Preparation Brings Blessings (Lvlnd pt 2 wk#10)

Hey everyone!!

Today didn't go exactly as planned. So this is coming out pretty late and I have to go in a few minutes.

This week was exciting overall. I had a meeting from 9am-2:30pm on my birthday, but it was awesome overall! I'm excited about the mission and where it is going.

I had a lot of birthday dinners this week. It was really nice. I felt special. :) And they were all really good and with different awesome people each day from Thursday to Saturday.

Ruth is EXTREMELY excited to be baptized this week. She talked briefly with Bishop after church. He asked her if she wanted to be a missionary. She said, YES! So she wants to be a full-time missionary in a year. That's pretty exciting. She is also SUPER pumped to go to with the ward on the Temple trip for Baptisms for the Dead at the end of the month. She literally soaks up everything we teach her. When we taught her the Word of Wisdom last week (don't drink coffee, alcohol, tea, or use tabacco/drugs), she drank TONS of coffee. She stopped cold turkey the next day, got the shakes for a day or two, and is doing great without coffee!! It's amazing. This is just another testimony to me that it REALLY isn't about me. What did I even do? Show up? Make a good relationship with a member and continually invite him to do missionary work? I don't know. She is extremely prepared. I'm excited for this Saturday!

Lastly, lessons for the week. Preparation is key. I am reminded of that on the daily. At the Friday meeting, we talked about that a little more extensively. Wow. We were asked what helps us learn the most at meetings. It is when we are prepared. When we show up early. When we are reading scriptures before it starts. It is when we prepared BEFORE the day of. He asked, "are you going to be a member who shows up just when church starts or a little late? Or 15 minutes early?" I am not one to show up early. I know I have heard the "15 minutes early is on time. On time is late. Late is unacceptable." Motto. But I have never lived by it. On time is on time and late is ok in my definition. And that needs to change! So we shall see how I do at changing that in the upcoming days/weeks ahead.

I hope you have a great week! It's still fun being a missionary. Sometimes stressful, but really great overall for sure!

Sincerely,

Elder Jeff Campbell

CO Fort Collins Mission

500 Hillspire Dr

Windsor, CO 80550

The Spirit is real (Lvlnd pt 2 wk#9)

Hi Everyone!

One thing I have been loving about this area is that I'm starting to figure out how to work more closely and effectively with members (overall). A lot of the people we are teaching, whether they are not members, less-active members, recent converts, or active members, are girls. Since they are young single sisters, we cannot teach them by ourselves. So we have been forced by necessity to bring members with us on a regular basis. Wow. Amazing. The missionary spirit that has been spreading is the coolest! We had a lesson after Institute this week with 4 or 5 members present. It was awesome! We have had so many members in the last couple weeks attend different lessons at the perfect time. So often they have had experiences and perspectives that perfectly relate to the people we are working with. I shared that yesterday briefly at church too. There is something about having a member with a testimony share during lessons. Honestly, the majority of the time their testimony is more powerful that the testimony of the missionary.

Ruth is doing awesome. We met with her 2x this week and it's hard for someone to be progressing as well as she is. I think I mentioned last time that she just decided, "I am feeling happy and joyful learning about this; I should just go for it and get baptized." We are excited. She is preparing for March 14th. Looking very reasonable for that to happen. We were able to schedule it earlier in the day than Melissa + Logan's so I will be able to go to both. It's going to be a great day! The other two we are currently working with (Jen +TJ) aren't progressing as well, but there is still hope for sure!

I had the opportunity this week to be on exchanges for a couple hours with one of my favorite missionaries Elder Farnsworth. He is the one who shared the talk I referenced last week with me a number of months ago. Literally everything he does is by the Spirit. He showed me... We were eating lunch and talking. At a natural pause wondering both feeling that perhaps we should leave, he asks God, "Should we continue to talk here?" or "Should we now leave?" He seeks to feel the subtle promptings of the Spirit and acts accordingly. I scarcely believe it is possible to do that, but I have personally witnessed the results of his growth. He really does feel the Spirit. Every time he points out the Spirit, I can feel the Spirit. Every time he points out that he doesn't feel the Spirit, I don't feel the Spirit. At this point, I cannot recognize it like him. Every time I try my 'natural man' is yelling at me in my head, "what the heck are you thinking?!?! This isn't possible!" So it has been an adventure to make myself stop talking and just listen to God.

I am learning though. I implemented his counsel in prayers and powerfully received direction from God. I could tell that it was true. When I talked to him about it on the phone and to Elder Moala about the questions and answers and overall experience I had, they agreed. They could feel the Spirit testify to them that the answer I received was from God.

I am humbled by the Spirit. I am blown completely away by the Spirit. The Spirit is real. I have a true testimony of the Spirit. I can never deny the feelings that I have had. They are happening on a much more regular basis. It's amazing. I invite you to seek to feel the Spirit in your life and ask God questions more throughout the day. As Elder Eyring said, "that experience will surprise you everyday, and over time it will change you." I still need to implement it more, but the peace that comes from TRULY knowing you are doing the Lord's will at a given time... is indescribable. Being able to tell someone (as I did 10 days ago on the phone), "I was specifically inspired by God to call you right now" and have the Spirit witness to them that it is true... Yup. The Spirit is real. :)

Have an awesome week! I can't believe I'm will be 24 on Friday... If you were wondering about my plans, more than likely Bekah's family is having us over for dinner in Frederick. Turns out her mom's birthday is also March 6th. Pretty crazy.

Sincerely,

Elder Jeff Campbell

CO Fort Collins Mission

500 Hillspire Dr

Windsor, CO 80550