With a Heavy Heart

     This last Sunday was a rough Sunday. The Clarksville 2nd and 3rd wards were split into three different wards. I am no longer in 3rd ward but I am in 5th ward yet I am still living around the same people when I was working in 3rd ward. When I heard the news that I would be moving it felt like someone had put duct tape on my leg, pulled it half way off and then proceed to slowly pull the rest of the tape off. That pain felt during the meeting was amplified as I made the wrong move of looking back to see faces of the people that I would not be seeing as often. Doing that just made me feel with discouragement.
     What happened next is the true moral of the story other than not putting duct tape on your unshaven legs. With a heavy heart I turned to God and asked for comfort. I didn't expect any out of the ordinary event. To tell you the truth, I didn't even know what I needed at the time but I came to find out that all I needed was word of encouragement. So I flipped open my scriptures and they fell open to Alma 4:3-4. "And so great were their afflictions that every soul had cause to mourn; and they believed that it was the judgments of God... therefore they were awakened to a remembrance of their duty. And they began to establish the church more fully; yea, and many were baptized in the waters of Sidon and were joined to the church of God..." Now I don't believe that the ward splitting was a punishment from God but I do know that it brought me to a remembrance of my duty.
      I firmly believe that as we take questions to God they will be answered with the scriptures. Overall it is about four thousand years of recorded human history in a book. Someone is bound to have a similar problem like the one you are going through. Sometimes we need to take down the walls of ‘I can do this’ and take note of how the Lord wants it done. I know that the Book of Mormon answers questions of the souls. It gives guidance and direction in our day to every day challenges. I would challenge you to take questions to the Lord and see what you can find. "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Matthew 7:8

Until You Get The Cops Called On You

     Elder Whitney and I were visiting a few people one day, like most missionaries do. Elder Whitney had had a rough night and so he asked if he could take a few minutes to nap. Well I readily agreed and so Elder Whitney reclined the passenger seat and caught a few Z's. I had nothing to do so I grabbed my Book of Mormon from my bag and started to read. I remember looking up and seeing these two girls walking pass the car. I didn't see any threat so I didn't even give a second thought of locking the doors.
     A few minutes went by and I woke Elder Whitney up.  I got out of the car thinking he will follow but that didn't exactly work out the way I had hoped. He still is in the car in that half awake groggy mode. I turn my head to have a moment to think and then this car appears out of nowhere and pulls up behind our car. I motion for him to pass but he just pulls a little closer. With the car behind me chewing at my bumper and Elder Whitney half awake I get back in the car a bit discombobulated with life. I press on the brakes and there goes the lights from the car behind... he's a cop.
       Well to cut a long story short, the cop gets out and tell us what is going on and how a lady called in and said that her daughters saw some strange people in a car when they got off the bus and wanted someone to come check it out. He goes on to ask us a few questions while at the same time using the wording "suspicious activity" many times in the questioning. Overall nothing happens to us. No ones goes to jail or anything but but a few valuable lessons were learned.
     One of  the most important lessons that I learned is that some people are afraid of what they don't know.A lot of people come up to us and tell us something like, "You Mormons worships Joseph Smith don't cha." or " Ya'll believe that you don't need the Bible because you got that Mormon book." Then when we try to explain they choose not to listen. Maybe it is preconceived notion that they don't want to let go but whatever the reason for not listening I don't know what it is. They seem to just not want to listen to us and that is OK. The person we do want them to listen to is the one who testifies the "truth of all things" and that is the Holy Ghost. It is only by the Holy Ghost can you known whether or not the Book of Mormon is true.n So I invite you to take the test and read and pray then ask if it is true and I know that the Holy Ghost will bear witness to you that it is true whether it is your first time or hundredth time. It has been the third time that I renewed my testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and just the same as lat time I know that the Book of Mormon is true.