This week has been a pretty good one.
This last p-day we went on a hike in Whitefish with the Shaws and some other missionaries. It was a blast!!! I just wish Dad could have been there with me, he would love it up here. I'll send you some pictures of the hike.
Tuesday we had a combined district meeting in Kalispell. It was good, but long. I got to teach another 30 minute discussion on the Book of Mormon. After the district meeting the Shaws took us to Sizzler! They are so awesome! I have never been to sizzler before - it was pretty good.
Tuesday night we taught J, A and B. We taught B. the Restoration since that was the only lesson he didn't have yet. He committed to be baptized on the 20th of April! His brother A. was baptized this last Saturday - It was great! Elder Sagers performed the Baptism and did a great job. I'll send you a picture of that as well.
Wednesday we taught D. B. again. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. He is doing great and is on track to be baptized this month on the 13th!
Thursday not much happened. On Friday we helped Elder Shaw do some service. We helped build part of a deck, break down a little wall, move a riding lawn mower and a table saw to his storage, and we also started digging a sewer line. A month or so ago we helped him build a green house. He finally got it finished and we sat in it on saturday. It was 95 degrees in that thing!!!! Made me feel like home! By the way, I have decided that you guys better not move to Utah while I'm on my mision. I want to go home to Tucson. I kind of miss the heat. I guess we will see if I'm still saying that after this summer!
On Saturday we wrote our talks for sunday and got ready for A's baptism that night! It went great as I said earlier. The member who was supposed to feed us that night wasn't able to so he bought us a $40 gift certificate to The Backroom. It is amazing. I had a steak salad! We were even able to see the end of the Ohio state game! So glad they lost.
Sunday was great. As you know we had to talk in Second Ward. Elder Sagers spoke first. He gave/used his farewell talk. He talked for 35 minutes so the Bishop passed me a note and just asked me to bear my testimony haha. I really wish I could have spoke though. (See Jakes talk below - he sent us a copy of it)
But my challenge to you guys this week is to go to mormon.org and find the video "My Burden Was Made Light". I used it in my talk.
So the good news!!
I didn't get transfered!!! I am so glad I am staying. Elder shaw wants me to go help him buy a fly rod so I am way excited for that! Anyway 4 people from my Zone got transfered. We are all just going to the Stake center to play some ball and say our goodbyes! Easter was good, not the same but good. Thanks so much for your box! I also got a package from the young women - please tell them THANKS!
We had dinner at the Minors last night and had turkey and mashed potatoes. Their kids even hid some easter eggs in the park for us to find. It was fun! I hope all is going well with you guys.
Well I have to go - love you tons!
Elder Jake Richardson
JAKES TALK -
Good morning Brothers and Sisters,
For those of you who don’t know me I’m Elder Richardson. I have been serving in Columbia Falls for about 4 months now and have absolutely loved it! I just want to say thank you for making us missionaries feel at home!
We were asked to talk on anything to do with Easter. I thought a lot about talking on just the Atonement but I figured that that was the most obvious route to take, so I thought some more and I decided I would talk about forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a fairly broad topic and I thought I would break it down into 3 parts. Receiving forgiveness from our Heavenly Father through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, Forgiving ourselves, and Forgiving others.
So lets start with The Atonement. The Atonement is made up of two things. First that Jesus Christ suffered and died for the sins of all man that would live on this earth and second is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ broke the bonds of death by being resurrected. Therefore everyone that chose to follow Heavenly Fathers plan, come to earth and receive a body, will be resurrected. What a great gift we have been given. I want to focus a little more on the other part of the Atonement though. Jesus Christ suffered and died for the sins of the world that we might repent and be forgiven. As it says in Doctrine and Covenants section 18 verse 11 “For behold the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.” The Atonement was fulfilled by Jesus Christ so that all men would have the opportunity to repent of their sins in this life, be resurrected, and return to live with our Father in Heaven and His son, Jesus Christ, once again.
