There are two primary things I want to talk about: Missionary work and Family.
Missionary Work
I have been praying a lot to find out how I can best magnify my calling as the Ward Mission Leader. The more I pray, ponder and study, the more I have thought about being an example. This was one common theme during General and Stake Conference in that I need to be an example of good missionary work in order to get others excited. So, I have been praying for opportunities to do missionary work and boy did Heavenly Father answer my prayer!
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am training for a marathon and have joined a running group as part of my training. During one of my runs with the group, I met a new member of the group named Mario. Mario is from Sri Lanka, is in his 50s with a wife and 2 daughters who all live in Illinois. He is out here in Charlotte on a somewhat temporary basis.
Mario is a great guy! He just came up to me and started being my friend. I admit that at first I kind of held my distance, but then he just started asking questions about me, my family...and my religion! I told him I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or Mormon. He connected the two and was familiar with the Church. Right from the start he asked about doing Bible study and I told him that we would have to do that some day.
Then the week before conference I told him and another friend in the group (Stacy) that I wasn't going to be running for a while because I was going to be busy with a world wide conference that our Church has twice a year. They were interested and wanted to know more. So, that sparked a conversation on Prophets and Apostles, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and personal revelation from the Holy Ghost. I also invited them to check it out on LDS.org and they said they would.
The next time I went running after the conferences, Mario followed up with me! He asked me how the conference was and asked me to give him a copy (I still need to email him a link...oops, I'll do that soon!). After our run I was going to follow up with him on getting him a "copy" of conference when he asked about Bible study. I said sure let's do it. He asked if I knew anyone we could meet with. My reply was, "Uh...yeah! I know some guys!" He picked up on it right away, "Oh, your Elders?" I replied back, yes, we could have the missionaries over.
We then decided on a date (Friday) but then needed to figure out a place and time. That's when it hit me, "Oh, how about my place? As a matter of fact, why don't you come over for dinner and we could do a lesson after dinner?" He was all for it! Of course when I told the Elders they were ecstatic!
With the exception of both Mario and the Elders showing up 30-45 minutes late, it went very well! Sarah made fish with stir-fried veggies and it was delicious. We had a great lesson afterwards and Mario committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.
It was amazing! Heavenly Father couldn't have wrapped that in a prettier bow and given it a more precious kiss! I felt so blessed!
Our ward had the Primary program the week before General Conference. Since Stake Conference was the following week (the second week of the month) Fast Sunday was the third week of the month in our ward (ie: yesterday). Normally I bear testimony of the 5 basics: Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the Church as it is today. However, I stepped away from that yesterday and just bore my testimony about missionary work.
I spoke about a video played during the Hastening the Work of Salvation training earlier this year. It was about a ward that was in a physical drought and also a spiritual drought with regards to missionary work. The ward mission leader gave his account of how they were able to come out of the spiritual drought. When I saw that, I, having just been called as ward mission leader, thought, 'This is us. We are in a spiritual drought regarding missionary work.' At that point I prayed, asking Heavenly Father to help us out of this drought and to help me to know how to help us out of this drought.
Go figure, after not having any baptisms for about 2 years, we had 3 sisters get baptized shortly thereafter. We have had a total of 7 baptisms since that training!
I also spoke about the North Carolina Charlotte Mission President's wife, Sister Craven. She had spoken during Stake Conference about the parable of the olive trees in Jacob 5. Her point was that while the Lord of the vineyard spared the trees time and time again, there was one point where he didn't. Instead he tells his servant to get more servants because this will be the last time to prune the vineyard before the end (See Jacob 5:61; 70). That is where we are now. We are in the last time of pruning the vineyard. The Lord has called more servants (the missionaries) and now is the time to get to work.
I spoke about a few more things and then gave my story about Mario. It was one of my favorite testimonies I had ever born during a Fasting Testimony meeting. I am so excited about this work. I hope that I can continue to do well in my calling!
Missionary Work
I have been praying a lot to find out how I can best magnify my calling as the Ward Mission Leader. The more I pray, ponder and study, the more I have thought about being an example. This was one common theme during General and Stake Conference in that I need to be an example of good missionary work in order to get others excited. So, I have been praying for opportunities to do missionary work and boy did Heavenly Father answer my prayer!
