Monday, January 20, 2025 10:59am
Whoa, that was fast. It's already Monday again.
First big thing I can remember is that we have bikes now. My bike might be for children... but uh, it's missing a gear or two, and whenever I change the gear, it has like a 20% chance of making the chain fall off. But I've missed biking, I don't think I have touched a bike in years. And it does cut our travel time into a fraction of what it was before.
A lot of our friends are being reluctant to attend church, which is pretty silly. God literally promises you with food, work, (their specific needs) and a heckin ton of other blessings for keeping the commandments. But they're just like, "Nah." The only nonmembers we have at church are the ones that the members bring, which is actually super awesome. People are a lot more likely to be baptized when their friend invites them, so if you guys would wanna help out the missionaries in your area, pray to know who you can reach out to, and don't postpone your prompting!
I also had an opportunity to practice self defense, for anyone wanting some more action. Remember that dog I mentioned last week? Well, if we ever thought he might have been friendly, he is not.
In the evening, we were riding our bikes through a street close to the one we found him the first time, when we see a couple of dogs outside of their fences. Not a great sign. But most of them were chill. It was the one we didn't see that was the problem.
This dog is a very dark gray color, so we can't see him very well at night. I just heard my companion making typical 'go away' sounds. Somehow, it left him alone, and came for me. I started to yell at the dog, but that seemed to convince it I might be a good snack. It started biting my pants while we were flying down the road at 18mph.
So, naturally, I kicked it in the face. It was not deterred, so I kicked it again. Coming in to attack a third time, I was able to get a solid thump, and it finally left me alone. It was sort of a highlight; I'm not really liking the dogs here.
On that note, I read a really cool talk called The Missionary Purification by Elder Gene R.Cook. Whether you are a missionary, or a normal person, it is crucial to as the prophet says, have "the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost." Elder Gene R. Cook talks of an expirience he had on his mission, that taught him how to purify himself.
He simply wrote a list of all the things he did or thought that might drive away or distract from the Spirit. Then he prayed to ask for help and promise God that he would fast 40 days from those thoughts or actions. Every day, he would go down the list to see how he did, to repent and pray for more strength the next day.
The effect it had at the end of the 40 days was that his habits changed, and he had been sanctified from the desire to think and do unnecessary and was more sensitive to the Spirit during lessons, and they baptized like, 16 people in that month, which was not normal for his mission.
Obviously, if you are not a missionary, there are plenty of other things that you are doing, worrying about, and all kinds daily tasks that require your time and effort. But the more we try to feel and listen to the Spirit, the more we will recognize what we were missing before!
A lot of the things I found personally weren't 'bad' things, they just weren't things I needed to focus on, and stop me from paying attention to the promptings of the Spirit. I love that whenever we take the time and earnestly seek to #HearHim, we can undoubtedly feel the Spirit. God promises that whoever seeks shall find. He also promises to him that recieves, will He give more. When we show God we are ready to listen and obey, He will give us more opportunities to hear and to serve because He trusts us to pay attention to His efforts to communicate with us.
Therefore, I would exhort you to reflect on how you can feel the spirit, and pay attention to what you might learn. Remember, every good thing(thought) comes from God! (Which would make those promptings, right?)
Okay, I love you, bye bye!
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