Falling Down and Getting Back Up Again
Hey Everyone!!!
This week has been... different and a little difficult. One of the most difficult things I think being on a mission would be when you go to a new area and your companion is also new to the area, in my mission we call this "whitewashing" or "flushing." It's been rather difficult the first couple weeks, however the work is picking up and we are finally meeting with people the previous missionaries were working with and we have also had a few members who have friends who have come up to us and ask us to teach their friend they just gave a copy of the Book of Mormon to! I like this area. It's different from my last area, however I am beginning to like it. I believe La Jara will always be my favorite because I felt at home there. Now for the funny and interesting experiences.
Before I begin this story, I want you all to know that I am okay and doing well. So, a week ago today we went Ice skating and I fell down once and may or may not have ran into the wall once or twice trying to stop... rather quickly. Haha. Well what happened was I ended up going to the Emergency Room because I thought it was dislocated. I could hardly bend it. Luckily it was not dislocated. They took X-Rays. The verdict from the ER was that I had a really bad bruise and a possible flexor tendon injury. They put a huge splint on it to straighten out my fingers and referred me to an orthopedics place for a follow-up appointment the next day. Tuesday we went there and had the follow up appointment. They told me that the splint I had on was overkill. (Probably was, but it seemed to be really helping the situation.) They put tape around my 2 middle fingers for support and told me to use it when I needed to and to come back if it continued to hurt. I ended up putting the splint back on when it hurt really bad, but it is all better now which is good. Here are a few pictures. It was my left ring finger. The knuckle seemed to be really flat and not in the right place. All is well now. :)
I got a cool bracelet from the ER though! It even has my name and birthday on it!!! We were there from 8:30until almost 11! I felt really bad being out past curfew, however I think it's okay if I'm in the ER... :P
Another crazy experience we had is the fact that we were doing service for the city again and we were helping to clean up some parts just off the trail that have been trashed and there were lots of needles that we picked up. It was kind of sketchy... okay really sketchy! We helped him clean it up and we are going back this week.
Now, in regards to spiritual things. As I stated earlier, we have not met with too many people that we are teaching, however we have lots of lessons that we scheduled for this week. The past 2 weeks have been a lot of trying to talk to the previous missionaries, meeting with the Bishop, the Ward Mission Leader, Active members (seeing if they have any friends we can teach) and so on. I am very excited for this upcoming week. We have a lesson tonight with a guy named Tim who lives out of his truck and apparently is very interested in the gospel!
Spiritual Thought: So this transfer (6 weeks) I made it a goal to read the entire Book of Mormon. So far, I am on track to finish in time. I have tried to keep a specific topic, but I decided to just allow my mind go where it wants while I am reading and highlight anything that REALLY stands out to me while I am reading. I wanted to share a few things from my reading recently with you all. Two chapters in the Book of Mormon I read yesterday that have a few verses that really stood out to me were 2 Nephi 31 and 2 Nephi 32.
Chapter 31 starts off talking about why Christ was baptized and how "5 If the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!" Jesus Christ then says, "10 Follow thou me... 11 Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son." The end of the chapter goes on to talk about what we are to do once we are baptized. " 19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. 20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. 21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen."
Baptism is not the end, that is just the gateway to so much more that our Heavenly Father has in store for us.
Some of my favorite verses in chapter 32 are verses 3,8 and 9 talking about scripture study and prayer.
"3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.
9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul."
It is through prayer that we communicate with our Father in Heaven and it is though studying our scriptures that he can communicate with us. "...the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." The devil teaches us not to pray. Pray always!!
I know and testify of this. I hope that someone learned something or came closer to Christ from this e-mail. Just some of my thoughts from my scripture study. I know that if we sincerely ask our Father in Heaven, he will answer your prayers, I had a very powerful experience with that this past week and I am very grateful for it. I love how easy it is to communicate with him. There is no limited minutes or a specific time of day you can call. His phone is available 24/7 and there will never be a busy signal when you call him. I love prayer and scripture study and appreciate how well they go together.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Check out my blog to see more pictures and previous posts!!!
Love you all, Stay strong!
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Warmest Regards,
Elder Levi Snow Soller
"When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up." Les Brown