Transfers? What?

Hey folks!

We've had a crazy week this week. Lots of good stuff though.

Wednesday we pranked the other Elders back. We used our copy of their key to let ourselves into their apartment while they were at a dinner appointment, and then we unscrewed all of their lightbulbs and hid them in random places around the then-super-dark apartment (like in the fridge and microwave and under the bed). It was awesome. :)

Thursday was Thanksgiving. We went and played flag football at the neighboring ward's Turkey Bowl in the morning, then stuffed ourselves full of food for the rest of the day. We had our first meal appointment with a less active family at 11, our second one at 4 with the Bishop and his family, and ended the night with amazing dessert at a cool recent convert's house. It was an awesome day.

Friday we had a great lesson with Austin, our investigator. He told us that he's noticed that when he reads the Book of Mormon and comes to our church, he feels peace and like a weight is taken off his shoulders. But when he doesn't, and when he goes to his church, he feels anxiety and like a weight is on his shoulders. We didn't suggest it to him, he just told us. It was pretty neat, and a testimony to me that the feelings of the Spirit are real, and that anybody who is a sincere seeker of truth will feel them when they read the Book of Mormon and come to church. We think Austin knows the Gospel is true, but he doesn't know he knows it yet, and he's afraid. He's facing a lot of opposition from his family, friends, and church. He could use your prayers if you're willing.

Also on Friday, we had dinner with the Bishop and his family again. Their son Sterling who is on a mission has a friend named Jeff, and they ran into him at the store and invited him to come hang out with them. They told Sterling about it, and he told them that Jeff had been on his mind all week and that they definitely needed to try to share the Gospel with him again (he took the discussions about a year ago but it didn't go anywhere). So they had us come to dinner with them to meet Jeff. And it went super well. It turned out that me and Elder Bateman had read a lot of the same books Jeff had, and we all had similar interests, and it was just a big geek-out session. It was awesome. Afterwards Elder Bateman told us in the car that he really wants to stay another transfer in this area. Things are going really well, the work is picking up, there's a lot of people here he really loves...

And then on Saturday we got a call from President Griffin. He asked for Elder Bateman, and told him that there was going to be a small early transfer on Monday and he would be leaving the area, going to Cleveland, TN.

So Saturday and Sunday were spent packing and saying goodbyes. It has been rough, especially for Elder Bateman. Leaving an area is always hard. Missionaries kind of emotionally brace themselves for it whenever transfers roll around. Elder Bateman didn't really get the chance. He was pretty upset. We had the transfer today, and he's gone now. I was sad to see him go, I've really loved serving with him. Through all of this though, we've all felt the Spirit testifying that this really is the Lord's work and that this is His will. That's helped. But we could all use your prayers, especially Elder Bateman.

Message for the week:

We've just had Thanksgiving, and now we're officially in the Christmas season. I'd like to invite all of you to consider the real reason we have Christmas. Take time to be grateful that we have a Savior. There's a really good video that just got put out by the Church about what the world would be like if Christ was never born. I can't find the link. Just go to christmas.mormon.org and click on "Imagine A World Without a Savior." Also - there is another big video put out by the Church called "A Savior Is Born." It talks about why Jesus Christ's birth is so important to all of us and each of us. It's at the same link as the other video. All of you - go watch it! And then make sure to share it with people! On that website, you can print pass along cards with A Savior Is Born on them and you can share the video on social media. Let's all do our part to help everyone we can to "discover why" the Savior was born. :)

I love you all!

Elder Swindler


Fotos (lots of goodbyes):

1) Elder Bateman with Roger and Mayetta and their grandkids

2) Elder Bateman with Pete

3-4) Elder Bateman with Austin

5-6) Us with the Bishop and his family

 
7) Last companionship selfie :( 

8) President Griffin had Gossner milk in his fridge! Utah!! :)

