Always Remember Him

He got me a present for my birthday :)

Buenos!

It was another solid week here in Dalton, lots of up and downs. We weren't able to meet with a lot of our top investigators this week, but the biggest success this week was with less-actives. This week we were able to visit with 12 less-active families, which was over double our original goal for the week! Another great thing from this week was the member help. This week we either had lessons in member's homes, or members coming out with us every day this week! The turnaround over the last month with the members here has been incredible. There are so many good things happening here, especially now that the members are getting more involved.

One of the highlights this week was our lesson with B. We have been teaching B for the last couple weeks, but unfortunately he'll be leaving Dalton this week. He's made some poor choices in his life, but they have really humbled him. The gospel truly is changing this guy. When we first met him, he was so distraught and down on life, but now his whole countenance has changed since we've been teaching him. He has more peace in his life, he is happier, and he has kept every commitment that we've left him. This week we finished teaching him about the plan of Salvation, and it really helped him to have a sense of hope for the future. The most incredible part was B's prayer at the end. I think it was the most beautiful, simple, humble prayer I've ever heard, as B pled with Heavenly Father for forgiveness, the spirit filled the room. It was incredible. We will have one more lesson with him this week, and that'll be it, it'll be hard to say goodbye, but I'm glad I got to see the atonement work in this man's life, and I know one day B will get baptized.

My ponderizer this week is 2nd Corinthians 5:15 which says, "And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." This week as we met with our less actives, we really wanted to make sure they understood the importance of Christ's atonement and the Sacrament. When we are baptized, we make a covenant to always remember Christ and to keep his commandments. Elder Bednar taught us last March that as members of the church we have "representative agency" which means we don't really have freedom to choose any more, all of our choices should follow Christ. That's why we need the Sacrament every week. If we are going to follow Christ, we need to have that renewal of the spirit in our lives every week. There's a great video by Elder Holland called "Always remember Him" and I invite you all to go watch it! Then go share it with someone else! Hope y'all have a great week.

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Here's the link to the video

Always Remember Him

The Man, The Myth, The Lemon

Buenos!

Well, we had a pretty good week here in Dalton, it was really productive. We were able to meet with the majority of our top investigators, which was great! This week we also did a lot of contacting, trying to get back in touch with old investigators, and we had a lot of success with it. One of the big successes was that we got back in touch with A, who was progressing at one point, but then just completely dropped off the map. This week we re-shared the Restoration with him, and he still is super interested and wants to come to church next week!

One of the bitter-sweet moments of this week was Sacrament meeting. It was awesome for two reasons 1) we have been working for a while now with a less-active family, the M's, and after a lot of poking and prodding, they finally came to church yesterday! It was so awesome to see them walk in to Sacrament meeting, we were super happy for them. 2) Remember A and her husband E? We met her at like 8:55 at night, they knew the bishop's family, and they came to General Conference. Well, we were able to meet with them this week, and they came to church too! Now, the disappointing part of yesterday was that even though we had A and E at church, we should've had way more investigators there. There were two people we met with on Saturday that both told us that they would be there for sure. Then, there was another one that texted us Sunday morning an hour before church, said he was coming...and then didn't show. I thought, well, what was the difference between the people that came and those that didn't? The answer: members.

Dear members of the church, you honestly do not understand how powerful you are and how necessary it is for you to be involved in missionary work. This week, we had a member with us, the man, the myth, the Lemon: Hermano Lemon. Guess which two families we visited that night with him? The M's, and A and E. Having a member with us for those lessons was critical, and there was a powerful spirit in those lessons, in large part of Hermano Lemon's testimony backing up our teaching. The other part of this is the fellowship. After church, we had dinner with Bishop Torres and his family, they invited A and E, and we had a great lesson with them and now they are both progressing. This week we learned a powerful lesson: even if we do all we can, if we work and work and work, we might see some success. But, if we want to hasten the work, we have to have members get involved.

My ponderizer this week is Alma 56:44, 46 which says, "Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle? For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus." I cannot stress enough how important members are to this work. We saw that this week. It's not just enough for one army (the missionaries), the members have to be involved. So, if you haven't gone out with your local missionaries in a while, go! Invite your non-member friends over for dinner, and invite the missionaries too! Find ways to help this great work move along! Therefore what say ye, members of the church, will ye also go up to battle? I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell 

Last week at the aquarium

At Ruby Falls, an underground waterfall,

with his district

Movie Night!

