Dear Family and Friends,
This week I was transferred to the heart of the mission, Urdaneta! My new companion is Elder Ingalls from Cebu, so I still have a rolling record of pure Filipino companions, its awesome! I will miss Santa Maria, and all its members and investigators, but I know the Lord has plans for me in Urdaneta.
I am amazed at how hot the city is here in Urdaneta. This is the first time in my whole mission I have been sent to a place that doesn't have any farm land, and I miss it! Luckily for my Mom, I can't find find spiders here because there aren't any corn fields here.... Oh well!
This week we had a wonderful MLC (Mission Leadership Council). Our mission President gave a powerful workshop on the importance of charity in our work. He split charity into two forms "Love from Christ" and "Love for Christ". And after the workshop I felt prompted to start a new Book or Mormon and mark all the instances where the "Love from Christ" and "Love for Christ" are shown. While reading over 1 Nephi 2, I really liked when Nephi mentions his prayer to the Lord and how he received a softened heart. The term soft heart is often used to mean people who have sensitive feelings, but this verse has a different context. If we continue to read the book of 1 Nephi we see how much the Lord uses Nephi as a vessel to bring great things to pass. But he wouldn't be able to get there if he hadn't had a softened heart. In Isaiah 64:8 we read a verse mentioned by Sister Marriot in the last general conference. Anyone who has tried to make pottery knows that soft clay is essential to making a good pot. If it is dry it is no good. No matter how much you try, it will not make good pottery. Likewise the Lord needs a softened heart before he can shape us into the disciples or "vessels" he needs to proclaim the gospel or to carry "the water of life" to others. So how do we receive this soft heart? It comes from prayer, it comes from reading the scriptures, it comes from true repentance, it comes from being the children Heavenly Father made us to be!
We are going to watch conference this weekend (We are a week behind), but I'm really excited!
Love you all! Talk to you soon!
Elder Trevor Kent Johnson (The Weirdest Missionary You Know)
This week I was transferred to the heart of the mission, Urdaneta! My new companion is Elder Ingalls from Cebu, so I still have a rolling record of pure Filipino companions, its awesome! I will miss Santa Maria, and all its members and investigators, but I know the Lord has plans for me in Urdaneta.
I am amazed at how hot the city is here in Urdaneta. This is the first time in my whole mission I have been sent to a place that doesn't have any farm land, and I miss it! Luckily for my Mom, I can't find find spiders here because there aren't any corn fields here.... Oh well!
This week we had a wonderful MLC (Mission Leadership Council). Our mission President gave a powerful workshop on the importance of charity in our work. He split charity into two forms "Love from Christ" and "Love for Christ". And after the workshop I felt prompted to start a new Book or Mormon and mark all the instances where the "Love from Christ" and "Love for Christ" are shown. While reading over 1 Nephi 2, I really liked when Nephi mentions his prayer to the Lord and how he received a softened heart. The term soft heart is often used to mean people who have sensitive feelings, but this verse has a different context. If we continue to read the book of 1 Nephi we see how much the Lord uses Nephi as a vessel to bring great things to pass. But he wouldn't be able to get there if he hadn't had a softened heart. In Isaiah 64:8 we read a verse mentioned by Sister Marriot in the last general conference. Anyone who has tried to make pottery knows that soft clay is essential to making a good pot. If it is dry it is no good. No matter how much you try, it will not make good pottery. Likewise the Lord needs a softened heart before he can shape us into the disciples or "vessels" he needs to proclaim the gospel or to carry "the water of life" to others. So how do we receive this soft heart? It comes from prayer, it comes from reading the scriptures, it comes from true repentance, it comes from being the children Heavenly Father made us to be!
We are going to watch conference this weekend (We are a week behind), but I'm really excited!
Love you all! Talk to you soon!
Elder Trevor Kent Johnson (The Weirdest Missionary You Know)