D&C 20:10-12

10 And thy brother Oliver shall continue in bearing my name before the world, and also to the church. And he shall not suppose that he can say enough in my cause; and lo, I am with him to the end.

11 In me he shall have glory, and not of himself, whether in weakness or in strength, whether in bonds or free;

12 And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night. And I will give unto him strength such as is not known among men.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Another Lengthy Sermon

Today I received an email from my brother. It reads as follows, '' so i know this is short, but we're doing a strike, you need to not give a sermon every time. I love you, but, i want to know stuff that happens, so yeah. love you''

Hmm, 'I love you, but I want to know stuff that happens...'   Ouch. 'You need to not give a sermon every time'  Ouch again.

First off, sorry guys! My excuse is this. My testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is deepening every day. I feel his love, power, and glory more every day. I share that love with those that I meet, with whom I talk, and with those that I serve. I feel a desire to help all of you understand and feel what I feel. I want everybody to convert to the gospel as I have. Just as the sons of Mosiah did, 'even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble.'    

...Wait a second, isn't that what my brother got tired of? 
Sorry...

This week went really well! We have seen many miracles, large and small. Elder S and I have both been working harder to help rebuild our relationships with the members. We've been working, and now we've been seeing the results of our labor.

Our investigators have started to progress!! The last 2 weeks have been turning points in my mission, and in my life. There has been a direct correlation between my renewed faith and testimony (Don't worry, I never lost either, but I have grown a lot in these 2 weeks.) and the progress they have been making. Many have finally started to read the Book of Mormon, and today we set a baptismal date on a man that we met last week. Pray for R, he wants to change his life. (23rd of August)  and we have found several new families recently.

--Here is the story,
We showed up to R's house this morning (having changed our P-day to tomorrow--We still email today though--) and we begin to talk. We tell him that we are going to watch a video, and we plug in the Flash drive to his TV, and briefly go over the principals of the restoration. However, every moment that we pause, he starts talking about the atrocities committed in the name of God by various religions in history. We watch the video of the Restoration together, and he continues talking through the ENTIRE video. It was a little frustrating, so say the least. Right after the video ended, he said ''Yeah, I believe your church to be true''  (he studied quite extensively with the missionaries about 15 years ago).  We say, ''R, will you fix your life up and follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?   ''Absolutely!'' 

We sat there, stunned for a moment, and then he started making plans how to quit drinking and smoking so that he could be addiction free for his baptism.

So, that was a bit of a miracle.

This week we cleaned our apartment, and now it is probably the cleanest in the mission. And we got an old TV from a member that didn't want it. Watching the Restoration is a lot more comfortable on a 20'' screen than a 6'' screen, haha.

I have been eating super healthily again, and I feel amazing! Renewed in body and soul! Fresh fruits and vegetables are delicious here, I really lucked out on the food department with my mission call.

We did another musical number this week at church. Did we do well? I believe so. The list for eating appointments was twice as full as the last couple of weeks, and meal appointment numbers don't lie. 

We'll be getting our transfer calls this week. I'm fairly sure that Elder S will leave. Maybe I'll be a senior comp? 

Speaking of senior, I just passed a year in the mission, and I am still going strong. In fact, I am the strongest that I have ever been. My spanish is rockin', my knowledge and application of the gospel is deeper and more meaningful to me than ever, and we are teaching of ton of Gypsies. It seriously is a lot of fun to be a missionary.

However, now I kind of need to start deciding where to go to school... Any suggestions? My patriarchal blessing tells me that during my mission I will be able to decide on several of these big decisions in my life. So, I just need to put in my part, and the Lord will do the rest.

This week was awesome, and I hope you enjoy your time in the states and around the world as much as I enjoy my time here.

Os quiero mucho! 
Que Dios os bendiga!  (Oh no!! I'm turning evangelical! Haha;)   )
Elder Oliver

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