To whom it may concern (haha),
Well this was a good week. First of all being a missionary is great. I cannot stress that enough. So we have this new investigator named Kristen. She is eleven years old and what a character she is. The first time we met her she was really nervous and wouldn't even shake our hands. It was funny. The way we found her was interesting too. We had the referral from the Sisters but we had the wrong address and only a last name. It took us a couple of weeks to find her. We kind of just knocked on doors in the general area where the address that didn't exist was and asked people if they knew of an eleven year old girl with the last name of Perkins. Well FINALLY we found her. After we introduced ourselves and talked about having lessons with her she decided she wanted to and when we came back the next time she was looking out the window waiting for us. She still wouldn't shake our hands, but we convinced her to give us a fist bump. We have this other investigator named Jeff. I think I might have mentioned him. He is from Oregon and is about 40 years old. He is here following doctors for school. He is very smart, but doesn't really see the point to life. His marriage isn't what he wants it to be and he doesn't get the need for faith, or why we have to work so hard in life to know if Heavenly Father is really there. But he feels the Spirit when we come and when he goes to church. He still wants to know everything intellectually, but I think he's making progress. Anyways Jeff is a tennis player and so is Elder Johnson so on Saturday we wanted to show Jeff that we're just normal people and not some sort of cult, another thing he is afraid of. We ended up talking to him for a couple of hours and eventually we just sat down and he expressed some of the concerns in his life, especially about his marriage. Basically he was asking us for marriage advice and what he should do to make it better and I'm thinking, "Alright, what the frak do I know about marriage. Any relationship I've been in has been a disaster." But Elder Johnson and I knew the principles of love and had the examples of our parents. So being 19 and 20 we were sitting there giving a very smart man advice on how he could make his marriage better. And guess what, he listened and wants to take our advice. It is awesome that the gospel works. Also this week we participated in a ward's mini-mission for their laurels and priests. We told them to carry around a Book of Mormon to give out, but then the next day we realized that they probably didn't have one to give out. So during our free time we stopped by all their houses and gave them copies that they could give out. The youth are awesome and I would encourage everyone to always carry around a Book of Mormon that they can give to someone in need.
Well it wasn't to easy to do work this weekend with fall break and everyone deer hunting. Which is kind of where my spiritual thought is coming from, along with a couple of other less active people we've met and the attitude of some of our investigators. The scripture comes from Revelations 3:15-16. Basically we need to decide whether we are hot or cold. Are we active in the gospel or not. The Lord says "...I would thou wet cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." So how committed are we to accepting and living the gospel? I know in my life I have definitely been lukewarm many times. Are we willing to accept and live all the commandments? Are we striving to magnify our callings, not only church callings (which are important), but our callings in families and as neighbors and acquaintances? Are we striving to improve our Christlike attributes? Do we strive to have the same love that he does? Do we stand for what is right and true, regardless of what others will think of us? Do we diligently search the scriptures and seek to know them? Are we praying with real intent? Do we strive to increase our faith? Do we repent daily and strive to become more like Christ? Obviously there are many things we can all improve, especially myself, but I promise as we strive to be committed servants of the Lord, in whatever capacity that entails, He will bless us we strength to do His will and a burning conviction that what we are doing is just and true. I pray that this week we search our motives, find where we are not as committed, and then strive our best to become better servants. I love you all and hope you have an amazing week.
Godspeed,
Elder Chandler Kendall
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