Sunday, May 24, 2015

Murcles!!

Hey i hope yall had a great week!
 
So you know how people talk about the gift of tongues when they go on missions? Well, I believe that I've received the gift of stomachs. I'm not quite sure how but I eat SO much. Like more than I've ever eaten before in my life. The members here expect me to have at least 2 or 3 plates when they have us over for dinner. And not gonna lie, I thought I was staying in good shape here and that the southern food wasn't getting to me cuz i haven't been gaining weight...but I was wrong. We started Insanity this morning...oh dear. Let's just say that's gonna be a LONG 60 days of working out...haha but anyways, the Lord has been blessing us here with murcles! sometimes it's tough because our numbers don't always reflect a lot but it just goes to show the missionary work is NOT about the numbers. This week was such a good one and if you just saw our numbers you wouldn't think it. We've been setting up people and families to teach left and right and we're just establishing a good friendship or foundation with them and it's finally paying off! So here's some cool things that happened this week!

So last Sunday (not yesterday but last week) Xavier got the Priesthood!! and Elder Morrell was able to ordain him and confer the priesthood to him so that was super cool to see him already working towards the next steps he has to take in the church!:)

Then the sisters met a guy named Colton who said he's searching for God in his life and gave him to us. So we go over to meet him and he's this black dude that has a fleur delis tattooed on the front of his neck! He invited us in and we got to know him and he's a rapper and producer that goes by "Nola Boy" hahah so sick. We taught him the restoration and he totally accepted it! He said stuff like "Ya man that totally makes sense to have a prophet again!" we went back the next day and gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he'd been wanting one for a while and that he felt in his heart that our message was true! he wasn't able to come to church and he called us last night to apologize and we ended up reading the Book of Mormon with him and had a little lesson over the phone for like a half hour! pray and everything! it was pretty cool! he's gonna get dunked.

Then we were also able to teach Mike again and he remembers most of what we've taught him about the Restoration and Plan of Salvation and he listens to the Book of Mormon on tape everyday! We were able to teach him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he's still committed to working towards baptism! He was also able to come to church yesterday because Brother Pearsall (who is pretty much the coolest guy in our branch) was able to give him a ride! Mike came for all 3 hours and loved it! We got a new branch President who introduced himself to Mike and a lot of people were talking to him and he said he felt very comfortable and enlightened there.

And yesterday we were finally able to set up appointments with a couple of families that we've been talking to for so long and the Lord provided us with a way to share the gospel message with them! A cool thing was said yesterday in Branch Conference, our Stake President said that if we pray as families or just as individuals, each day, to have a missionary experience or opportunity then he will bless us with those opportunities!! I've seen it first hand in my life too! When I was at Redlands before my mission, i prayed everyday for missionary opportunities and sure enough, everyday I prayed for one, I had one! It's all about humbling ourselves to God and saying "Here I am! Let me do your work!" I promise yall that if each one of you pray for these chances, the Lord will bless you with them. Those of us who have the blessings of the gospel in our life need to share them!!

I'm learning so much from Elder Morrell and my mission. I feel like I've already grown so much and no matter how hard it is to keep on working or keep obeying the rules or whatever it may be, I keep on going cuz I love Our Savior, Jesus Christ. He should be our motivation for obedience. And not out of fear, but out of love. As we gain a better knowledge of the Atonement, this change of heart will take place and we will willingly follow and obey Christ because we love him. It shouldn't be a burden to keep the commandments. They give us blessings! who doesn't want to be blessed?? and the best part is, we can make mistakes and repent for them so it's like they never even happened! don't take this for granted. We can't fathom what Christ has done for us. It's impossible. But we can show him gratitude for what we do know and the best way to do that is to follow him willingly. I love and miss yall a lot but I'm so glad I have this opportunity to serve!! hope yall have a great week!!

Elder Armstrong

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Elder Armstrong
Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission



 

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