Transfers and Pride

Hey folks!

So guess what? Transfer calls were on Saturday, and I found out I'm getting transferred! I have mixed feelings about it. I'm sad to leave Rockwood because there are a lot of people here that I've come to love a lot. But I'm also excited for the future. I'm looking forward to meeting new people, and coming to love them too, and seeing a new area, and serving in a new ward with a new companion. There's a lot to look forward to.

We saw Ronnie again this week, which was nice. We haven't seen him in awhile. He's not really progressing, but he likes our visits and he does learn things. We taught him about the principle of "opposition in all things" and how there are really only two choices (choosing to serve the Lord or the devil - and we can't not make a choice) from 2 Nephi 2, and it seemed like it clicked for him, at least on some level. He seemed like he liked it. He's a weird one though, hard to read and hard to teach. I will miss him though.

We had dinner with the Jennings again this week. It was great. I always look forward to going to their house. The Spirit was there, and we had a great visit, and a great discussion. And the food was awesome, as always. I was thinking about it this week and I realized they are two of the people I'm going to miss most when I leave.

Cool story actually. The Jennings are awesome about missionary work and sharing the gospel with the people in their lives. I wish all the members (including me) had their fire. :) And this week Sister Jennings told us about a lady at the nursing home where she cuts hair. The lady had a Book of Mormon on her walker, and when Sis Jennings asked her about it, she said that an elderly couple had given it to her and that she "didn't know how anyone could believe that it's not straight from the mouth of Jesus." She invited her to come to church with them one of these weeks and she agreed!

And then the next day we got a call from Pres Griffin, who told us he had a referral for us (and president never calls to give referrals, like ever, so it was definitely an important one). Apparently a senior couple in a nearby area had given a Book of Mormon to an old lady in a nursing home in our area and had been working with her a bit. Turns out it was the same lady! :) Elder L will be working with her with the new guy, and the senior couple and the Jennings will be involved too.

We also went with the youth in our ward this Wed to play volleyball and other games with a Baptist youth group, and that was fun. And I had a fantastic exchange with Elder Larson, my district leader. It was a wonderful experience and gave me a lot of hope. He's a great missionary and a true friend.

So. My message for the week:

So on Sunday there was a theme in the topics at church, and it really struck me. The theme was pride. And I am definitely guilty of pride.

I am convinced that pride, in one form or another, is the root of every sin. President Ezra Taft Benson defined pride this way:

"Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing.

"The central feature of pride is enmity--enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means 'hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.' It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us." (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 232)

I'm just going to share a bunch of quotes I liked from Chapter 18 of the book I just referenced.

“Pride does not look up to God and care about what is right. It looks sideways to man and argues who is right. …

“Pride is characterized by ‘What do I want out of life?’ rather than by ‘What would God have me do with my life?’ It is self-will as opposed to God’s will. It is the fear of man over the fear of God.

“Humility responds to God’s will--to the fear of His judgments and to the needs of those around us. To the proud, the applause of the world rings in their ears; to the humble, the applause of heaven warms their hearts.”

The proud wish God would agree with them. They aren’t interested in changing their opinions to agree with God’s.

The proud make every man their adversary by pitting their intellects, opinions, works, wealth, talents, or any other worldly measuring device against others. In the words of C. S. Lewis: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. … It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.”

Pride is a sin that can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves.

Pride is a damning sin in the true sense of that word. It limits or stops progression. (See Alma 12:10–11.) The proud are not easily taught. (See 1 Ne. 15:3, 7–11.) They won’t change their minds to accept truths, because to do so implies they have been wrong.

I also really love this scripture in Jacob 2. Today, when I read it, it seemed very pointed to me:

20 And now, my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; and those of you which have afflicted your neighbor, and persecuted him because ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it?

21 Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh? And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his commandments and glorify him forever.

And when you read that last bit, remember what God's glory is (Moses 1:39):

For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

I challenge all of you to join me in doing some soul searching. Let's all apply the counsel found in Elder Uchtdorf's fantastic talk "Lord, is it I?" and ask ourselves, and the Lord, "Lord, is it I?" Let's all strive to yield our hearts to God (Helaman 3:35), and humble ourselves, and let go of ourselves, and give ourselves to His work - loving and serving and lifting our fellow men.

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. :)

Love,

Elder Swindler

Photos:

1) Me with Ronnie :)

2) Tried pickled pig's foot this week. (It was gross)

3) Selfies from the long car ride back from dinner at the Qualls. :)

 

4) Tennessee sunset

Improvement

Hey folks!