Helping their bishop clean out his trailer

at the local landfill

Buenos!

I don't have much time to write today, we went to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga for P-day today, so we've been busy all day. But, we had a pretty good week here in Dalton. This week, we were able to meet with E a couple times. He decided that he wanted to drop his baptism date. He still wants to keep learning, and eventually be baptized, but he was feeling a little bit of pressure about it, so he just wants to keep learning before he makes a decision. We also met with H this week, had a good lesson, and he told us that he knows the Book of Mormon is the word of God! Now we just have to get him to come to church, but he's doing really well!

Highlight of the week was definitely our ward activity on Saturday. We had a movie night at the church, and we watched "Meet the Mormons." Our members did a great job, helping organize things, bringing food, but most importantly inviting their friends! We had a lot of less actives and non-members in the church, and it was a super fun night!

Other thing from this week is transfers. There are a lot of changes happening throughout the mission, and there's a giant group of missionaries coming in, so there's a ton of missionaries training as well. Elder M and I are both staying here in Dalton, and most of our district is staying the same, but, our district leader Elder P is off to go be a zone leader in Asheville. So, I got called as the new district leader. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

My ponderizer this week comes from Words of Mormon 1:7, "And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will." We don't know all things; we don't know why everything happens. But, if we are in tune, the Lord will work through us to carry out His plans and purposes. I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Movie night

More from the landfill

Hangin' out in Dalton

Visit to the Tennessee Aquarium--more pics to come!

Bro, Can We Bounce?

Buenos!

I hope you all had a great week, and that you enjoyed Conference! I thought Conference was great, but I'll get to that in a minute. First off, this week, I hit my 14-Month mark, and that was really weird. I'm beginning to feel like one of those old missionaries, especially since after this incoming transfer next week, a third of our mission will be greenies, so that'll be fun. Anyways, the work was a little hard this week. We faced some opposition and had nearly every appointment fall through, but we still worked as hard as we could, and we still had a lot of positives this week.

Although, we weren't able to see most of our main investigators this week, we were able to get in with D. We have seen a big change in her over the last few weeks. In the past when we would commit her to do things, she'd say things like, "Well, I'll try," or, "Yeah, I guess if I can." Things have turned around with her. She reads from the Book of Mormon, she prays, and now when we invite her to things, she always responds with her classic phrase, "Primeramente Dios." (God first). This Sunday D came to General Conference, and brought the rest of her family too, so that was awesome!

Despite our challenges this week, we saw a little miracle. It was late at night, and we had just gone to back-to-back missed appointments. We still wanted to salvage something out of the night, so we started trying a bunch of potentials in the area. As we did so, we felt that we weren't in the right area, so we prayed again, and felt that we needed to go try these two potentials in a part of town that I'd never been to before. Well, it was dark out, and we got lost on the way there, but we made it, and it was one of the most sketchy neighborhoods I've seen. We tried both potentials, but neither was home. Now, at this point, it was 8:55, and we needed to get home, but we decided to try one more house. We knocked, and as we waited for the door to answer, Elder M noticed a doll staring at us through the window, so that freaked us out haha. Elder M said, "I don't know if I'm feeling this house anymore, Bro, can we bounce?" Well, then the door opened, so we were stuck. We met this nice, older lady named A. We introduced ourselves, talked about what we did as missionaries, and she said she'd be interested in learning more. Then, she told us that she knew our bishop, Obispo Torres, and that she'd actually been to our church before! Well, we invited her to attend General Conference, and she came with her husband! We are really hoping we can keep working with her, she could be solid.

My ponderizer this week is Jarom 1:7 which says, "And it came to pass that they came many times against us, the Nephites, to battle. But our kings and our leaders were mighty men in the faith of the Lord; and they taught the people the ways of the Lord; wherefore, we withstood the Lamanites and swept them away out of our lands, and began to fortify our cities, or whatsoever place of our inheritance." This weekend we have had the incredible opportunity to hear from the prophets and apostles of the church. I loved this conference, I didn't have a favorite talk, but I loved lots of different parts from every talk. We have received marvelous counsel, and now it is up to us to apply the things that we have learned. As we do so, we will find the power to "sweep away" the challenges and temptations that beset us. How grateful I am for leaders who are inspired by God. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that through him the Church of Jesus Christ was restored in its fullness with prophets and apostles, and that Thomas S. Monson is our living prophet today! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. I hope y'all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell