Spiritual Power

Hello friends and family from the not so hot as it normally
is Lincoln, Nebraska!  So this past week was pretty great.  I'm
starting to get adjusted to being in a singles ward.  It's really
weird.  To get the members to trust you and help you out, you have to
treat them more like your buddies.  It's weird because I really have
to focus to keep my missionary identity but at the same time just let
others know I'm a normal person.  It's lots of fun though.  We had
someone bring their friend yesterday who we are going to start
teaching.  Her name is Terra, and she actually served a mission in
South Africa for a non-denominational Christian church, so we were
able to talk about that a little bit.  The week went by quick,  but we
weren't able to spend a lot of time in our own area, which is fine,
since school hasn't started yet.  President Weston had us go on a
couple of exchanges with companionships in our zone.  And guess what,
I was able to go to Beatrice.  It was so awesome.  I was able to
impart some of my wisdom on the area there since the Elders there are
struggling a bit.  It was also fun to see a couple of members and
recent converts from there.  The next day I went with a companionship
who is struggling to get along with each other.  I had to sit them
down and talk to them, I pretty much felt like I was doing marriage
counseling, haha.  It was good though, and I think it was a great
experience to help me when I have my own kids who won't get along.
Elder Jackson is awesome, we get along really well.  We were able to
do a bit more finding with single people, and we found a couple of
potentials over the weekend that hopefully we'll start teaching this
week.  When I first got here we literally had no one in our teaching
pool, so it's been good to slowly find some people in the next couple
of weeks.  We've been living in another companionships apartment and
helping in their area when we can, but we'll be moving back into our
place next week, so that will be really nice to just have to focus on
our area.  The only thing I don't like about being in a sinlges ward
is I love teaching families, so we'll find really cool families, but
then we have to turn them over to whatever area they are in.  Oh well,
life is good.
          So spiritual thought of the week is about spiritual power.
So, we've all been given the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is awesome.
 By having this gift we have the right, whenever we are worthy, to the
constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.  However, our ability to
have a greater and greater influence of His presence in our lives and
guidance from Him is bases largely on how well we are living the
gospel.  If we are daily repenting and striving to be obedient, we are
going to have an increase of spiritual power.  If we are following
courageously the prompting from the Spirit, our spiritual power
increases.  When we develop good habits of scripture study, daily
prayer, and participation in church, we are increasing our spiritual
power.  Even though we have all been given the gift of the Holy Ghost,
we can all increase our spiritual power, and our ability to fully
follow the prompting He will give us.  It is a noble pursuit to want
to do good, but the greatest thing we can accomplish in this life is
being fully under the influence of the Spirit.  By doing so, we can
know that what we are doing is what the Savior would want us to do.
So, this week, find someway that you can increase your spiritual
power.  I promise as you do so you will find greater success and
satisfaction in ever aspect of life.  I love you all and hope you have
a great week.