Once again, trying for a shorter letter this week. We'll see how that goes. :)

This was a really good week. We did a lot of service. We helped out at the food pantry downtown on Tuesday and Wednesday, they needed a lot of help this week. And we helped Bro Beyer move a bunch of stuff into a storage shed. They're moving pretty soon and they're starting to get everything packed away, but they're just moving down the street so it's not too big a deal.

Also, we finally finished entering all the former investigators in our area book into the iPads. That's been a huge pain, so I'm super glad it's done now. :)

On Wednesday Phil and Marylou got married!!! :) Haha it's about time. Missionaries have been trying to get them to get married for ages, since long before I got here. At least a year. It's funny, he's super stubborn and if it's not his idea to do something or if he feels like someone else is trying to get him to do it he's not going to do it (sound familiar Mom and Dad?). When we decided to back off of the whole baptism subject and teach other, less directed-at-him lessons (that were secretly marriage-oriented, and definitely inspired by the Spirit), all of a sudden he proposed. And now they're married. This is huge progress, guys, seriously. I am so excited, in case you can't tell. :)

Also, Shasta got baptized this weekend!! :D It was great. There were a lot of people there, and it was a good experience. I think a lot of people felt the Spirit. I know I did. She asked her uncle, our ward mission leader, to baptize and confirm her. I think it was a really good experience for her family as well as for her, they have just come back to church after years of inactivity and avoiding the Church, and now they're active again and doing really well. I think this was a really good experience for them. This has been a blessing for us too, I'm grateful that we got to participate in this. Really this was such a handout blessing from the Lord, we didn't do anything to find her or even persuade her to be baptized, she just decided she was ready to be baptized and we were just there to teach her the lessons.

Lately we've really been getting in with the youth in the ward, and in the city. I didn't really realize that's what's been happening until like yesterday. Last week we played basketball with some guys downtown who are always playing on the public courts, and we've been asked to substitute teach the youth class at church for two weeks now, and a bunch of the youth have been involved with the lessons with Shasta, and on Friday we got permission to go to the Rockwood/Kingston high school football game (big rivalry, and both cities are in the ward) which was super fun, and we hung out with a bunch of the youth and met some of their friends there... We're friends with the youth now, and it's awesome. I realized yesterday that the youth have more non member friends than any of the other active members of the ward, because of school. And member referrals are the best, of all the ways missionaries find people, member referrals most often are what lead to new converts.

Crap, now it's getting long. I'll get to my message.

There is a Mormon Message I saw this week, and a line in it really got me. It's President Russell M Nelson talking:

"For the individual who is weak in the heart, fearful in the heart, be patient with yourself. Perfection comes not in this life, but in the next life. Don't demand things that are unreasonable, but demand of yourself improvement. As you let the Lord help you through that, He will make the difference. I'm so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ that allows me that kind of strength in these tumultuous times."

(http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/mens-hearts-shall-fail-them-1)

I love that. I am so hard on myself, basically always. I beat myself up over past transgressions, shortcomings and failures, and basically because day after day I am still not perfect. Elder Nelson reminds us that we must let go of perfectionism because being perfect in this life is not our job. That was Christ's. Our job is to use Christ's Atonement to become clean from our sins and to improve ourselves, and allow Him to perfect us over time.

I loved the thoughts my mission president shared in his weekly email to the missionaries this week:

The following thoughts I have compiled from one of my favorite authors Wendy Ulrich.

I would like to start by asking you each several questions: "Does God really mean it when He promises the gift of forgiveness? Is it okay to forgive ourselves? Can we afford to trust that even our most terrible sins are within His reach?"

As you ponder the above questions would you consider the following from the scriptures? 

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8:12)

"But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven." (Moroni 6:8)

"Behold , he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more ." (D&C 58:42)

And finally, here is one of the most powerful statements anywhere on the consummate power of the atonement, from President Boyd K. Packer at he November 1995 general conference of the church:

"Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and cannot fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ. When your desire is firm and you are willing to pay the "uttermost farthing" (see Matt. 5:25-26), the law of restitution is suspended. Your obligation is transferred to the Lord. He will settle your accounts. I repeat, save for the exception of the very few who defect to perdition, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. This is the promise of the atonement of Christ."

God's promise is clear and oft repeated: when we repent, He forgives.

I promise you that as you let go of perfection, forgive yourself, and allow the Lord to take your life into His hands, you will find He gives you peace and happiness in this life, and shapes your life, and you, to become like He is, and gives you Eternal Life in the world to come. That's something I'll be working on this week. I've got a lot of things I have to let go of, a lot of favorite demands I like to beat myself with. It's going to be hard to give those up to the Lord. But I've realized I need to. I challenge you to do the same. :)

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sheesh, every time I start I'm like, man, I've got nothing to write, I better start fluffing, and by the end I'm like, dang, when did this get so long?? Sorry again for the long email guys. Haha

Love you all! Make yourselves a great week!

Elder Swindler

Photos:

1) Mawwage - Phil and Marylou after the wedding :) I didn't get any pictures before she changed out of her dress, but I'm asking for some from other people, so hopefully those will come soon. Also, Phil cried when she was walking down the aisle (he seems gruff and rough and cantankerous and grumpy on the outside but he's secretly a sweet old teddy bear on the inside. I love him). And typical of them, instead of "I do," he said "Yes, ma'am" and she said "...yeah, I will." Haha :)

2) Baptism - Elder Livingston and I with Shasta and a bunch of the youth after Shasta's baptism. :)

3) Bae - Elder Udy borrowed my iPad. :)

Grace

Hey folks!

 

Sorry this is a day late, we had a crazy p-day yesterday and I didn't get to send it before the end of the day.

 

I'm gonna try for a shorter email again this week, so bear with me. Hopefully it works out. :)

Man, the time goes fast. I hit my 4 month mark yesterday. That's crazy!

This week was good! I'm doing better with Elder Livingston, we're learning to work together better, and I'm learning to really love the guy. He's a good missionary, he really cares about people and he's a hard worker. He's also good at reading people, and making decisions. I think I just needed to learn to see him better, if that makes sense. I think we're both learning to see each other better.

We had a lot of appointments fall through this week, which was dumb. But we still saw some people and got a lot done. We saw the Jennings, who are still doing awesome. They're like my favorite people here. And it's so amazing to see how much the Atonement has impacted their lives. They have come so far in the past year, it blows my mind. (Bro Jennings is a recent convert of like 6 months and Sis Jennings came out of inactivity around when he was baptized)

We saw Wanda too. She's still not coming to church, but she still loves meeting with us and loves the lessons. I don't think she really sees the need to change yet, or maybe she doesn't want to see it. We think she needs fellowshipping most right now. Why would she come to a church where she doesn't know hardly anybody and has no friends? We want to start bringing a lot of team ups to see her. Even if people believe the Gospel and the Church are true, they need friends and a support system if they are going to change their life and join the church.

Wanda could use some prayers though, her health isn't super good. It makes it hard for her to plan to meet with us, and to read what we assign, and to come to church... But it is improving, so that's good. :)

Austin is still doing awesome. And Shasta, the girl I mentioned last week that wants to get baptized, is doing awesome too. Her baptism is scheduled for this Saturday. We're super excited for her.

Sis Madden and Phil are getting married this week!!! I'm so happy!! :D

We had a fantastic fast & testimony meeting yesterday. It was very centered on Christ and the Atonement, and the Spirit was strong, and there seriously wasn't a single break. People were lining up at the pulpit. It was definitely led by the Spirit. I know I learned things I really needed to hear, and so did the other people I asked. And the other elders had investigators come this week, so that was perfect. :)

Funny story from this week. So on Friday night I was twirling my glasses, and all of a sudden the glasses just fell off of the earpiece! The hinge just broke, I guess.. But hey, it's all good, I still have a spare, right? Think again. The next night I was wearing the spare pair (which have the exact same frames), and I reached up to adjust them a little bit, and I heard a little pop. Ah crap. I took them off, and guess what? The hinge broke and the earpiece fell off! Gaaahh!! Haha that's both pairs in two days. :P Heads up Mom, I'll be sending them home for a repair this week. And I duct taped my backup pair, so I'm good for now. :) #hickfix

Message for the week:

I've been thinking a lot about the Atonement in the past couple days. One important part of the Atonement is Grace. It strikes me as important that grace is an enabling power. Grace is not a power that does things for us. Noah is a great example. The bible teaches us that "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8). But Noah still had to cry repentance to the people, and build an ark, and get the animals. Noah still had to do work. Grace didn't take away his problems or do the work for him. The grace of God enabled Noah to succeed, but he still had to exercise faith and act.

