Hi Y'all!
There isn't much to talk about this week. I got sick twice, once when my stomach hoisted the banner of rebellion and then yesterday when an elephant wearing high-heals decided to stand on my head. I mostly slept, much to the chagrin of my companion, because he became very bored very quickly. Apparently I'm at least good for entertainment value! An investigator family back in Cabot gave me a turtle that "pooped" tic-tacs on his desk. I loved it mostly because I could, and the reactions people give when they see him are really quite fun. Hence the picture of a turtle. Also, if you look just at his head he looks remarkably like that one guy on Star Wars who shouts "It's a trap!". I noticed that shortly after I quieted the belly rebellion - we had a good laugh about it.
We had another good discussion with D*** again this week. He is very set in his ways, and has a hard time seeing how our Father in Heaven does actually love his children and that keeping the commandments is the way to freedom, and not following some other unknown gods and goddesses. He has read some from the Book of Mormon, and says he can see how it relates to the Bible, but because he won't follow Christ as the Bible directs, he most likely won't because the BoM says to as well. He did commit him to pray about it though, and promised him that if he reads from the Bible and Book of Mormon and prays about it, believing he will get an answer, then he will get his answer. We are still waiting for the day when he will allow us to share with him the message of the Restoration.
We are also talking with an older gentleman J***. He is very knowledgeable about the bible and we had a very good discussion about our beliefs and the various beliefs of Christianity at large. He also is one of the few people I've met who has not only taken what we present, but has really tore into it. He took the Restoration pamphlet we left him, highlighted various parts he wanted further explanation of, underlined it, and even wrote his own thoughts off to the side of the pages about what he thought of a particular doctrine. We are only able to visit with him every other week, but we are hoping to see some fruits of this in the future.
S*** is in jail. Again. Hopefully she gets out before the decade is over. *sigh*
I think that's just about everything, so if y'all have any questions or something you want to know more about, please let me know!
Yours in Awesome
Elder Jayden Barker
Random fact for the week: Bald Eagles can swim
Spiritual thought: In 3 Nephi, chapters 3 and 4, there is a story of the Gadianton Robbers, a particularly nasty group of people who do whatevery they have to in order to get gain for themselves. At that point in time they had grown so numerous and powerful as to outnumber the righteous part of the people and held the opportunity to completely destory them. The leader of the good guys saw the threat and did several things to combat it. First he told the people to repent so that they would have the Lord's help. Second he gathered all of the people together with all of the provisions from everywhere into a single point, the strongeset and greatest city they had. Third, they did not go to battle against the Robbers, but instead waited for the Robbers to come to them.
"Now why is this important?" you might ask. Me, I'm realating the Robbers to sin or tempation. Think about the very worst torment the devil can and does throw at you on a regular basis. Got one? The Robbers are to the good guys as that thing is to you. Now to apply the three steps.
1. Repent - It's self explanitory so I will mostly skip over it for the sake of time.
2. Gather together - This mean both do all of the good that you can, and all of the good that you can. If there is anything good, uplifting, or spiritual in your life that can help you fight against your tempation, take it with you! Also, don't give anything to your ememy that he can use against you. You can also take this to mean to gather together with others who are going through the same thing as you. Let them use you for support, and do the same back.
3. Wait - The good guys in the story had gathered together enough supplies to last them for at least 7 years of seige. They were well prepared for anything. They held their possition of strength, and relied upon the Lord for aid. Hold onto what will make you strong, and discard the weak. Don't go out to fight sin, but rather fight it where you are strongest, where you are safe behind Christ's protection.
In short, stay strong, and stay where you are stong. If you are weak in an area, make that area stong. The best way to do this is through the Savior, because he knows exactly what each of us need. As Christians we need to stick together and help eachother, but we cannot do this if we don't allow Christ to help us first.
God Bless
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