Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
This was a great week. Probably one of my favorites as a
missionary. Tuesday I had a great exchange in Loveland (I got to go back to the
Twin Peaks YSA I served in before). Wednesday was a Christmas Devotional in
Laramie followed by exchanges with Greeley til Thursday night. Christmas Day
Friday and etc topped it off.
I'll start with exchanges... It was AWESOME! :) Definitely
in the top 5 exchanges that I've been on (and I've probably been on 50 by now).
It was a nice change of pace to start Monday night with planning. We (Elder
Blackburn and myself) had a series of awesome experiences. It was so good I had
to make a video journal entry - it would have taken too long to write all of
the miracles. Haha. The short of it... After DLC we visited an awesome family
near the Trilby building. We had a great lesson and they gave us some lunch!
Then we caught a guy named David at home. He worked 7 days a week for the past
4 months with about 8 days off, but he 'happened' to be home Tuesday. Perfect Timing!
Then we drove to Firestone and I got to see Amber. Elder McConeghey and I
started teaching her last January (she hadn't been to church for a year or
two). This month she received her patriarchal blessing and is preparing to
serve a mission! Super fulfilling to know someone you served and loved and
helped is moving in the right direction! I'm excited for her. Then we taught
one of Elle's friends at her house (Dylan). Elle introduced Dylan to me at
church my last Sunday in the ward. He hadn't been taught yet. Elle invited him
over and we taught him an awesome first lesson. He gave a really sincere kneeling
prayer at the end and was willing to be baptized if this is true. We scheduled
a return appointment for the next day and Elder Blackburn with Elder Lete set
him with a baptismal date! Pumped. After dinner we went to institute and met
one of Elle's other friends named Carmen. The most fulfilling part of the day
was hearing from Elle later how good she felt being an instrument in the hands
of the Lord reaching out to her friends. I could go on and on about this day. Every
one of these experiences were pretty miraculous in their own right. It was
great seeing a handful of awesome people I served with there (like Bishop
Depew, the Turners and the Seyfi's), to serve for a day with Elder Blackburn,
and to really help people come closer to Christ.
The Christmas Devotional in Laramie was awesome. I have
really experienced the fulfillment of a promise in the scriptures recently. It
says to "treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it
shall be given you in the very hour [what to say]." My training with Elder
Snelders has been different each time. This time we spoke earlier in the
meeting and my normal segue wouldn't have worked. I praying fervently to know
what to say and I thought of an experience in the MTC I had... Haha. It worked
our awesome. I experienced the promise being fulfilled as I bore testimony
differently at each of the four as well. Each time I fervently prayed to bear
testimony in a fluid way that touches people. I related different experiences
each time, but they were all true! Moral, I am grateful for the confidence I am
receiving in that promise. It feels GREAT! :)
On the next exchanges, the best part was an appointment with
Cat. She is a member who is coming back to church. Since I expected to be teaching
her, I told Elder Noh before the meeting, "We will be teaching the second
half of the Plan of Salvation." When we got inside, Ronnette (Cat's
nonmember roommate) joined us for the first time. We have been on-and-off
working with Ronnette for the past month or two, but she hadn't joined when we
taught Cat. Because of that, after the prayer I said, "Today we will talk
about the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Haha. Elder Noh probably was confused,
but it was awesome. :) ALSO, halfway into the lesson Ronnette's fiancé Terry
joined us. It was a VERY powerful lesson of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Ronnette and Terry even allowed us to visit them again on Christmas Day (which was
awesome)! I can definitely see them growing a lot in the Gospel. I am excited
for them!
On Christmas Eve, I got to visit the Khans! That was sweet.
They are awesome and got me a few presents. :) At the end of the day, we stayed
the night with President and Sister Brown. They didn't have any family visiting
on Christmas so Elder Snelders and I got to be their family! :) They even got
us some pajama pants to wear to bed! Haha. It was definitely a blessing to
spend Christmas morning with President and Sister Brown. They are awesome! I
could definitely feel their love. Skyping my family was awesome too. I took a
cool screenshot I attached. It'll be cool to see them again in about three weeks!
For the rest of Christmas, we visited a handful of people.
We got to spend time with two or three families during their family Christmas gathering.
I am SOOOOO grateful for their hospitality on Christmas Day! One of them was
the Laymans! It was the one year anniversary. Last year on Christmas Day, the
assistants tracted into them! They have been baptized for a little more than
three months now. Who would have thought that you can find people on Christmas
Day by Tracting!
Saturday we contacted a bunch of people while helping them
shovel their walks. I really love to street contact, especially by doing service.
We simply drove looking for people who just started shoveling their snow and
stopped to shovel with them! I have found that most people won't accept you
helping them if you ask, so we just started helping. Half of the people had
friends or family that are members of the church. It was a lot of fun.
Last night, I got to wish goodbye to my amigos Elder Sell
and Elder Empey. It was surreal. They were in the same District as me in the
MTC and are enroute to their home right now! They are starting school at BYU
and BYU-I respectively on January 4th. *sigh. It is weird to know I won't see
them again as a missionary. I love them a lot! I am definitely a short-timer
here now.
I love this Gospel. I love sharing it with people. I love
telling people that the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers EVERYTHING in their life.
No matter how far gone they are or how many tragedies they have experienced,
the Atonement of Jesus Christ can heal them. It can mend broken hearts. Jesus
Christ can transform us if we let Him. While I don't understand how He suffered
for everything for billions and billions of people, I know it is true for me.
As I have sought to be healed and changed by Christ, I have been changed. I
know that I am not unique, everyone can experience this change. I have been
with many people as they sought healing by Christ and seen them change too! I know
that this is truly the most compelling work that there is!
Have a Happy New Year!
Love,
Elder Campbell :)
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