Something that stood out to me in the fast and testimony meeting yesterday was that the power of the Atonement is overwhelming. It is beyond our ability to even begin to comprehend. And something else that has been on my mind lately is that God knows you, loves you, and wants to help you be happy.

No matter what you are going through, I promise you that if you will rely on God, and trust in the overwhelming power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, you will overcome and will be better for it. Remember that Christ isn't necessarily going to take your burden away from you and do it all for you. He teaches in Matthew 11:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

"For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Christ does not promise to take your burdens away from you. He asks you to take upon you His yoke, and let Him pull with you. He promises that if you will start to pull with Him, you will find that your burdens are made light and easy to bear, because they become His burdens too. You will find that His grace enables you to pull loads beyond your ability to pull, when your strength is completely gone and you don't know how you are still going. You still have to pull. Noah still had to build the ark. But you'll find you are able to, because Christ is shouldering your load alongside you. :)

My challenge to each of you is to turn to the Savior, with whatever you are going through right now, and choose to let Him pull with you. Take His yoke upon you, and let Him pull your load with you. I promise you that His promises are true. You will find that His yoke is easy and His burden is light, and you will find rest unto your soul.

You may not always be able to see Him pulling alongside you, and guiding your path. You may at times feel abandoned, lost, confused. But He is never far away. Hold to the rod, as Nephi and Lehi put it, which is the word of God, and you will be safely guided through. Be patient and keep pulling with faith, and I promise that you will see His hand revealed, and you will look back and realize that He really was pulling alongside you the whole time, and leading you safely through.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen! :)

Whoo! It's only... Like just as long as the other emails. Haha dangit. :P I'll keep trying next week. Sorry guys!

I love you all! The Gospel is true. Make yourselves a great week. And try to make a great week for the people around you too. :)

Love,

Elder Swindler

Fear of Man

Hey folks!

Had a great week this week. I feel like I'm starting to adjust well to being with Elder Livingston. He's a good missionary and fun to serve with. :)

So I'm trying to start writing shorter emails, because super long emails are fun for nobody. So if this email ends up being way shorter than the other ones usually are (hopefully it does), don't worry, it's on purpose :)

Major events this week:

We had a combined zone training with the Chattanooga zone in Athens on Thursday! It was really cool. I got to see Elders Merrill, Nelson, and Galaviz again! Merrill and Galaviz are both in Chat zone, and Nelson's area is closer to Athens than to Asheville (where his zone conference was), so they were all there. That was sweet. At the conference we got the Area Book Planner app, and we've started using it since then. Right now we're putting all of our paper records from our area book into the app, which is a pain, but it's going to be a huge help. Paper area books are a pain in the butt, they're always a mess, and if missionaries even keep it up to date, a lot of the time the handwriting is super hard to read anyway. So I'm loving that. The planner part of it though is kind of a pain, it takes a whole lot longer to pull out my iPad and make an appointment than it does to just whip out the paper planner and write it down. I wish we could keep using the paper planners and just transfer the stuff to the iPads, but they won't give us more paper ones :( So I guess I'll have to just adjust. Haha

We also got these black boxes in our cars called "Tiwi" boxes ("Teenage I-Witness"). They track our driving and keep us from speeding or driving aggressively. (Siiiigh...) I was thinking that President Griffin would start getting inundated with emails like "Elder So-and-so was going 51 in a 50" as soon as they put them in, but they're actually pretty forgiving. You can go like 5 over before it does anything, and then it just warns you to "watch your speed" (using Hal 9000's voice, btw) and if you slow down, it doesn't penalize you. So that's nice. But it's still obnoxious. :P

President Griffin gave an awesome training on the Sacrament. That's something that's being talked about a lot lately, at least around here. The Sacrament, Sacrament meeting, keeping the Sabbath Day holy... I think the first presidency is trying to change the culture of the Church, and the attitude towards Sunday, church, and especially sacrament meeting and the sacrament. The sacrament is incredibly sacred, and we need to keep it that way. It is the only ordinance we do for ourselves more than once. And I've heard it said that sacrament meeting is the most sacred and important meeting in the Church.

This week we also got a new ward mission leader! I don't remember if I mentioned it last week, because I'm not sure if it was this Sun or last Sun that he was called, but we definitely started meeting with him this week. His name is Bro Mioduski (pronounced mih-DO-ski), and so far he seems really eager to get involved. Which is awesome. As much as I love our last ward mission leader, he didn't really do anything. :P

Aaah! It's getting long already! I'll hurry and finish!

