A BIG HAPPY B-DAY FROM THE GREAT OHIO! I LOVE YOU MOM!
Winter
has hit all of a sudden. Cold and rainy. It went from hot and sunny one
day to being cold and dreary the next. It is crazy how the weather
changes here in the Ohio.
It sounds like the
Marathon went well. A very clever idea with the "punch for power." I am
sure all of the runners appreciated that, I know I would if I were
running the race.
So, this week, we were able
to get back in contact with 2 people that I had previously taught here
in Xenia one year ago. It was awesome to see them again and they show
great potential. I really do love this town and have a strong desire for
it to explode like it did one year ago when I was here before. However,
we have a lot of slack to pick up. Our teaching pool is small and this
area has just had a wave of baptisms and now the time has come to find
some more! That has been and will continue to be the focus.
General
Conference was amazing. We watched 4/5 sessions at the church building
and the last session we watched at a member's home with an investigator,
and it was the perfect session for him (our investigator) to watch,
especially with Elder Bednar's remarks at the end directed towards
non-members. We then had dinner at this member's home with the
investigator and had a good time talking about the highlights of
conference. Here are a few of mine:
Saturday
Morning, Elder Neil L. Anderson spoke of the importance of having a
testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He directly said that there is a
lot of false information on the Internet that portrays the prophet
poorly. We should stick to the good information. I loved this talk as it
was perfect for those investigating the church. Everyone must have a
personal witness from the spirit that Joseph really was a prophet and it
is a testimony that must be nourished with care. Daily, as a
missionary, that testimony is tried and tested as people with good
intentions, yet with false information, try to shake it by presenting
sometimes convincing information that takes away from the divinity of
Joseph Smith's calling. However, above the words of any man or any book, I
am glad to say that God has spoken to me, and I know that Joseph Smith
was a prophet of God, and that he opened the dispensation of the
fullness of times.
Pres. Uchtdorf's talks, in
both the Saturday and priesthood session, I loved. Especially the one in
priesthood about searching in ourselves instead of finding the fault in
others. He often used the scriptural phrase "Lord, is it I"
And
of course Bednar, the pinch hitter, came in with his powerhouse talk
directed to the non-members. However, although directed for the
non-members, I hope it hit home to the members of the church as it
helped define the why of missionary service. Sometimes I wish the
prophet would get up and declare that the members are not doing good
enough in terms of missionary work and need to step up to the plate!
Maybe that would give the extra shove they need. Members have no idea
how much power they hold to help the work of salvation.
I
am really looking forward to Mission Leadership Council tomorrow. There
is a lot of work to be done here in this zone, in stark contrast to the
previous zone I was in. It requires me to be a completely different
leader than I was before. The Lord has taken me out of the comfort zone
and into the growth zone!
Well, I love you all, and a special I love you to MOM and Happy Birthday! I hope your trip to AZ goes well!
Love,
Elder Beutler
