation than when I found it. No health problems this week
but there has been a lot of rain, thunder and lightning and when it
rains it pours, sometimes for hours at a time. It was like that
yesterday. We were walking and we just came out to a street corner and
it was raining cats and dogs so we sat there for about and hour,
contacting people as they braved the storm, and waited to be picked up
for our dinner appointment, Which was a wonderful dinner :) Well that
was my week in terms of the work and I look forward to what this week
will hold and hope that we can maintain the spirit of finding more
people to teach and help on their way back to their Father in Heaven.
One lesson that I have learned this week is about depending fully on
the spirit and the lesson was put so clearly and beautifully by our
Bishop on Sunday when he spoke at Sacrament meeting. I want to relate
to you the example he used from the scriptures that really opened my
eyes to our possibilities. In Matthew we read of the account of where
Peter was saw the Savior walking on water and asked that the Savior
would bid him come unto him and he knew then that he could do the
same. So the Savior bade him come and Peter stepped out of the boat
and began to walk on water focusing his attention fully upon the
Savior. Now this is the part that got my attention, as soon as Peter
looked away from the Savior and looked down at the waves beneath him
did he falter and begin to sink into the depths of the sea. Then the
Savior calmly extends his hand returning Peters focus to him and they
both continue on to enter into the boat. We can do anything the Savior
can do if we will turn all of our focus to him and then not deviate
from that focus for anything. I think it kind of goes along with
having an eternal perspective but I think it is a lot more focused
than that. Learning to trust in the Savior fully and completely is not
easy. It involves a lot of blind following on our part, a step into
the dark or unknown, or as Nephi puts it going without knowing what
you are going to do before hand but knowing that the Savior will not
leave us alone because he loves us and we are putting our trust and
faith in Him. This is a lesson that I am trying to learn right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment