Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Weekly Update

Hey Everybody, 

This week was just fantastic. Tuesday of Last week we were able to meet with the Johnsons. They are a couple that have met with missionaries in the past. He has a huge testimony of this gospel and know that this is Christ church restored on the earth again. He has some smoking problems, but he is making huge strides and cutting down on how many cigarettes he is smoking each day. One thing that touched me that he said was this. He said "That if you have the truth then you can be bold in declaring it." That really touched me. That is one thing that I have been working on during my mission is being bold, but if we have the truth then we can be bold. The Spirit testifies of truth so when we say truth then those that are in tune with the spirit will recognize it. Tuesday Night we went to institute for the last time because they are going to be taking Elders out of the YSA and putting Sisters back in. At institute they talked a lot about Apostasy in the Early Church. The underlying reason for people going apostate in the early Church was Pride. In a revelation given to Joseph Smith in the D&C 112:10-15 it gives us the solution to Pride. We need to be humble, pray for others, love others, arise, gird up our loins and take up our cross. We need to follow Jesus, feed his sheep (sharing the Gospel), and dont focus on ourselves but reach outward. That really touched my heart and I am going to try and follow this counsel. 

On Wednesday we were able to help move the furniture in the Temple in preparation for the carpets to be steamed and stuff. It was such a cool experience to be in the temple and to feel of the spirit there. One of the people there played a joke on us and gave us Donuts filled with Mayonnaise. It was a pretty good April fools joke. On Wednesday we also had a lesson with the Drakes. We taught the Law of Chastity to them. It went very well. The Spirit was really strong. They truly have a desire to live the Law. They are still on Date to be baptized on June 6th. 

On Thursday we had another Lesson with the Johnsons. We taught the Restoration. They truly do believe that Christ Church was restored and that Joseph Smith was the tool that God used to restore it. We were able to set them on Date for May 16th. Brother Johnson is committed to quit smoking by May 1st. Keep him in your prayers please. He will need it. On thursday we also had a lesson with a youth that is not a member yet. His name is Hunter Johnson. He is a super awesome kid. We talked about faith with him and committed him to read Mosiah 18:1-17 which talks about Baptism. We committed him to as he read think about reasons why he wants to be baptized. We are wanting to commit him to baptism the next Lesson. 

On Saturday and Sunday we had the privilege to listen to the Prophet and Apostles speak and help us become better people. The one talk from all of the sessions that really touched me was Elder David A. Bednar's talk. He talked about how we should not have worldly fear, but have Godly Fear. A quote from it that I liked said "Unlike worldly fear that creates alarm and anxiety, godly fear is a source of peace, assurance, and confidence." He goes on in it to say "Godly fear is loving and trusting in Him. As we fear God more completely, we love Him more perfectly. And“perfect love casteth out all fear” (Moroni 8:16). I promise the bright light of godly fear will chase away the dark shadows of mortal fears (see D&C 50:25) as we look to the Savior, build upon Him as our foundation,and press forward on His covenant path with consecrated commitment." I really appreciated this talk. So as we come to understand and trust God we can have peace and assurance in our lives and not have that anxiety and uncertainty that comes from wordly fear. 

This week we are going to be focusing on our new ward that we just got. We now cover Taylor 2nd, 4th and 9th ward. We lost the YSA. The reason for the change up is because they are taking a companionship out of Taylor so there is going to be less missionaries in Taylor. So they are going to have some of Snowflake missionaries cover some Taylor wards as well. It will be good. 

Well I hope all is going well with everybody. I love you all. Keep sharing the Gospel and being a light unto the world. 

Love,

Elder Kennedy