The Book of Mormon

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry I didn't email last week, I ran out of time. We've had a great couple weeks though! We've got several pretty good investigators right now. We've been working a lot with Joe, Austin, and Brissa, and we've also started working with Roger and Mayetta's granddaughters who haven't been baptized (they are living with their grandparents). Teaching their grandkids is kind of crazy, it's really hard to get them to pay attention (they're 13, 12, and 7) but it's going better than we thought it would so that's good. We're really trying hard to help Austin gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. He has really been struggling with understanding that the Bible and Book of Mormon go together (not for lack of trying on our part, but Austin's mildly autistic and he has a hard time understanding things sometimes), but really he's just an extreme case of what is true for everybody - that no amount of explaining can ever substitute for a witness from the Spirit that the book is true. Brissa is pretty awesome, she's very willing to read and pray and she seems to understand really well and like what we have to say. She just hasn't made it to church in the last couple weeks and we've had our last appointment or two with her cancel, so that's kind of hard. And Joe is awesome too! A month or two ago none of us would have expected this but now he's probably our top investigator. He's come to church two weeks in a row now and he seems to be really liking it. We've got to get him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon though. He's been reading a little but not very seriously yet. We'll work on helping him understand the importance of it when we see him this week.

We actually had a pretty awesome training on the Book of Mormon last week for Zone Conference. The HUGE importance of it, how to use it more effectively in teaching and finding, how to use it more effectively in our studies and personal lives, how to help members use it more effectively in their personal and family studies and share it with their friends... Stuff like that. President Griffin always gives phenomenal trainings so it was pretty great. And we were also trained on using more professional and dignified language fitting of representatives of the Lord, instead of inappropriately casual language and slang. The three of us have been trying to stop using replacement swear words (dangit, crap, fetch, etc.) and stop overusing the word "like" and it's been really hard... Haha it's actually really funny. One of us will accidentally say something we're trying not to and the others will point it out and it's just really funny.

Random story, last week we got preached at for like an hour by a crazy guy in the ghetto who had literally just smoked marijuana. We know he did because he told us. Haha it was hilarious. My companions got videos of it and I wish I could send them but the files are too big. He was going off on all sorts of stuff and I'm not sure if he ever really got to the point he was trying to get to in the first place. Something about the Israelites... It was awesome.

We also played street basketball with a teenage kid named Chase we saw when we were out knocking on a couple doors, and ended up talking with him and his mom about the Gospel. They were pretty open to meeting with us. That was pretty cool.

One more story and then I'll get to my message. On Friday night we were super tired and we decided to go to bed without planning for the next day, even though (we found out later) all three of us had each had an impression that we should. The next day we got a call from the Bishop asking us where we were. We had totally forgotten about a super important appointment that his wife had set up with a
less-active... Then she sent us a text that sounded super angry, and we felt terrible, and she wouldn't answer her phone... It was bad. We were all freaking out. We thought we'd ruined everything. But then later she called us back, and after we apologized profusely, she just started laughing at us. Apparently what actually happened was that the text she sent was totally sarcastic and she wasn't upset at all, she was just messing with us, and then she'd left her phone on the counter and gone and run an errand. It was hugely relieving... And a valuable lesson too. And also pretty funny.

Message for the week:

Like I was saying, the Book of Mormon is awesome. It can have a powerful effect in our lives if we will make consistent and prayerful use of it. I'd like to suggest something that President Griffin - and Nephi too - suggested to us to try as we study the Book of Mormon. In 1 Nephi 19:23, Nephi writes:

"...for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning."

Also consider the words of the prophet Joseph Smith concerning the Book of Mormon in the introduction to the book:

"I told the brethren that ... a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

If you want to strengthen your relationship with Christ, if you want to be closer to Him and experience the changing power of the Atonement in your life, I challenge you to join me in taking Nephi's challenge to "liken" the scriptures to yourself. Get yourself a fresh copy (just talk to any missionary or a member of your bishopric), start reading (prayerfully!) from the beginning, and try to put yourself into the book. Put yourself in the place of each of the people in the book. Put your name where their name is. Find common ground with them or consider how their stories are like your own life's story. Apply the doctrines and principles learned to yourself and your own life and challenges. Put yourself in the book! I promise you that it will change your life.

Another thing I'd like to invite you to do comes again from the introduction to the book:

"We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5.)

"Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah."

All men. Everywhere. Does that include you and me? Yep! It doesn't matter what your circumstances are, what concerns or questions you might have, or how many times you may have done this already, this invitation and promise are extended to you. Study and ponder the Book of Mormon. Get on your knees and ask God if it's true. I promise you He will answer you. In today's crazy world we can't expect to continue onward without continually renewing and strengthening our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, His chosen prophets, His Church, and the Book of Mormon. Please try this with me. I promise you it will help you. Just try it with a sincere heart.

I love you all! Make yourselves a great week!

