Hi Everyone!!
Every week is a great week being a missionary! But I am a little sad... this is the last week of the transfer and it's almost guaranteed that Elder Schenk and I won't be companions anymore. It's been a good time for sure! He is one of my best friends now. We have handled it whenever we have had struggles together. It's been awesome. This week was also the coldest week of my life! It hit a low of -21 F that I saw. I've even had the opportunity to drive in the snow! It's been exciting since I had driven less than 5 times in the snow until now. And we haven't gotten in an accident or anything! The awesome guy I mentioned last week about giving us mixed signals has come back! He even made it to church this weekend after last week saying how he doesn't want to be Mormon anymore. I had hope and am excited it has turned around; we once again talk to him and see him regularly.
One of the nicest things about being a missionary is that the counsel the Savior gives to us really is true! The counsel he gives in the latter part of Matthew 6 and towards the start of Matthew 10 is true! He talks about not considering what we shall eat or drink tomorrow, but to seek first the kingdom of God. Additionally when sending out his disciples, he tells them not to take a second coat or second pair of shoes (fortunately we can do that, but we don't have much stuff for sure!) and to stay and be fed where people accept us and that message. I know that counsel was for missionaries specifically and that it has proven true! There are so many amazing families that we meet all over the place. This one family has fed us 2 lunches and they were unreal - the first was an epic rack of ribs on Elder Schenk's birthday and this last week was deep fried Halibut. Wow. This week they are getting us hooked up with another great meal. And that's just part of it. I'm so humbled to have the opportunity to seriously just focus on serving God and have everything else work itself out! It really does when you give your all to Preach the Gospel!
Top miracle of the week was a new person (Chris) we were referred to and have begun teaching the Gospel to. We taught him 4 times this week and he is seriously progressing. It is wonderful teaching someone who is humble. He readily admits he was compelled to be humble - doctors have told him he should be dead because of alcohol abuse. But he isn't and is ready to change his life and turn it over to the Lord. It feels so great to be teaching someone who is really engaged, asking questions, and desiring what we have. He reconnected with his friend Dan (our branch mission leader) at the gym in Longmont 4 months ago and has now accepted Dan's invitation to learn more about the Gospel. Last night when we taught him the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ he told us at the end that he felt peace. He hasn't felt at peace for decades. He could truly feel the Spirit of God coming into His heart. He said he also felt that at church. He can barely ever sit still, but was able to sit and be present for all 3 parts of church!
Lastly, we reset the three Scott boys for baptism on this coming Saturday. It seems like it'll come together nicely. We have a little more to teach them, but they are pretty ready. It'll be exciting for sure! It's going to be interesting... this Wednesday night we have a youth activity where they are going out with us as missionaries! There was a prep activity 2 weeks ago and the Scott boys came, we are hoping/anticipating them coming out with us to teach some families from church about the Gospel! That will be awesome.
In terms of spiritual learning stuff, we had a Mission Tour on Saturday meaning a member of the Church General Authority (Elder Baxter) came and spoke to us. For the bulk of his time talking he talked about 1 thing, the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He went into depth about how God REALLY does love us. One of the most powerful things was he invited us to read scriptures with our name in it to feel that Christ is talking to us (because He is). I had a chance to read a sentence out loud with my name in it from our missionary manual. "Jeffrey Campbell. All that is unfair about your life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ." He had me read that about 10x out loud in front of the 70+ missionaries and a few others that were there. It was powerful. And I really do know that the sentence I read is true. The atonement (Jesus Christ's perfect life; suffering in Gethsemane for all our pains, sicknesses, temptations, trials, and sins; sacrifice on the cross at Calvary; and Resurrection) is the great equalizer of life. He invites all men to come unto Him. There are no restrictions on past sins, on current issues, on gender, on age, on ethnicity, on anything. He invites all of us, no matter if we had a abusive past, if we are alcoholic, if we have a terribly bad back, or anything. He just wants us to come to Him. He is inviting us to be exalted - to have eternal joy with Him and His Father in the Celestial Kingdom. He loves us. He really does. It says in a variety of places in the scriptures that even through all of our sins and mistakes "His hand is outstretched still." I testify that it is. I have seen the act of coming to Jesus and relying wholly upon his merits, mercies, and grace change lives out here and my own life. If you have not yet, I invite you to!
Have an amazing week!
Sincerely,
Elder Jeff Campbell
Every week is a great week being a missionary! But I am a little sad... this is the last week of the transfer and it's almost guaranteed that Elder Schenk and I won't be companions anymore. It's been a good time for sure! He is one of my best friends now. We have handled it whenever we have had struggles together. It's been awesome. This week was also the coldest week of my life! It hit a low of -21 F that I saw. I've even had the opportunity to drive in the snow! It's been exciting since I had driven less than 5 times in the snow until now. And we haven't gotten in an accident or anything! The awesome guy I mentioned last week about giving us mixed signals has come back! He even made it to church this weekend after last week saying how he doesn't want to be Mormon anymore. I had hope and am excited it has turned around; we once again talk to him and see him regularly.
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