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am training for a marathon and have joined a running group as part of my training. During one of my runs with the group, I met a new member of the group named Mario. Mario is from Sri Lanka, is in his 50s with a wife and 2 daughters who all live in Illinois. He is out here in Charlotte on a somewhat temporary basis.
Mario is a great guy! He just came up to me and started being my friend. I admit that at first I kind of held my distance, but then he just started asking questions about me, my family...and my religion! I told him I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or Mormon. He connected the two and was familiar with the Church. Right from the start he asked about doing Bible study and I told him that we would have to do that some day.
Then the week before conference I told him and another friend in the group (Stacy) that I wasn't going to be running for a while because I was going to be busy with a world wide conference that our Church has twice a year. They were interested and wanted to know more. So, that sparked a conversation on Prophets and Apostles, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and personal revelation from the Holy Ghost. I also invited them to check it out on LDS.org and they said they would.
The next time I went running after the conferences, Mario followed up with me! He asked me how the conference was and asked me to give him a copy (I still need to email him a link...oops, I'll do that soon!). After our run I was going to follow up with him on getting him a "copy" of conference when he asked about Bible study. I said sure let's do it. He asked if I knew anyone we could meet with. My reply was, "Uh...yeah! I know some guys!" He picked up on it right away, "Oh, your Elders?" I replied back, yes, we could have the missionaries over.
We then decided on a date (Friday) but then needed to figure out a place and time. That's when it hit me, "Oh, how about my place? As a matter of fact, why don't you come over for dinner and we could do a lesson after dinner?" He was all for it! Of course when I told the Elders they were ecstatic!
With the exception of both Mario and the Elders showing up 30-45 minutes late, it went very well! Sarah made fish with stir-fried veggies and it was delicious. We had a great lesson afterwards and Mario committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.
It was amazing! Heavenly Father couldn't have wrapped that in a prettier bow and given it a more precious kiss! I felt so blessed!
Our ward had the Primary program the week before General Conference. Since Stake Conference was the following week (the second week of the month) Fast Sunday was the third week of the month in our ward (ie: yesterday). Normally I bear testimony of the 5 basics: Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the Church as it is today. However, I stepped away from that yesterday and just bore my testimony about missionary work.
I spoke about a video played during the Hastening the Work of Salvation training earlier this year. It was about a ward that was in a physical drought and also a spiritual drought with regards to missionary work. The ward mission leader gave his account of how they were able to come out of the spiritual drought. When I saw that, I, having just been called as ward mission leader, thought, 'This is us. We are in a spiritual drought regarding missionary work.' At that point I prayed, asking Heavenly Father to help us out of this drought and to help me to know how to help us out of this drought.
Go figure, after not having any baptisms for about 2 years, we had 3 sisters get baptized shortly thereafter. We have had a total of 7 baptisms since that training!
I also spoke about the North Carolina Charlotte Mission President's wife, Sister Craven. She had spoken during Stake Conference about the parable of the olive trees in Jacob 5. Her point was that while the Lord of the vineyard spared the trees time and time again, there was one point where he didn't. Instead he tells his servant to get more servants because this will be the last time to prune the vineyard before the end (See Jacob 5:61; 70). That is where we are now. We are in the last time of pruning the vineyard. The Lord has called more servants (the missionaries) and now is the time to get to work.
I spoke about a few more things and then gave my story about Mario. It was one of my favorite testimonies I had ever born during a Fasting Testimony meeting. I am so excited about this work. I hope that I can continue to do well in my calling!
My Kids
Short, sweet and simply...I love them! They have been so cute lately! Benjamin has especially been cute. I want to talk about how each of them have been but I am running short on time so I will just talk about Benjamin.
Benjamin has been growing so fast! He is almost two! He is talking all of the time and it is the cutest little phrases. He sounds like a little person instead of a babbling babe. I can't really think of more to say at the moment. Hopefully I will remember to post more specifically about him and the rest of the family in the future.
Alright, time to go. I have been at work way too long and I miss my wife!
Short, sweet and simply...I love them! They have been so cute lately! Benjamin has especially been cute. I want to talk about how each of them have been but I am running short on time so I will just talk about Benjamin.
Benjamin has been growing so fast! He is almost two! He is talking all of the time and it is the cutest little phrases. He sounds like a little person instead of a babbling babe. I can't really think of more to say at the moment. Hopefully I will remember to post more specifically about him and the rest of the family in the future.
Alright, time to go. I have been at work way too long and I miss my wife!