You know what's awesome? Missions! You know what's not super awesome? Realizing that you have become cliche! But that's okay. Sometimes the cliche things really do mean the most. Missions really are the greatest thing one can do. I've changed a lot, as I'm sure all of you have realized, but I seriously doubt these changes would have happened if I didn't go on a mission. Being surrounded by the gospel 24/7 and having this amazing opportunity to escape the world and truly see people change. One quote that I received today really stood out to me. President Ezra Taft Benson said, "The way to feel better about your own situation is to improve someone else's circumstances." How true is that? As we lose ourselves in the service of God, we feel better about ourselves and love people more deeply because we understand them better.
This week we had an investigator, Lizzy, come to church and bring her 8-year old cousin with her, who also wants to get baptized! And we now have a regular, Samantha, coming to church with Lizzy just because Lizzy is her friend. It's really amazing to me how well non-members do missionary work. Sometimes I feel like they do it better than the members (including myself)! Samantha is not even an investigator yet, so that's fantastic! This week Elder Uppencamp and I are going to be striving to teach Samantha's family alongside Lizzy's family and Lizzy's cousin's family. It's amazing to watch the Lord move His work forward through children. They are so sensitive to the Spirit and just really have the desire to make the Lord happy, which I have learned for myself makes me happy! As we focus on the happiness of others, we ourselves are made happy too!
The hard part about the upcoming week is that we BARELY have any miles left, so I don't know how we're going to accomplish everything that the Lord needs us to accomplish. What I do know is that there is always going to be a way, if we act in faith and trust Him. So we're trusting Him to help us with this work despite our not being able to travel much. I've calculated it out, and we will be just under our limit if we don't travel anywhere we haven't planned for. The Lord will provide a way, even when we can't see one in front of us.
I love it here! I love the Lord! I love all of you!
~~Elder T. Riggs
This is Elder Uppencamp using his lint roller as a pen holder. We get creative in the field.
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