Week #79

Howdy everyone! I hope y’all have had a great week this week. We’ve been having loads of fun and have been seeing miracles in the work! (I’m lost on what week it is so bear with me)

So first off, I hit 18 months this past Saturday. It’s crazy how fast time is going. Elder Cook will agree with me, but I’m exhausted! Haha 18 months hits you hard as a missionary. BUT, we still have time to grind, and I wanted to randomly shout him out for being a rock for me on my mission. I thank my Heavenly Father for the blessing it is to be serving with one of my best friends!

Next, IT RAINED! It actually rained in Vegas! I love it haha it hasn’t rained since like September, so it’s really nice! The rain made it more “humid” so that was nice.

Alright enough with the weather updates. We saw a really cool miracles this past Sunday night!

We received a referral to go visit this member who was very active until this past year. She has a fiancé who is not a member and is living with her, and they are getting married in a couple months. We go over there and meet her (Sister Williams), and her fiancé, Jason. We got to talking and I recognized Jason, I just couldn’t figure out where I had seen him before. Then, all of a sudden we made the connection. We were teaching a part-member family in my last area, and it was a blended family. The oldest kid was 17 and the mom had him from a previous marriage. They were working towards being baptized. The 17 year old, Tommy, and I got to be very good friends. He of course has a different dad, and one day we were at his house and his dad showed up so we got to meet him, and it was Jason. Jason is Tommy’s dad! So we made that connection and then had a really cool moment! He wants to come to church on Sunday and wants us to come back for dinner and a lesson. It was a great miracle!

We started over the lessons with the Redd family, since everything has been hectic with a new baby and the holidays. We have had some great lessons this week, and one of them we invited them to be baptized, and they accepted! We set them for February 3rd, and the date was definitely revelation because it’s one of their daughter’s birthday! They are doing very well, and there is a lot more growth with them now that everything has settled down.

For my thought this week I wanted to share with y’all a quote from an article in the Ensign that I have been studying. It’s called “The Gospel of Repentance” by Spencer W. Kimball, and it’s a very good talk. It reads;

“Repentance is a glorious and merciful law. ... The great and wonderful and miraculous benefit of the Savior’s atonement cannot have its full saving impact on us unless we repent. .... How grateful we should be that the Lord finished his preparation in our behalf! Now it is up to us to finish our preparations in our own behalf--by partaking of his loving forgiveness, which is the reward he eagerly desires to give all who truly repent.”

I know that these things are true. Repentance is a very joyful process, something that we should find joy in doing. Generally speaking, repentance is looked at as a shameful, negative thing, when in reality, it’s the better path for us to take. The Bible Dictionary says that repentance is “a change of mind, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world.” Repentance = change. We are promised that “if we will earnestly seek our Heavenly Father’s help and apply the steps that constitute the doctrine of repentance, then we will find peace and joy both in this life and in eternity.” As we strive to be better, seeking for the Lord’s help, and have the desire to change, we will find peace and joy in this life and in the eternity. We will feel our burdens lifted off our shoulders. What Jesus Christ did for us enables Him to lift those burdens and ease our pains, because He felt all of them in our behalf. We will also be able to witness that change of mind within ourselves, and fresh view about God, ourselves, and the world. He loves us. He knows us individually. Turning to Him will bring us unfathomable joy and happiness. I know that to be true, and it is my humble prayer that we all strive to be just a little bit better, strive to change ourselves little by little, and experience a mighty change from Him who is Almighty, and I say those things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I hope y’all have a wonderful week! I love each of you, and I definitely miss y’all! Until next week! God speed!

Elder Houssian