Elder Swindler

Pictures:

So we left the other Elders our apartment key to get something they left, and they left us a little surprise... Haha they turned everything upside down, put our mattresses in the closet and the shower, and left q tips all over the place. But what they don't know is that we made a copy of their apartment key this week... >:)

 

We were cleaning off the roof of an old couple in our ward and the leaves would not blow off the roof. It was pretty funny actually.

 Elder Milne

President and Sister Griffin. Such mustache. Much blackmail. :)

Elders Bateman, Milne, Castleberry, me, and Beard. We all wore gray suits to church (not on purpose).

Elder McRae, me, and Elder Shurtleff on p-day [Posted back in October from the mission blog]

We opened the door one morning and this random cat just walked into our apartment. And then it looked super confused, like, wait a minute, something's not right... It was so funny. We fed it milk. And then it wouldn't stop following Elder Beard. Haha!

Elder Castleberry

Me

Gotta love the South

Hmm... Seems secure.

 Selfie with Elder Beard

Video:

Elder Bateman and I getting our tracting faces on. #fierce

Trio, 6 Months, and Borrowed Light

Hey folks!

We had an awesome week! We got a third companion on Wednesday. His name's Elder Castleberry. He's from Pleasant Grove. He's been out for 23 months and he'll be going home at the end of this transfer in December. He's pretty fun and he's a great missionary, and I think this'll be a great transfer. I'm hoping to learn a lot from him. And being in a trio is a ton of fun so far, so that's good. :)

I passed my 6 month mark this week! I've officially been a missionary for 6 months! Which is so weird... The time goes so fast. It's been a great 6 months though. There's nowhere else I'd rather be, and no other work I'd rather be doing.

We were on bikes this week, which kind of stinks, but it also makes us feel way more accomplished at the end of each day (not to mention how well we sleep haha). We met with Brissa's husband Glen and he was pretty receptive to the Restoration. He's a very smart guy and he understood well. He is pretty impressed with our church so far and seems to agree with a lot of our beliefs.

We took one of the recent converts in the ward, Roger, on a team-up to see Joe, and it went pretty well. And on Sunday Roger had a great experience in Gospel Principles. It was on eternal families, and when he found out that he can be with his two sons again (one of whom passed away as a baby) he got pretty emotional. God's plan for us is truly amazing. I'm so grateful for the knowledge that I have that because of Christ I can be with my family forever.

Will you all keep praying for Mayetta? She's still struggling to stay off of cigarettes, she gave in and smoked a few over the weekend. She's doing better now but she still needs help.

My message for the week:

Consider the following quote from Heber C. Kimball:

"The time will come when no man nor woman will be able to endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided by the light within himself. …

“… If you don’t have it you will not stand; therefore seek for the testimony of Jesus and cleave to it, that when the trying time comes you may not stumble and fall."

Consider also this quote from Elder Douglas L. Calaster in the October 2007 General Conference:

"In the genius of the gospel plan, there ultimately only has to be one witness, but that witness must be you. The testimony of others may initiate and nourish the desire for faith and testimony, but eventually every individual must find out for himself. None can permanently endure on borrowed light.

"The restored gospel is not truer today than when a solitary boy walked out of the Sacred Grove in 1820. Truth has never been dependent on the number who embrace it. When Joseph left the grove, there was only one man on earth who knew the truth about God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. It is necessary, however, that each find out for himself and carry that burning testimony into the next life...

"...If you want to know...a price must be paid. And you alone must pay that price. There are proxies for ordinances, but none for the acquisition of a testimony.

"Alma spoke of his conversion in these beautiful words: “I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me” (Alma 5:46)."

In today's chaotic world with its quickly shifting moral standards and antagonism towards those who have faith, it is no longer possible for us to "endure on borrowed light." We each must have our own
testimonies of the truthfulness of the Gospel, the reality of God, and of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We must have a testimony of the restoration of His gospel and priesthood authority.
And we must have a testimony that the Prophet and Apostles who lead His Church today are indeed called and led by Jesus Christ Himself. And more than that - we must all have the faith to act on our
testimonies. It is not enough merely to know - we must do!