We got haircuts from Sis Woods. Elder Livingston told her she could go a little shorter on the top, and then he heard "NEEEAAARRRRRWWW" and saw a ton of hair falling... It's like, military short now :) He wasn't too happy about it at first (he was nice to her anyway though) but honestly it looks good, and I think it's starting to grow on him (pun totally intended).

Oh, also. So there's this girl in the ward named Shasta. Both of us thought she was a member, but I guess she's not. She's a youth, and her family came back out of inactivity around the same time I got here, and they've all been coming regularly ever since, and she's been making friends with the other youth, and even coming to early morning seminary. She was just never baptized. On Sunday Bro Mioduski came up to us and told us, "Hey, so, Shasta wants to get baptized, and she lives in Rockwood, so you guys will be the ones teaching her. So let's get that set up." And we were both like WHAT??? That seriously does not happen. People never just come up to us completely ready to be baptized. It's pretty amazing. We told her there are 5 lessons, and she came back to us an hour later with a piece of paper with 5 dates and times listed and at the bottom "Baptism - Sep. 12." It's crazy! 

Phil and Marylou are getting married next week. And Wanda is progressing really well! We had a great lesson with her this week, answered a lot of her questions. :) She has Word of Wisdom struggles though, and I don't know if she's quite ready to change yet, but she is so ready. She loves everything we've taught so far (Plan of Salvation and Restoration), especially eternal families. So that's cool.

Also we went to early morning seminary this morning. :) That was really fun.

I'll share a quick thought from my week.

Lately I've been working on conquering my fear of man. For a lot of my life I have kind of gone with the flow. I've grown up around friends with high moral standards, and whenever a situation started to get sketchy, or we weren't really doing the right things, or whatever, I could almost always count on someone else to stand up and say something.

Heber C. Kimball said the following:

“… To meet the difficulties that are coming, it will be necessary for you to have a knowledge of the truth of this work for yourself. The difficulties will be of such a character that the man or woman who does not possess his personal knowledge or witness will fall. … The time will come when no man or woman will be able to stand on borrowed light. Each of you will have to be guided by the light within himself [or herself]."

I think the principle taught here applies not only to gaining a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, but of being true to that testimony. I also believe that time is now. None of us can expect to make it on borrowed light. We cannot rely wholly on borrowed light and expect to be safe. We must have our own light, and act on it. We must not only believe, and pray, and study, we must stand up and act, like Captain Moroni in the Book of Mormon.

In Doctrine and Covenants 3:7-8, the Lord gives the following counsel:

"For, behold, you should not have feared man more than God. Although men set at naught the counsels of God, and despise his words--

"Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; and he would have been with you in every time of trouble."

The Lord's chastisement in these verses has lately started to sting me. I felt guilty because I am afraid of what other people will think of me, and that sometimes keeps me from standing up for righteousness, honesty, obedience, and truth. I felt discouraged. But today, when I was reading it again, I realized for the first time that this chastisement was directed at Joseph Smith. The very prophet of the Restoration struggled with the same thing! That gave me hope that I can change. And then I saw verse 10:

"But remember, God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work"

God truly is merciful. If I will repent, and do my best to stand up and be faithful, He will "extend His arm and support me."

And He will do the same for you!

If you, like me, want to do the right thing but are at times held back by a fear of man, a fear of standing up and taking action, there is hope for you! You are in good company. Even Joseph Smith struggled with fearing man.

I promise you that as you follow the counsel of the Lord to repent, seek His forgiveness, and begin to do your best to be faithful, you will discover for yourself the reality of the power of Christ's Atonement. He can not only take away your sins and failures and shortcomings, but His grace can enable you to overcome your weaknesses and become strong. He can lift you up, sustain you, protect you, strengthen you, comfort you, do anything you need. All He asks is that you try, and have faith in Him.

That's my challenge to you. :) In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

(Dangit, this turned out super long again... Sorry everybody!)

Love,

Elder Swindler

Fotos:

1)  I caught a rooster!!

2) Rockwood Reunion :)

3) Missionary action shot (after the zone conference we went to a member's house in Athens with a bunch of other missionaries)

4)  2) Just a regular day in Rockwood :) (This is like the third or fourth time I've seen the cops come to our neighbors' house since I've been here haha) 

5) The Ball family (members here) has birds. Lots of them. This one was gorgeous though, and super friendly. :)

They also have like 9000 dogs. When they opened the door for us to come in it was like opening floodgates to a river of dogs...

