Elder Mitchell's Mission to Tennessee: Be a Light!

Buenos!!!

Oh my, what a week it has been! There's been a lot that's happened this week, so buckle up, this email will be LONG. First off, our p-day this week was changed to Wednesday, because we had a half-mission conference with Elder Brent H. Nielson of the 70! (Who is the director of the church missionary department). But before the conference, we had a pretty crazy week. This week we have seen a lot of negatives, and it would have been really easy for us to only focus on those. The week before, Elder C was sick, and then this week I got it, so that was fun. Plus, we have really been struggling to find new people to teach lately (you'd be surprised how many people aren't willing to watch a two minute video about Christ/accept a 2''x3'' Christmas card). But, between all the struggles, the Lord is really blessing us with little miracles!

We are still continuing to meet with J, and it's been...interesting. He brought up that since he started meeting with us, his seizures have been getting worse, and there's just been a lot more opposition in his life. We also noticed that he had been drinking/smoking this last week, so we felt like we needed to move ahead and teach him about the word of wisdom. It was a disaster. He definitely did not accept it very well, and I thought, "Well why would God have prompted us to do that?" We went back a few days later, and it was much better. After teaching him the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson, he told us, "You know, I've been thinking a lot about what y'all said the other day, and y'all are right. Next time y'all come over, we'll make a big ol' fire and we'll burn all the stuff I got." So, tomorrow we're going to go have a campfire to get rid of all his drugs and stuff haha. Anyways, he's continuing to make steps.

Even though we've been struggling to find people from our own efforts, the Lord blessed us with two solid referrals this week! We have a teenage recent convert in our branch, C, who is just on fire with the gospel right now. This week he referred us to his friend G, and G's mom, MJ. Oh man, they are just incredible, and so prepared for the gospel. MJ has been through a lot in her life, and in our first visit with her, we just testified of the atonement and the power it can bring in our lives. It was awesome. Then, just this Monday, we taught her and Grant about the Restoration, and they loved it. The spirit was just so strong, and we committed them to be baptized on January 21st! Whoo!

The weekend got pretty crazy. Friday night, we had our branch Christmas dinner/party, and it was lots of fun! G actually came with C, and he really enjoyed it. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, we had Stake Conference, and Elder Nielson was there for that. I really enjoyed his message that right now is the best time in history to be a Latter-day Saint, ever. We have more members, missionaries, stakes, and temples than we have ever had before. He talked about how we cannot even foresee the destiny of this kingdom. He then showed a video about the growth of the church from 1830 when we started with only 6 members, to the present day when we have 16 million. It was so powerful. Elder Nielson also talked a lot about conversion, and how we need to "lay down our weapons of rebellion."

Then finally, yesterday, we had a half-mission conference with Elder and Sister Nielson, along with the Knoxville, Cumberland, Chattanooga, and Cookeville zones. I got to see lots of old friends, including Elder M and Elder R (his old trio companions). It was a fun reunion. We learned a lot from Elder Nielson. He taught us a lot about the redeeming and enabling powers of the atonement. I really loved what he said that we are never done with using either the redeeming or enabling power. We need to constantly be using them both! We also talked a lot about the best ways to find new investigators, and a lot of it was using recent converts and less-active members as referral gold-mines. We also had a great Q&A session at the end. It seemed like every time I would think of something to ask, somebody else would ask the same question! Overall, it was incredible meeting, and we learned a ton.

My ponderizer this week is Ether 6:3, "And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness." This week, I have to give a shout out to our branch mission leader, Bro. E. One afternoon this week we were doing some tracting in a neighborhood not too far from J's trailer. The street we were on was at the top of the hill, and from there we could look down and see J's trailer. Well, as we looked, we noticed someone outside talking to Johnny, and we recognized that it was indeed Bro. E. Bro. E also had an open pair of scriptures, and we could tell that he and J were reading together, and E was expounding the scriptures, helping J to understand them. Wow. I can't say enough about this, it was awesome. Here was a member that saw a need, a person who needs help, and who went out of his way and did it. Not because the missionaries asked him to. Not because the bishop/branch president/other church leader asked him to. He simply went and did it. The Lord is preparing all of us to be lights to our fellow brothers and sisters so that they will not cross the great waters of life in darkness. I invite you all to ponder this, and think about how you can be a light to someone who needs the gospel in their life. Then, go out and do it. Don't wait for your bishop/leaders or anyone else to ask you, just go find it, and do it! Light the world! I love you all so much, and I apologize for the ridiculous length of this email. I hope y'all have an incredible week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell