Monday, May 18, 2015

Best Week Ever!! (Lvlnd pt2 wk#20)

Hi everyone!!

*exhale. Finally a week I'm actually proud of! (Super funny. Right when I was starting to write this, I'm made aware of a problem in the zone here in Loveland that could be really bad if it isn't fixed... ironic!).

Back to the good stuff of the week. So we pulled off meeting with Kellen Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday this week. Describing all of those appointments would take too long. Suffice to say he has proven to be very sincere. He prayed Wednesday to know if what we were teaching him is true and he received the answer that it is! So on Friday he selected his baptismal date to be May 30th. We are excited. There is something to this whole "be in daily contact with the people you are teaching" thing. He has diligently been studying, going through the reading material, sincerely praying, and more. We showed him the baptismal font in the church building after church yesterday. We are meeting with him next tomorrow!

Other cool stuff. I finally committed to studying for a full hour everyday and did so this entire week. Wow... not only were we able to have one of the best weeks teaching Kellen and helping him find out the truth of our message for himself, but I also was the most diligent I have ever been in studying the scriptures and the most recent General Conference talks. A lot of the things I have wanted to change all came together in one week to produce pretty miraculous results.

I definitely have a testimony that God answers prayer. In addition to all the insights that I gained in studies this week, there was one other thing I learned at church that finally really clicked. It is from this selection of scripture in chapter 1 of the Book of Moses in Pearl of Great Price:

 8 And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered.

 9 And the presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon Moses; and Moses was left unto himself. And as he was left unto himself, he fell unto the earth.

 10 And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.

Someone mentioned at church that Moses saying "man is nothing" didn't mean that we are worthless, but that we are powerless. Our very life force and energy is given to us by God. Moses discovered that for himself as he fell to the earth. I learned that personally this week as I prayed for the ability to wake up in the morning. I had a strong desire to study yesterday during the day, though I had lots of meetings beginning at 7:30am. I wanted to wake up and be awake when the alarm went off so I could do that. I woke up literally 30 seconds before the alarm went off! It was perfect. That happened today and another time this week too. For some reason I thought that there was a direct connection with the amount of sleep I get and how awake I am in the morning (and the rest of the day). I found out there is a connection, but it isn't a perfect cause and effect.

That is because God can make up the difference. He can give us the strength to continue, the ability to wake up, and more. We can push beyond our capacities with the strength of God. That was SOOOO COOL to realize. So many times in my life I have miraculously woken up or been awake just long enough to pull everything together. There had been times in college when I woke up jut in time to make it on time to a test. I woke up without an alarm just on time with just a couple hours asleep to catch a flight to General Conference a few years ago. Over and over God has helped me be just awake enough at the right time. Finally I am recognizing that is because it is His Spirit that enables me to work and live every day! I have heard and agree that when we are in the hereafter, we will be humbled by the amount that God's hand was in our lives without us recognizing it.

--> Also, Jen made it to church with us this week and has been growing a lot.

Have an awesome week! I hope this email finds you well. :)

Sincerely,
Elder Jeff Campbell

CO Fort Collins Mission
500 Hillspire Dr
Windsor, CO 80550


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