Laramie Week 3!

Not too much time this week, but I wanted to share 2 things.

The zone leaders my companion Elder Nash and I live with are awesome. Just over a week ago at Church they decided to inspire the members of their ward to meet with them, have a quick lesson on the Atonement (when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane to His ultimate Resurrection), and then talk to them about people they know who they can share the Gospel with. So, Elder Nash and I invited the members of our ward to do that too just a few days ago at Church. And the response was overwhelmingly positive! Most of the members were interested in meeting with us. I didn't think it would be that easy to start getting some member lessons and talk to them about people they know who they want to share the Gospel with! Elder Nash just told me that he set up 5 more lessons for this week. Last week we didn't hit our goal, but for this week we have lots of dinners and are teaching 4 members the Gospel discussions (to develop our ability to teach and help them grow in their relationship with Christ). I think we will be able to build up to the Standards of Excellence soon. At least by next week is our goal. The lessons we taught last week to the members went really well. We inspired one (who was baptized just over a year ago) to recommit to reading the Book of Mormon all the way through. The work is moving forward. Traction is happening!

Lastly, I wanted to share an experience I had while reading the Book of Mormon yesterday.
There is a scripture in 1 Nephi 19:23 that says: "And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning." Essentially what that means is that when we read the scriptures, not to read it for the sake of reading it or read it to learn the stories. The scriptures are the Word of God and designed to be applicable in our own life right now if we read with a question and dig deeper in them. I was reading a bunch of chapters in 1 Nephi and was getting nothing but the story- which was just ok. So I asked myself, "How can I liken this unto me that it can help me now?!?" And BAM! I couldn't believe how quickly my eyes were opened and I was able to read 1 Nephi 16 and totally see an average struggling family and the principles they need to apply to be successful in this life.


The Elder Campbell paraphrased edition: "Nephi's brothers Lamen and Lemuel finally repent and all is well in the family. Then everyone gets married and starts their families. The Prophet says move and everyone excitedly moves to a brand new town to start their families. Nephi, Lamen, and Lemuel all get amazing jobs (Nephi's uses a "steel bow" aka a high paying job). They do awesome and bring home lots of money and food and everything is great. BUT then the economy crashes and they all lose their jobs (Nephi's bow breaks and Lamen and Lemuel's don't work anymore either). They start cursing the Prophet and God saying, "We did everything you asked. We paid tithing. We moved. We got good jobs. Why is this happening to us?" Fortunately Nephi decided to take a crappy job to get food again for all the family who is nearly starving to death (wood bow and stones). He, still having faith (key point, keep faith in the Lord through trials) inquired of God where to go to work and hunt. And after inquiring with great faith from the Lord, Nephi made a killing and saved the family. They then praised the Lord because of their great blessings.

It's amazing how quickly all of us (myself included) can lose faith in the Lord when things start going wrong. But Nephi demonstrates how to keep faith and remember all the many blessings God has given. God is always on our side. He is awesome. He loves us more than we can imagine. By trusting in Him when we facing undeserved adversity like Nephi demonstrates, we too can be succeed in a mighty way. It is amazing what can be learned when you open your eyes and look past the words on the page and see it's application in your life. God's word is awesome.