December 15, 2014
This week in Fort Collins, where to begin. We had another wonderful lesson with A this week. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and it really rang true to him. He was going out of town this weekend but he went to church with his sister because she is a member! So great! He is struggling with some hard times right now in his life and so he wants to make sure that he is doing all of this for the right reasons and not to just use it as a crutch. He will come to realize that the gospel is not a crutch but that it gives us wings and the ability to progress.
Taught M once this week, he is heartbroken about not being able to get baptized but still not willing to change. He ended up cancelling our 2 other appointments this week and didn't come to church again. We aren't quite sure how to help him at this point, but we will continue to pray to figure it out. We also found 6 new investigators this week. It was a pretty great week for finding! One of them was a name on the Ward list that just kept popping out to me. We finally went to visit them last night and found out that they are a part member family. Her daughter is not baptized or her husband. They are the sweetest family. We are excited to continue to get to know them and teach them.
I didn't realize it until this week, but we have an Area Seventy in our ward and guess who signed up to feed us this week? Yes, he and his wife did. So, on Friday night Sister Snow and I ate Thai food with Elder Rhodes and his wife. It was really great to get to know them and feel of their spirits. We shared a message on the Doctrine of Christ and he gave us a referral. Then he ended the night by leaving us with a blessing. It was a powerful prayer. He prayed for our investigators and for us. He also prayed that we would have angels around us protecting us. That was a key part of the blessing because of what happens next in my story. We left the Rhodes house, and headed to our next appointment. On the way, we noticed a TON of police cars and what looked like a car accident right down the road from where we live. But we continued to our appointment and then after that appointment on to our last house of the night. We knocked on the door and the girl who answered said, "Hurry, come inside, we just got a text saying that their is a man armed and dangerous in the neighborhood!" So we went inside, had a lesson and then ran to the car. There we found a text from our Zone Leaders telling us to go home ASAP because of this gunman. We started to drive home, only to realize that our neighborhood was the exact spot where all of the policemen were. So we found another way but as we were driving we realized how crazy it really was. There were SWAT teams, police men, search dogs, everything and then we were stopped by a police man and we told him that we lived just up the road and asked if it was safe to go home. He said just to get home and then lock all the doors an stay away from windows. Then we explained how, the member that owns the house we live in, doesn't let us lock the door so we were a little worried. He first scolded us for not locking our door and then told us that he and another police would check our house. We drove over and they told us to stay in our car while they searched the house. So they did, they searched the whole house for us! It was such a blessing. They said it was fine and said goodbye. They were great. Then we still were freaking out, so we did our nightly planning in the bathroom. Yup, I did nightly planning sitting in a bathtub :) Then we put our mattresses on the ground and just prayed a lot. Didn't sleep too well, but we felt safe. Especially because of Elder Rhode's blessing. They ended up catching him the next day and things settled down a lot. But it was pretty crazy! That is the crazy story of the week! The Lord was protecting us though. Just crazy things happening out there.
I don't even really know about all the crazy things that are going on in the world right now but I have people tell us all the time how crazy everything is. I wish I was more informed but this week I have been finding a lot in my studies how much it talks about how the way that we all, and the world, can have that peace that we all truly desire is by having the gospel in our lives and living the gospel. It seems like such a simple answer...but it is true and powerful. This is a part of the Joseph Fielding Smith manual that we taught from this week in Relief Society. It says,
" Do you know what is the greatest power, the most potent factor in all the world, for the permanent establishment of peace in the earth? Having asked the question I will answer it, at least I will express my view in regard to it—not saying anything about other movements. The greatest factor in all the world is the power of the Holy Priesthood, and that is in the possession of the Latter-day Saints. Right from the beginning the Lord sent out the elders into the world, commanding them to call upon the people, saying, Repent, come unto Zion. Believe in my gospel and you shall have peace.
Peace will come, of course, through righteousness, through justice, through the mercy of God, through the power which he will grant unto us by which our hearts will be touched and we will have love one for another. Now our duty is to declare these things among all people, call upon them to come unto Zion where the standard is set up—the standard of peace—and to receive of the blessings of the house of the Lord and the influence of his Holy Spirit which is here manifest. And I want to tell you that we ourselves, if we will serve the Lord, have wonderful power in regard to the establishment of peace in the world."
The gospel is the way to peace. The priesthood power is the way to peace. Our covenants are the way to peace. I experienced that this week as I took the sacrament. I am recognizing even more the power that the sacrament has. I literally feel strengthened and renewed when I partake of the bread and water and reflect on ALL my covenants that I have made. I am so grateful for the Atonement and the sacrament every week. I love you all and continue to see the Lord's hand in my life daily. We are doing His work. I love you all!!
Love,
Sister Young
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| Exploring Old Town Fort Collins on P-day |
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| Ballerina Statue |
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