I challenge all of you, wherever you are with your own faith and testimony, to strengthen your testimony and exercise the faith to act on it. I suggest that you follow Alma's example of sincere and
heartfelt fasting and prayer that you might know the truthfulness of these things for yourself. And remember that there is nothing wrong with having questions, concerns, or doubts -- that is normal and okay. What is not okay is "...discard[ing] something we know to be true because of something we do not yet understand" (Neil L. Andersen, Oct 2014). Hold fast to the Old Ship Zion, as Elder Ballard has recently put it. Hold fast to the truths you have been taught by the Holy Spirit. Exercise the faith to press onward with what light you do possess, praying for and exercising faith that you will receive
further light and understanding as your Heavenly Father sees fit. I have seen this happen in my own life multiple times -- being blessed with greater understanding or answers to questions or resolutions to concerns only after I chose to continue to exercise faith in the things I have received witnesses from the Spirit are true. And I know the same will happen for you. Don't lose faith, don't abandon ship, remember the spiritual experiences you have had and the things you have been taught by the Spirit, and don't give in to distraction or disengagement. We can't afford to do that in the latter days. And if you feel you don't have a testimony -- follow Alma's example and get one! The beauty of it is that God speaks to all of us, and He does it uniquely according to our needs, because He loves and knows each one of us. You can gain a witness that He lives and that the restored gospel is true. Follow the counsel given in James 1:5, in Moroni 10:3-5, and also in the introduction to the Book of Mormon. Study it out for yourself and ask God with a sincere heart and real intent, and He will "manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost." I promise you that this is true for you, too - no matter what your circumstances or past or struggles or concerns or whatever. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen!

I love you all! The Gospel is true. Stay strong and faithful, and make yourselves a great week! :)

Love,
Elder Swindler

Picture from the mission blog taken at transfers:

Transfers!

Hey folks!

We had kind of a mixed week this week. A lot of stuff fell through, and there was a lot of wasted time (which we are repenting of this week!), but we also had some really good and exciting stuff happen. I'll focus on that stuff. :)

To start with, this upcoming week is transfers. We found out Elder Hoyt will be leaving, which is a little sad but not unexpected. Elder Bateman and I are both staying. And we also found out we'll be getting a third companion! That's crazy!! Haha we're pretty excited for that.

We had a bit of an adventure on Wednesday. We were invited by one of the young men in the ward to come with him to play dodgeball at a Baptist church in town (which a friend of his had invited him to). We were all for it. We figured it'd be maybe a couple dozen people in a little church gym and a great opportunity for us to meet some people, get some good exposure, and have some fun. No sir. We pulled up to this absolutely massive church (it was seriously bigger than my high school) and saw easily over a thousand people there. This was no mere Mutual activity, this was a full blown high school party. Loud music, dancing, immodestly dressed girls... Definitely not a good place for missionaries to be. Not to mention the looks we were getting in our white shirts and ties... Hahaha it's hilarious now but at the time we were pretty freaked out. Needless to say, we didn't play dodgeball that night.

We also went on exchanges this week, which was fun. We had our last district meeting too. And on Halloween all the missionaries got to call it a day at 4pm and basically take the night off. We played tennis with the other elders and had a great time.

Mayetta made it a whole week without smoking!! That's a huge accomplishment for her! Thank you for your prayers, and please continue praying for her. She's making huge progress. :)

We got another new investigator this week! She's a Venezuelan lady named Brissa. She just randomly showed up at the West Hills ward one week. She told the missionaries there that she'd driven past our building for years on her way to work and kept feeling like she should go sometime. She lives in our area, so one of the missionaries there went on an exchange with us to teach her the Restoration and hand her off to us. The lesson went really well. She felt the Spirit and understood. And she came to church again and had a great time. She told Elder Harris (the missionary who came with us) on Sunday that whenever she's learned more and feels like she's ready, she would like to be baptized, and she wants him to do it. Which is awesome, except he goes home this week... Haha we're going to have to try to change her mind about having him do it, but we're super excited that she's showing a desire to be baptized! We're pretty excited about her in general, actually. She is pretty awesome.

So. Message for the week. I wanted to share Elder Uchtdorf's Conference message about simplifying our discipleship, but I'm short on time and he says it better than I could. So I challenge all of you to study it with me this week (it's called "It Works Wonderfully!") and apply the following counsel from President Thomas S Monson:

"It is not enough to want to make the effort... It's in the doing, not just the thinking, that we accomplish our goals."

I love you all! The Gospel is true and the Savior lives!! Please turn to Him! I promise He will help you and heal you. Remember to simplify your discipleship and start where you are.