6) We found an old abandoned firetruck! I thought it was so cool!

Another week in Tennessee

Hey folks!

It's been another week. :) I hope you're all doing well. I had a pretty good week this week. The work is going well, I'm learning to work with Elder Livingston, and we're both having a lot of fun.

 

Tuesday we saw Ronnie. He didn't come to church last week even though he said he would, but he felt really bad about it. He told us that something came up last-minute with his daughter and he had to go help her instead of coming. But then he didn't come yesterday either, so I don't know what happened. I hope he starts keeping his commitments better, I don't want to drop him :/

 

We also saw the Jennings, who are doing awesome. :) Brother Jennings is progressing towards receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood, which is fantastic. We shared some thoughts from Alma 26:14-15 and 2 Nephi 31:19-20 (see the end of this email).

 

Wednesday we had 2 of our 4 appointments fall through, but we ended up seeing different people in place of the ones who fell through, so it worked out. We saw the Brumleys, a part member family we haven't seen in like a month or two. Bro Brumley is a member, and he's a country singer in a band called High Brass. Their album is coming out really soon. And his wife is really cool and really nice. We want to start working with them every week if we can.

 

We saw Raymond and Tammy, and they sort of dropped us. They like the Book of Mormon, and they want to keep meeting with us, but they like the church they're going to and they want to stay there. I don't think they really understand the significance of the Book of Mormon. But we'll keep working with them, we think there's hope.

 

We ate dinner with Phil and Sister Madden, but didn't have time to share a lesson. We both had to be somewhere. But then our appointment fell through. So instead we visited an "eternigator" family, the Ishams. They're awesome, I really like them. They've been investigators for like a year or more I think. Bro Isham studies the Book of Mormon a lot, he even has a big chart of BOM scriptures about the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I don't think he really fully understands the significance of the BOM either though. We are hoping to get him studying to find out if the book is true, and get them on date for baptism.

 

Thursday we visited Austin/the Williams. Theu fed us, and then they wanted to play Bible Trivia with us, so we did that (I totally won). And they're doing really well, physically and spiritually. Sis Williams is recovering well from her illness, and all three of them seem to be growing stronger spiritually and coming unto Christ. Austin really wants to get baptized. And he met with President Griffin briefly on Sunday, and Pres G is really confident that we'll be able to set a date soon, so that's awesome! :) He just needs to confirm with some higher-ups. 

 

Friday was district meeting, which was fun. And afterwards we got to see Brad and Martha. I feel like they are progressing still, but it's definitely slow. Brad is still reading from the Book of Mormon. He still hasn't really prayed to find out if it's true though. I think he's afraid of the answer he'll get - he doesn't really want to change, it's uncomfortable. At least that's what I think. But we'll keep working with them, I think it'll happen. :)

 

We also got to see the Weavers, a cute investigator family we've taught just once because they're super busy. Bro and Sis Weaver are both awesome, and their daughter is adorable. Bro Weaver used to make duck calls for Duck Commander, which is really cool. And Sis Weaver is really intelligent, she actually did the reading we assigned her and had questions about who was making the comments in the narrative (we taught her about Mormon). 

 

Saturday we saw Wanda and taught her the Restoration with Bro Kelly (the whole thing - last time we only got through half). She loves our visits but was definitely a little taken aback by the idea of another prophet. But she's willing to read the Book of Mormon, and she is not only willing but wants to ponder and pray about this for herself. So that's awesome.

 

Yesterday President Griffin came and spoke in our sacrament meeting, and it was super good. After church we went to a birthday party for the brother of a couple of members of the ward (they invited us). The food was delicious, especially the lemon meringue pie. And then after that we went to another birthday party for another ward member, and got fed again. Aaaand then we went home and crashed. :P

 

Anyway. That was our week. :)

 

I have a funny story and some random stuff and then I'll be done. Sorry this is so long.

 

So this girl who either lives or was staying next door to us (not sure - she's been hanging around with the people there for at least a week or two but she disappeared a day or two ago) sent a couple of the little girls who live there over to our house to get our number. She sent a note with them that had her number and a note that said "I'm 19!" Then she tried to flirt with me (apparently she wasn't interested in Elder Livingston) for about a day or so. It was super funny. I had her convinced I was actually 13 until she saw me driving. But (have no fear Mom!) we then told her basically that we'd be happy to teach her about the Gospel but otherwise...sorry. I guess she wasn't too interested in that, because she stopped texting back.

