Elder Kyle Houssian: Week #61

Howdy y'all! I hope y'all have had a great week this week! This week went by really fast, and we were definitely able to see some miracles!

So first off, Glenna, Matthew, and Jakob are doing great! Glenna is ready for the 16th! She's reading to the Book of Mormon, saying her prayers, and she's at church every week. Jakob and Matthew are both getting ready for the 23rd! Their baptisms are together, and will be at 8 am so we'll be up early! These three individuals are progressing very well. It is incredible to watch the Spirit work with these wonderful children of God.

One of the miracles this week that we saw was this past Thursday. We went to go contact this girl who the past missionaries were talking to, and in the past few weeks we have never been able to catch her. But finally, we did on Thursday! We were riding our bikes down the street and saw her getting out of her car, and her neighbor was standing there talking to her. We rode past her and then I felt this prompting to go turn around and talk to her, so we did. We rode up and she was leaned over in her car, and her neighbor put his hand up signaling he didn't want to talk, but we still stopped and we asked if we could have some water. She comes out of the car and was super excited to see us, ran in, and got us water. We were there talking to the neighbor and he started to relax and talk to us. Then Kasie came back out with water for the both of us. We set a return appointment for the next day, and when we came back her husband was home and so was their 6 year old daughter! So we sat down with the three of them, and they said that their daughter was asking about who God was. So we went to the very basics and tried teaching a 6 year old who God was haha. Nonetheless they were super interested. They expressed desires to come to church and get closer to God. We went back and saw them the next day, and then invited to church! They committed but then couldn't because Kasie's sister shattered her wrist, so she was in the ER with her. But we saw them today at Walmart and set a return appointment for tomorrow!

Another cool miracle this week was when we went to stop by a former family that had been taught in the past. We had tried before and no luck, but this time caught them sitting on their porch! We talked to them for 20 or 30 minutes, and then set a return appointment. We came back the next day and had a great conversation with them, and they really opened up. Their 12 year old daughter wants to find a church, and is very interested in our teachings. Her mom has some high standards and morals very similar to the church, and when we told her that we believe in the same things, she was very intrigued. We invited them to come to church, and the daughter came! She has a friend in the ward that is a member, and this member had invited her in the past to go to church. So Mikayla (the daughter) came to church this week! Her mom just got a new job so she had to work, but she still wants to meet with us this week.

My spiritual thought this week comes from the Book of Mormon, in Mormon 7:5 and it reads

"5 Know ye that ye must come to the knowledge of your fathers, and repent of all your sins and iniquities, and believe in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, and that he was slain by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up."

I love this scripture. Here Mormon is admonishing these people to believe in Christ and accept His gospel. The scriptures are for our day, and so here Mormon is admonishing US to believe in Christ and accept His gospel. We do this by really studying the scriptures, by fervently praying, and by attending Church so that we can partake of the sacrament and renew our covenants, or promises, with the Lord. And in return, we are promised to have His spirit to be with us wherever we go, as long as we live worthily of it. As we take heed to this counsel and do the things we are asked to do, and keep the commandments, we will grow and progress, and the Lord will mold our hearts into better disciples of the Lord. We will be changed and we will grow closer to our Savior, and we will learn what we can do to be more like Him. It also says that He gained victory over the grave, and in Him the sting of death is swallowed up. When the Savior suffered in Gethsemane for us, He didn't just take on the sins of the world, He took on the sadness, the sorrows, the pains, the afflictions, and everything else. He knows what we are going through. We ALWAYS have someone we can turn to, no matter what, because the Savior felt everything, and He felt it first. As you build your faith in Christ and accept His gospel, you will come to a sure knowledge that Jesus truly is the Christ, and that He knows us individually, and knows what we have gone through, what we will go through, and what we are currently going through. He did this for us, and this gift was freely given. I pray that y'all will use this freely given gift, the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I promise if you do, you will be strengthened and uplifted, and the Lord will help you withstand the roadblocks we face in life, and you will be made stronger and more prepared to take on the trials ahead. I say these things humbly, in the sacred name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

I hope this week is a great week for each of y'all! Enjoy the holiday weekend and be safe! Till next week. God speed!

Elder Kyle Houssian