Make yourselves a great week!

Love,

Elder Swindler

Pictures:
1-4) Our last district meeting of the transfer. We all wore ugly ties. :)

(Featuring [from left to right]: Lengthy Lizard, Bouncing Panda, Mormon Meerkat, Wailing Walrus, Rockin' Robin, Zippy Zebra, Rolling Armadillo, and Squatting Gorilla.)

5) I wish my iPad had a better camera, this was gorgeous. The fall colors here are amazing. :)

6. Car selfie with a recent convert named John

Investigators and Bike Wrecks

Hey folks!

We had a really good week this week. We are seriously being blessed a lot with our investigators. Just 6 weeks ago we didn't really have any promising investigators but now we've got like half a dozen who are all pretty great. We had a lesson with an investigator named Joe we've been trying to have a full lesson with for awhile now, and were finally able to teach the Restoration. There were multiple places in the lesson where we were clearly led by the Spirit in what to say, and he understood really well for the first time. We're pretty excited about him now.

We also had a lesson with an investigator named Austin, who we've been meeting with for months. But this time was different. It was similar to Joe's lesson in that there were multiple places where we were clearly led by the Spirit in what we said, and for the first time ever, he began to understand what the Spirit feels like and recognized that he's been feeling it as he's met with us. Austin's a little bit autistic so he's mentally about 10-12, and he's been very concerned about going to hell for listening to us, so this is great progress. He's just become one of our top investigators. We're pretty excited about him too.

And then on Sunday Austin came to church! And not only him, but Don came too!! (Don's the guy that John introduced us to last week) Both of them had a wonderful time and really liked it, and both of them want to come back. We were super excited about that. We'll be working with both of them this week, and we're hoping to get Austin on date for baptism.

Crazy story. So on Saturday we went biking with Pete, a crazy member from Thailand who feeds us a lot and is awesome. We went on this really pretty greenway with lots of trees and autumn leaves and it was gorgeous and wonderful. But then we were going through a tunnel and Elder Bateman decided to run his hand against the wall, and he lost his balance and crashed pretty epically. Luckily he was wearing a helmet and he didn't break anything, he just got pretty scraped up and twisted his ankle. And there was a Walgreens nearby, so Pete biked to it and bought some bandages and alcohol and we cleaned him up and biked on.

But THEN, like an hour later, we were almost home when we hit a little patch of gravel, and Pete lost his balance and ate it too! And he fell into the road, and almost got hit by a car, and when he stood up his pinky finger was pointing perpendicularly away from his ring finger (shudder). So we ended up taking him to an emergency clinic and waiting for like 3 hours for the people there to do paperwork so the doctor could spend 5 minutes relocating his finger. Haha but it's all good. We definitely felt God's protection that day. Elder Bateman could have easily broken his ankle, and Pete could have been killed by a car or at least broken his finger. Instead it was all okay. :)

Quick message this week, stolen from President Griffin. At the end of our zone conference this week he stood up and shared 8 points that had come to his mind during the conference. I invite you all to consider them too:

1. Cynicism creates numbness toward life.

2. Instant gratification is counterfeit happiness.

3. Commandments/Laws/Rules help you learn.

4. You are not the exception to the rule.

5. It’s the daily little decisions in life that determine our destiny.

6. Surprise! Every missionary or member is not yet perfect.

7. You get as much out of something as you put in it.

8. Working in the Lord’s vineyard is AWESOME!!!

When considering these points, I invite you to also consider the counsel given by King Benjamin in Mosiah 4:10:

And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.

If there are things you need to change in your life - based on these points, based on what the Holy Ghost has been telling you, based on something you've learned, whatever - do it! Use the Atonement of Christ to change yourself. Repent of your sins and forsake them. Humble yourself before God and ask sincerely for His forgiveness. And if you believe all these things - do them! It's all useless if you
don't choose to use what the Lord gives you, to do what He tells you. Remember His counsel in D&C 58:27-30:

Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned.

Who am I that made man, saith the Lord, that will hold him guiltless that obeys not my commandments?

I hope you all choose to make the changes in your life the Holy Ghost directs you to make. Seek the Lord's counsel and correction. And choose happy. :) I love you all!

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen!