The Atonement is central to everything we teach as missionaries and that is not a coincidence. It is so important that people who are interested in our church understand that they can be forgiven. For those of us who grew up in the church, I think we sometimes don’t realize what a blessing the knowledge of the Atonement is. I know I didn’t understand how great the Atonement is until I was preparing to come on a mission and since I have been on my mission. Without the Atonement I would not be on a mission today. As a kid a I made so stupid decisions. I knew that in order to go on my mission I needed to repent. That is when I started to learn how important the Atonement is. Since I have been on my mission, I have been able to see how great of a thing the Atonement truly is. When we missionaries, as representatives of Jesus Christ, tell someone that they can be forgiven of their past transgressions; We are able to see what that means to someone who has never heard that before. It completely changes peoples outlook on life. Seeing some of my investigators use the atonement, and seeing them completely change their life around has brought me so much joy and has made me so thankful for the role the Atonement not only plays in my life but the lives of others.
I just got done talking about the Atonement And now I would like to talk about forgiving yourself. We can be forgiven because of the Atonement through a process called repentance. As missionaries we teach people that there are 6 steps to complete the repentance process.
First, is to recognize that what you did is wrong.
Second, is to stop committing the sin that you committed.
Third, is to confess what you did to the Lord through prayer.
Fourth, is to make restitution, or to do all you can to correct the problems that your actions may have caused.
Fifth, is to keep the commandments, and to do those things that bring you closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Sixth, is to acknowledge what the Savior went through in order for you to repent.
But if you ask me, there should be a seventh step: Which is, forgiving yourself.
As I’ve said earlier I’ve made some stupid choices in High School that I had to repent of. For some reason, after I had repented of some of these things, I didn’t feel the peace I thought I would after repenting. I didn’t know why until I realized that I kept thinking about those things and it would make me feel horrible. I knew that I had to forgive myself for those things that I did in order to feel the peace I wanted to feel. Once I had forgiven myself, I was able to feel that peace and the love the Savior had for me.
When I think about how great of a gift the Atonement is, and all the Savior went through that we might be forgiven, I wonder how we can repay him. I thought if the Savior can so freely forgive us for those mistakes we make we need to be forgiving those around us. Forgiving someone is not always easy and in fact is sometimes very hard. I thought back in my life and realized how selfish I was. I had a really hard time forgiving people. I felt that when someone had done something to hurt me the last thing I was going to do was forgive them and make them feel better. I guess I thought that them being mad and in pain would help subside some of my feelings of pain. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. When we come out on a mission our Mission President gives each of us a DVD titled “Mormon Messages”. I was watching some of the clips on that DVD the other night came across one Titled “Forgiveness: My Burden was made light”. It is about a man name Chris Williams who forgives a drunk driver for killing 3 members of his family.
A website mormonnewsroom.org describes it as follows:
A new video from Mormon messages tells the story of Chris Williams, whose wife and two children were Killed by a teenage drunk driver in 2007 following a family dinner with friends. The video depicts a story of grieving over the unexpected loss of loved ones but forgiving those at fault.
Chris’s friend and church leader, James Wood, visited with Chris at the hospital shortly after the accident. “Even at that moment, we’re all blubbering, crying, and Chris is lying on the gurney, in a neck brace, and one of the first things he asks is ‘How is the young man that was driving the car?’”
Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light contains a powerful message of looking to Jesus Christ as an example to forgive others.
“I’m grateful that God allows tragedy and trials to occur in our lives,” Chris says in the video, seated around a kitchen table with his two surviving sons. “Not because they are easy or because they are desired, but because they help us love.”
Cameron White, the driver of the car who crashed into the Williams’ vehicle, says of meeting Chris, “It’s an overwhelming feeling of thankfulness, of gratefulness and strength, to see him and see how he has acted in this situation.”
Chris Williams video teaches us so much. It teaches us not only about forgiveness but of loving one another as well.
Forgiveness brings blessings brothers and sisters. It helps us not only change our lives but it helps us change the lives of others. Through forgiveness we can feel happy and peaceful. I am not just going to forgive people when the opportunity presents itself, but I am going to look for opportunities to forgive others. In Doctrine and Covenants section 64 verse 10 it says “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.” The Lord commands us to forgive those people around us, it is not for us to judge them, that is the Lords job.
I want to close by bearing my testimony that I know this Church is true. I know that Joseph Smith was and is a True Prophet of God and that through him we now have the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it contains the fulness of the Gospel. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real to me. I know that we can truly be forgiven through the process of repentance. I know that forgiveness brings blessings. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be on a mission and serve with this ward.
And I say these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
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