 

Random facts I learned this week:

• Rockwood's population is about 5,500, Spring City's is about 2,000, and Oakdale's is 219. Elder Livingston told me this is the most rural area he has ever served in.
• Oak Ridge is nearby, and that's where the Manhattan Project went down.
• I guess a lot of people throughout the mission call missionaries the "Jesus People," but the other elders were telling us today that the other day someone called them the "God Squad." Never heard that one before, but I sure got a kick out of it.
• I found out (a few weeks ago actually, but I forgot to mention it) that that cute Mexican song La Cucaracha is actually about marijuana... Go figure. O.o

Okay, I'm done. :)

 

My message for this week is two parts. The first is the message we shared with the Jennings that I mentioned earlier:

"Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed [us] from the chains of hell.

"Yea, [we] were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought [us] into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and [we] are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love..."

"And now, my beloved brethren, after [we] have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for [we] 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, [we] 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 [we] shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

The second is from President Griffin's talk on Sunday. He shared a story about an experience he had as a young boy on a backpacking trip. He found himself separated from the group, having taken the wrong turn at a fork in the trail, and the path he was on had just ended, and it was dark. Through his tears, he did what his mother had taught him and said a prayer: "Heavenly Father, please help my bishop find me. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." He opened his eyes, fully expecting to see his bishop standing there, but for a while, nothing happened. Then he heard a quiet voice in his mind tell him to go stand in the meadow in front of him. He did, and a few minutes later, he heard a loud whistle, looked up, and saw his bishop on horseback on a trail a little above him.

 

President Griffin told us that this was the first time in his life that he knew for himself that God knew him by name.

 

I testify to you that God knows you too. If you ever find yourself alone at the end of a dark trail, I promise you that if you will turn to Him in prayer, He will help you. You are not alone. As one of our AP's put it, when you kneel in prayer, He puts the universe aside for a moment to kneel beside you. You are His child; He has not forgotten you and He never will. Take the time to talk to Him personally. Have a relationship with Him. As you reach out to Him, you will find He is reaching out to you too.

 

And do not forget to do the one thing that is sure to bring and keep you close to Him: study His words, every day! As Nephi taught, "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." With Nephi and President Griffin, I promise you that as you take time every day to "[feast] upon the word of Christ," you will become converted unto Christ, you will find He is never far away, you will find joy, your soul will never hunger, and you will find God knows you, is guiding your way, is always nearby you, and loves you more than you would believe.

 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen :)

 

Love,

Elder Swindler

Photos

1) A selfie. Featuring Elder Livingston, Elder Udy, me, and Elder Stringham.

2) Elder Livingston: "Das mah buddy! I need a picture with him."

3) Elder Livingston: "That's good. But I'm lookin' a little fat, let's take another one and I'll kinda turn to the side."

4) People around here love two things: Jesus, and University of Tennessee football (the Tennessee Vol's).

5) One of the members lives here. The house was built in 1892. You should see the inside, it's gorgeous. :) It's cool to see the old Southern architecture, and the house just feels very welcoming and lived-in. I like it a lot.

Videos
1) Downtown Rockwood. Blink and you'll miss it.

2) Aaaaand that's it, folks! Hope you enjoyed Soarin' through Downtown Rockwood! Please exit the ride quickly, exits are to your left and right...

Fainting Goats

Patience

Hey folks!

This week was crazy with transfers and stuff. On Monday night we went to a goodbye party thing at a member's house, and there were a bunch of people there. It was really fun. We ate good food, and played this game where the missionaries each had a team, and we had to put Vaseline on each person's nose and then stick a cotton ball to their nose, and then they had to run to a plate and put the cotton ball in the plate without using their hands... It was pretty funny. And on Tuesday Elder Merrill and I saw Ronnie and Douglas and the Beyers one last time, and ate dinner with the Jennings (who are doing fantastic, by the way. We were talking in the car, and he was saying that it's been such an amazing blessing for us to play a part in helping the Lord change their lives so much. They have come so far even just in the short time we've been meeting with them. It's wonderful, and it makes me so happy:) )

Wednesday was transfers. We drove up to Farragut with Bro Sprague, the same member who drove us when I came in. The meeting was great, it was cool to be with so many missionaries. The energy there was huge. It was so exciting. President Griffin talked about going to work and doing the hard, everyday things. That's what the Lord needs - servants who go to work. We must do all we can with what we have, as is appropriate within our abilities and our calling. The Lord will give us our desires, whether they be good or evil, and we will have to deal with the blessings or the consequences. Find the desire to serve Him and do His work, and He will give you the call, and the abilities, and the capacity. One quote I especially liked was "You don't need to do these big, grand things. You just need to be obedient and have faith... It's things we all can do."