Love,

Elder Swindler

Fotos:
1) Elder Milne with a ginormous pancake at the bishop's storehouse

2) Bishop's storehouse roof selfie

3) Tennessee sunrise

4) Spiderwebs outside our apartment

5-8) We played tennis in the rain today and got drenched :)

And finally some photos from Sister Griffen's blog, taken on P-day and at a training:

Yeilding our Hearts unto God

Hey folks,

This week was great. :) I hope you all had as much fun as I did.

We were on bikes this week again. I never really understood how the phrase "uphill both ways" could be true until I came here... But I survived.

On Tuesday we did some service for a really cool guy in our ward named Al. We helped him start laying stone for a back patio. And we also got a really cool new investigator named Don! A recent convert named John that we work with a lot invited him to come to church with him this week, and Don had some questions about what to expect, so John invited him to come over to his house and meet with us. We answered his questions and ended up teaching him the Restoration and it was pretty amazing. It was probably the best first lesson I have ever had on my mission. The Spirit was so strong, and he understood really well, and he was excited about the Book of Mormon and promised us he'd read it... It was great. :) But then he got sick Sunday morning and couldn't come to church. Sigh... there's always opposition. But we'll try to see him again this week.

We are also going to start teaching the daughter of a recent convert (Samantha) again. The girl's name is Dominique, and she used to be a pretty promising investigator, but she wasn't able to start living the Word of Wisdom, and things just kind of petered out. But she wants to start meeting with us again, and we're going to do the 15 step program with her. She came to church this week and she signed up to feed us dinner on Friday, so that's awesome. :)

We started the 15 step program with Mayetta, and she did really well! Well, at least, up until Sunday. But that's huge progress for her, so we're still excited! We're going to keep working with her and her husband on preparing for the temple. Could you guys pray for her? Quitting smoking is very hard and she could use the help.

Church yesterday was great. John received the Aaronic Priesthood, and Samantha brought her sister Mortisha to church! And the talks in sacrament meeting were awesome. One quote I really liked was something along the lines of "God promises us that when we repent of our sins, He remembers them no more (D&C 58:42). We ought to be like our Heavenly Father and do the same thing. We must repent, leave our sins in the past, and move on, facing the future with hope."

The Lord has really blessed us with new investigators this week and it's amazing. We basically got 3 new investigators (Mortisha, Dominique, and Don) and none of them were really from anything we did. I'm feeling pretty grateful to the Lord. Thank you all for your prayers, too. :)

My message this week is based on Helaman 3:35:

"Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God."

I love this verse, and there is a lot to be learned from it. Like how fasting and praying often helps us become humble and develop strong faith. Or how humility and strength go together, and we are strongest when we are humble (see "Humility" in True to the Faith, it's a pretty awesome - and short - little section). Or how strong faith is not an abstraction or illusion but is firm and concrete and stabilizes us. But I think the most important part is the end bit: "...which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God."

Our purpose in life is to one day receive all that our Father in Heaven has to offer us. In order for us to do that we must both be cleansed from all sin and become like our Savior, becoming converted and developing His attributes. We must not only repent of our sins and be washed clean by His atonement, but we must change and grow and be made something new by His grace. At baptism we are washed clean from all sins and are spiritually reborn. We then receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, that He may be our companion and guide along our journey on the "strait and narrow path." That journey requires us to change and grow, to become like our Savior. It requires us to be not only clean, but become purified and sanctified.

And how do we become purified and sanctified? This verse teaches us that we must yield our hearts unto God. As we do this, praying and fasting oft, and waxing stronger and stronger in our humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, our souls will be filled with joy and consolation, even unto the purifying and the sanctification of our hearts.

I challenge each of you to join me in yielding your heart unto God. Pray often. Fast. Strive to become humble and increase your faith. Seek to learn His will and do it. Be willing to give up your own desires and will to do His, trusting that He has your best interests - and your eternal life - at heart. I promise you that as you yield your heart unto God throughout your life, you too will find that your hearts are filled with joy and consolation, and that they will be purified and sanctified. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,

Elder Alex Swindler

Pictures:

1) Me and Elders Bateman, Hoyt and Milne after the service project (this is the patio we started)

2 and 3) We call this hill Level 10

Chili and Conversion

Hey folks!

We had a pretty busy and crazy week this week. Monday and Tuesday morning we helped out at the bishop's storehouse in Farragut, which was fun. It was pretty cool to see how smoothly and carefully and precisely things are run there. It was pretty different from the food pantry I helped at back in Rockwood. The Rockwood one was still good, it was just a lot less orderly.

