August 21, 2017

This week was soooo great!

One really cool experience was when we were teaching Shawn! We didn't have much time so we just wanted to talk about his reading of the Book of Mormon.  We had asked him to read just 1 more chapter and he came back having read like 5! So that was cool. Really this lesson shows how it isn't about us as missionaries. We allowed him to lead the whole thing, we just facilitated it and asked questions to allow him to learn from the Holy Ghost.

We asked him what he really remembered and what stuck out to him from his reading and he said Nephi's bands. So we read those couple verses together, 1 Nephi 7:16-18. We asked him how it could apply to him...what were his proverbial 'bands' and how could he act like Nephi to have them loosened? He replied that he feels like financially he is bound, that is something he worries about, and frankly most people do. But the really cool thing was that he said one thing he could change was what he prayed for. 

We were blown away by how genuine and sincere he is. He is sensitive to listening to the Holy Ghost and willing to act on it. He is so funny, he always talked about being a tough cookie to crack but how great is it that Heavenly Father gets to be the one to teach him so we don't have to "crack" anything! Haha  He was taught by the Holy Ghost and we are already seeing differences in him and so is his wife. 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is such a real thing. It is the only way to eternal life and it is also the only way to a really happy life. I testify of this because I AM HAPPY! 

I wish I could share more but time is short!

Elder Mark Howland