It was a little sad to say goodbye to Elder Merrill, Elder Galaviz, and Elder Nelson, but I'm glad they get to go on and serve more people in new areas, and I'm grateful for the time I've had with them. Elder Merrill is in Chattanooga Valley South area (which I think might actually be in Georgia, I'm not sure), Elder Galaviz is in Signal Mountain, TN, and Elder Nelson is in Blairseville, GA.

We got 4 new missionaries in our district! A new Sister missionary whose name escapes me is training in Louden with Sisters Fowers and Rowley; the new Harriman Elders are Elders Udy (pronounced YOU-dee) and Stringham; and my new companion's name is Elder Livingston. He's from Fruit Heights, Idaho, and he's really cool. I like him. He's very different from Elder Merrill, and this transfer is definitely going to be a growing and learning experience for me. But it's going to be a good one, too. :)

We didn't really get much done the rest of the week. Elder L. has been settling in, and we had district meeting on Friday. We've mostly been visiting a bunch of people and introducing him to the members and our investigators and all that stuff. Hopefully this week we can get back to working hard, I've missed having a lot of lessons and stuff. It has been nice to spend time with people though, and Elders Udy and Stringham are fun to hang out with. :)

Last night we got to have dinner with a couple families in the ward and a non-member family who lives next to one of the members. It was a lot of fun. And the members have fainting goats, which was awesome. (Yes, there is a video)

My thought for this week is about patience. I read an article on LDS.org that I really liked. (Here's a link to it: https://www.lds.org/liahona/2015/08/young-adults/patience-more-than-waiting?cid=HP_MO_8-10-2015_dPTH_fLHNA_xLIDyL2-4_&lang=eng) I'll share a few quotes from it that stood out to me.

'...committing to patience doesn’t mean we shrug our shoulders and give up hope. Elder Maxwell taught: “Patience is not indifference. Actually, it means caring very much but being willing, nevertheless, to submit to the Lord and to what the scriptures call the ‘process of time.’”1 I had always thought of patience as a somewhat passive response to life’s experiences, a sort of relenting. But patience is not relenting. Patience is a manifestation of inner strength and devotion to the Lord.'

'Elder Maxwell also taught: “Patience is a willingness, in a sense, to watch the unfolding purposes of God with a sense of wonder and awe, rather than pacing up and down within the cell of our circumstance. Put another way, too much anxious opening of the oven door and the cake falls instead of rising. So it is with us. If we are always selfishly taking our temperature to see if we are happy, we will not be.”2 This idea really resonated with me (and not just because I am an impatient baker). It’s discouraging when plans fall through or don’t pan out as expected. To our mortal minds, divine timing can be hard to understand. But what I can understand is that God is a loving Father who has a plan that guarantees eventual happiness if we are faithful, and I am learning to accept His timing with confidence—not with anxiousness.'

I hope you all have a wonderful week!! I love and pray for you all!

Love,

Elder Swindler

Pictures:

I have a lot of pictures from past weeks that haven't been sent, so bear with me.

1) Post-haircut selfie 

2) Elder Merrill and I with Austin and his dad

3) Seen across the street (your guess is as good as mine)

4) A weird sign

5) Elder Merrill and I saw a turtle!

6) Elder Merrill and the turtle

7) Action shots of the South 

8) Doorbell and a giant spoon

9) Yuk! This monster was hanging by the gutter of one of our investigators. It's huge... And earlier that day, Elder Livingston and I had been doing service for a guy named Bill Leffew, clearing out piles of okra stalks from his garden, and in the middle of it Elder L spotted not one but TWO freaking huge spiders in the piles. *shudder*

10) More yuk! I swear Elder Livingston is attracting giant bugs, we've been seeing them ever since he got here. That's Elder L's shoe for comparison. The thing was huge.

11) Ronnie and Elder Merrill

12) The Jennings and Elder Merrill

13) The Beyers with Elder Nelson, Elder Galaviz, and Elder Merrill

14) This transfer is gonna be fun

15) Elder Galaviz next to a clever church sign

16) I caught a baby fainting goat :)