We had another visit with Roger and Mayetta and it went really well. We felt like we should work with them to help them prepare to go to the temple together. Mayetta has been struggling with the Word of Wisdom, and in the lesson both of us felt prompted to bring up the 15-step program and invite her to try it again (she tried it once before and was able to quit, but she fell back into old ways). She agreed, and she told us at the end of the lesson that before we came she had been praying for help quitting. She felt like our invitation was the answer to her prayers. I thought that was pretty cool. :)

One of the perks of having two major hospitals in your area is that you get asked to give a lot of priesthood blessings. This week we got to give two blessings to members from other areas in the mission. Both were pretty cool experiences. The first one was for a member in the ICU. It took us three attempts on three different days to finally get in to see her (we kept missing the visiting hours and catching her asleep). When we finally did manage to come at the right time, her family was there and we were able to talk with them and help them before giving her the blessing. It was a really amazing and spiritual experience and it wouldn't have happened if we hadn't been unable to give her the blessing those first two times. Heavenly Father does know what he's doing. :)

The second one was less of a cool story but was just as powerful. It was an older lady who had had an aneurysm and was feeling pretty down. We got to talk with her for like an hour and it really lifted her spirits. And the Spirit was very strong there as we gave her the blessing. It was great. :)

On Friday we ended up having two dinner appointments. The first one was with a family in the ward who live super far away from us, and we were super low on miles this week so we called them and left a message cancelling the appointment because we just weren't going to be able to make it. And then, after we'd already made an appointment with another member for the same night, they called back and told us they'd found us a ride. Both of the members really wanted us to come, and we didn't want to hurt their feelings, so we decided to go to both.

The first member we ate with fed us chili. He is notorious for feeding the missionaries tons of food, and he certainly lived up to his reputation that night. Granted, the chili was possibly the best I have ever had in my life (it was hickory smoked, oh my goodness), but I have never eaten so much chili in one sitting in my life. I thought I was gonna pop. And then, guess what the next member fed us? Chili. I hope I don't eat chili again for at least a month.... :P

My message for the week has to do with conversion. Consider these quotes from Elder Dallin H. Oaks' Oct 2000 talk "The Challenge to Become" (which is an awesome talk, and if you get time this week, I invite all of you to study it):

'From such teachings we conclude that the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.

'...Jesus’ challenge shows that the conversion He required for those who would enter the kingdom of heaven (see Matt. 18:3) was far more than just being converted to testify to the truthfulness of the gospel. To testify is to know and to declare. The gospel challenges us to be “converted,” which requires us to do and to become. If any of us relies solely upon our knowledge and testimony of the gospel, we are in the same position as the blessed but still unfinished Apostles whom Jesus challenged to be “converted.”

'...Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.'

It is not enough for us to simply know that the Gospel is true. The Gospel is a pathway, a way of life that changes our very being if we will allow it. Consider Nephi's words (from 2 Ne 31:17-20):

'...For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

'And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son...

'And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

'Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.'

It is essential that we not only enter the gate to the pathway of eternal life, but that we continue on that path. Otherwise we will never reach our destination. We must not only do the things we're supposed to do, we must become the people we are supposed to become. We must become like our Savior in order to receive all that He desires to give us. We must be converted.

The Savior knows this is too much for us to do on our own. That's why He wrought His Atonement to enable us to repent and do things beyond our capabilities, and that's why He gives us the Gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism to guide us along our path.

I challenge all of you to join me in actively choosing to become more like the Savior. Study His life and example. Pray and ask the Lord "What lack I yet?" (see https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/what-lack-i-yet?lang=eng) and choose to make the changes you feel prompted to make. Consider D&C 58:26-28:

'For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

'Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

'For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.'

I challenge each of you to use your agency to become more like the Savior. Humbly ask the Lord what you need to change, and then make the change! I promise you that as you do this He will help you. His grace is sufficient for you. (Ether 12:27)

I love you all!! Make yourselves a great week!

Elder Swindler

 

Pictures:

 

1) Chili and Pot

Post-chili selfie (round one of chili)

 

Spotted in an apartment complex

 

2) Cats

The fattest house cat I have ever seen

The largest house cat I have ever seen

 

 Videos:

1) FOR NARNIA!!

 

2) FOR GONDOR!!