Yuvienco was sick on Wednesday. It was tough because there's not much to do otherwise but I was able to stay productive. I did a lot of cleaning, and studying the scriptures, Saints Vol III, and Jesus the Christ. It was a nice day to kind of slow down instead of being out and about all the time.
We also had a zone conference this week, which is always good. One of the big messages was enjoying the work. President talked about the difference between joy and happiness. I feel like joy is a deeper, inner feeling. It can be felt in times of hardship. It means being with Christ. I think happiness is more fleeting, and more in the moment. Both are good, but joy is more constant. Happiness is like eating a burrito, but joy is like feeling the love of Christ.
We also had Exchanges this week. On Friday, I went on exchanges with Elder Hull. We did a lot of finding, without much success, but we had a "One more door" experience. It was nearing the end of the day, but we just kept on visiting people and knocking doors. That's when we met Edgar. Had a good conversation and gave him a Book of Mormon. He's not in our boundaries, so we sent him over to some other missionaries. Not sure how he's been doing since we first contacted him, but we hope he continues to progress. Yesterday, I went on exchanges with Elder Peterson, our DL. He's a good guy and I've known him for a while (We came out on the mission together). We just had a really good conversation as we were going to and from visits about deep gospel principles. It was really fun. We also met a lot of people and set a lot of return appointments. My favorite part of the exchange was a lesson we had with one of their friends Mike. We brought a member from the ward, who he already knew from work, and it was so good. We did a whole Plan of Salvation lesson and answered a lot of his questions like "What happens to those who never have an opportunity to hear about the gospel before they die?". As we taught him about the Spirit world, he said he felt good about it and it made sense. After we taught the whole lesson, the member shared John 14:26 which says "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." After sharing it, he was talking about how we know the truth by the Holy Ghost. He told him that the Holy Ghost is bringing these things to his remembrance, because he already knew these things in the PREMORTAL life which we had just talked about! The spirit was so strong and we were all like dang. That end of the lesson was my favorite part. The whole time Mike was asking questions, marking his Book of Mormon, etc. It was really good to meet him and I hope to see him at church sometime (Us and the other Elders share the same ward).
Last night around 10pm us Elders in the 4 man apartment. thought it would be fun to sleep out on the patio. Our apartment is a small, 2 story thing, and the upstairs room has a really big patio. It was a lot of fun, and I guess it's the closest we could get to camping. That was until about 4 am when it started sprinkling. It wasn't raining very much, but the water was just building up a bit on our mattresses, pillows, and faces. We eventually decided to come back inside, but it was fun. Maybe we'll try it again, hopefully on a night when it doesn't rain. We checked it this time, but the forecast said it was a 5% chance, so we thought we would be ok. But I love being in a quad apartment with the Spanish Elders. I've been in a quad in my last 2 apartments, for the past 6 months. It's like being in "The Best 2 Years"
For my spiritual thought I wanted to share one of my favorite talks from General Conference. It's "The Imperfect Harvest" by Vern P. Stanfill. A big takeaway for me is that we do not need to be perfect in our work. I feel like I have been falling short a lot throughout my mission. And I do fall short. I am not good enough to do this work. But, we don't need to worry about being good enough because it is not our work, nor is it in our hands. God doesn't even need us to do this work, but he allows us to because of the blessings that it brings us. We just have to be sincerely trying and that is good enough for Him.
It has been a good week and I love the work. I still don't want to go out and work sometimes, but I always feel better doing it anyway. I'm trying to cherish every day and make the most out of the experience. I'm grateful again, for all of you guys and your love and support.
- Elder Wride
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