Elder Kyle Houssian: Week #67

Howdy y'all! Man what a good week. I hope y'all had a great week this week! The weather here has been so nice, I think it's here to stay now! There have been a lot of big things that have happened this week, and it seems like time just keeps getting faster and faster!

So this week we were privileged to hear from President and Sister Youngblood. They gave some great trainings, and I was able to learn a lot from them! We also learned how to change a tire and change the oil in a car, which was fun. Thanks Grandpa Tracy and Dad for teaching me that when I was younger, it came in handy!

This week we had the opportunity to do some service for an elderly lady in our ward and her roommate, Deborah. Deborah is a solid investigator we have! We had to move about a ton of rocks from one side of their property to the other. They rented a truck, and Elder Paulukaitis, the Zone Leaders, and I shoveled it into the truck, which Deborah drove to the other side of the house, and then we unloaded it. It only took 1 1/2 - 2 hours, and we had a lot of fun doing it! Deborah is progressing well and is reading the Book of Mormon, praying, and coming to church! She's doing great.

The Redd family is still going strong. Their only hold up is attending church, but Holly and the girls Gracie and Vannah are all reading and praying as well. They are such a wonderful family and are loving the lessons we are teaching!

Tyler is doing great! Jakob has helped us with the lessons so far, and we are going to see him again later today. He wants to get baptized so bad, it's great! On that note, Jakob also received the Priesthood yesterday. It was such a wonderful moment to witness. Now he can baptize his brother if Tyler wants him to.

We have a few more people we are working with, but we have not been able to meet with them too much this past week. We will definitely be picking it back up with them this upcoming week!

The spiritual thought I wanted to share this week comes from 3 Nephi 11:39, which reads;

39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

I love this verse. In this part of the Book of Mormon, Jesus visits the people and teaches them His gospel. At the end of this chapter, after He teaches more principles, He leaves this promise. If we build our faith and our testimony on the Savior and on His teachings, we will have a strong foundation, a foundation that is unshakable when the winds of the adversary try to beat us down. The Savior gave us these teachings so that we can find the most peace, happiness, and joy possible in this life. Life will not magically be perfect as we live the gospel, but we will be able to bear with patience our afflictions, and we will be able to find joy in the things that matter most. I know that to be true. Our Savior willingly gave His life for each of us. He knows us personally. He loves us. He knows exactly what we are feeling and what we are going through, because He felt all of that first. I challenge each of you to turn to Him a little more this week. Thank our Heavenly Father for the endless blessings He has given you, and seek guidance from Him through the Holy Ghost. Allow the Atonement of Jesus Christ to carry you, because that is what it is there to do. They are all waiting to help us. I promise you that as you do so, the Lord's hand will be implemented in your life, and you'll find greater happiness and joy in your lives while turning to the Savior. I say these things humbly in the name of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

I love y'all so much! I hope you have a marvelous week! Until next week! God speed!!

Elder Houssian