Monday January 12, 2015

Hey Everybody, 

It's nice to be able to speak with you all once again, This week Has had some wonderful experiences and I would say one of the Most Spiritually building Weeks of my life. If you look at reports we only taught 3 lessons contributing to any Indicators we report, however the amount of personal strength and growth that I have experienced is way more then that. This week has been a week where I was able to recieve many answers to prayers and see and hear from people How much change I have gone through as well as see That my prayers are working. 

So as always my studies, this week have been focused on Preach My gospel but also focused on the Activities and Application settings within them, As I have been trying to figure out how to best help God fulfill his purposes.  As I was studying I focused largely on the first chapter in Preach My gospel which is "My Purpose". As I focused on the Personal study activities within this section I learnt deeper of what My Purpose as a missionary is and it is not to bring everyone to the church but Focused largely on Doing EVERYTHING in my power to give people the information and to bring the spirit into their lives so they can accept the Gospel but in the end it is INVITING everyone to learn. Of course not everyone will accept the Gospel but our invitation is to do as illustrated in Doctrine and covenants and all of us who have been warned it is our responsibility to warn our neighbours. How incredible is that and recently a friend of mine has had the Power of Everyday missionaries book and I had the chance to look at it and review it and make changes to apply some of the focuses of it in the work and it is so great. Focusing on the IMPORTANCE of members in this work and Our role as missionaries to help them to encourage and strengthen them so they may feel the love of the lord for them through helping others they know feel the love of God for themselves. My study also studied alot on Patience and Looking through the scriptures for occasions where Patience is needed. 

Patience really is a core fundamental aspect of the Gospel as we have patience, we exercise both Faith and Hope in these things and show Love for all of God's children. It is through patiently awaiting the blessings the Lord has promised us as we are faithful which allows us to ENDURE to the END. If we didn't patiently endure and continue on through hardships, well alot of us would turn our backs on the gospel thus because we wouldn't have a hope that things would/ could even get better. Patience Is definately something I have been working on and I notice that as I focus on Patience and  pray for opportunities to be more patient with everyone the Lord definately provides those opportunities for you to try to be, The Lord works hard to test our patience because it is through that test that we learn to be more patient and  just as the Lord says to Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, " Bear with patience thine afflictions, then if thou wilt endure them well the Lord will exalt thee on high"- paraphrased. 

It truly is the primary thing before anything else can really be instrumented.

Now on to my week 

I have begun to keep a miracles journal per day and have really noticed very much the miracles that have been presented unto me this week. 

I am not sure If I reported this miracle on Monday, but if so I will repeat it again, As we were coming into town we were sitting on the bus and someone came on the bus, she was going to sit somewhere else than lended up sitting right beside me, she had her music in her ears and as she sat both me and my companion felt prompted to talk but we couldn't think of how to engage in conversation, then she sneezed and I replied bless you and began talking with her, as we talked we talked about what we do and asked about her as well and we mentioned about how we teach people about the Gospel and she responded that if people came to her door, she would go and go a pen and paper and listen to what they have to say, so We asked her if she would be interested in Learning about these things, she expressed she would be,( however I forget to set a return appointment) so getting off the bus we gave her a card and said to call when she would like to learn. It was a miraculous thing though, Also that day I was able to have a very powerful prayer that morning and that Evening, Could really feel the Lord's love for me.

This week I had countless miracles but Don't have too much time left to e-mail only 10 minutes so I will share some.

One day we were on the bus and the first person we talked to expressed how he lost his dad several years back and that he couldn't talk to his fiance about it because she would say that he was lucky to have had that at least, so we expressed to the man if he needed someone to talk to he could call us anytime. Later I was sitting on the bus and at the back and I prayed and asked heavenly Father to put someone there who we could help  to come to know God, in my prayer I commited that I would talk to anyone he put there in front of me and as I said Amen a man approached and sat beside me, He was the most unlikely man that we would contact just normally as he was scruffy and wasn't well groomed, however I felt Prompted to speak with him, As I spoke with him I came to know that he was striving to recover from Heroine and is going through Addiction Recovery, and he also visits his mother for tea often, As I looked at this man ( I have been praying to be able to see people for their potential rather than their appearance)  I could see him clean shaven in whites and it was a miraculous thing, As I talked with him I told him that Heavenly Father LOVES him and Knows Him, As I did so I could feel within me the Love that God has for this man and It overtook me, I invited him to learn more about God, and He declined and after he left I was thanking the Lord for the opportunity I had to be able to have showed his love for his children and as I Did I felt the most outpouring of God's love I have ever felt that I weeped right there on the bus for this man, I can truly testify that the Gift of Charity is a gift from the Lord and if we do as Moroni instructs in Moroni 7:48 we can truly come to love people. I have been praying for this love for so long and This day I could see it evidentally in front of me. 

I know God Loves all of his children and if we ask to do his work and ask him for his help we can feel that love he has for them. 

It is a miraculous thing. And we can come to know for ourselves of God's love. 

I apologize I couldn't talk about the other miracles I have run out of time, However I will say this, Through God's Servants I was able to recieve many answers to my prayers. It is incredible to know that God has chosen individuals he works through to answer us and that the Spirit can testify truth to us by the words they speak. 

I know this work is True and I am so priviledged to be apart of this, I could never have anticipated the joys that my mission would grant unto me and how much I would truly come to know My savior and my Father in heaven.

I love all of you, both at home, and here, ANYONE who is reading this

I LOVE YOU, YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN LOVES YOU< THE SAVIOR LOVES YOU , AND we are all hear for all of you. 

Have a great week, remember to look back and see how much you have grown, I was able to see a lady in my mission who met me when Ifirst came in and standing there talking to her Wednesday she didn't recognize me as the same person. The Gospel changes us 

LET IT

- Elder James Reece