Dear Spectators to My Life of Spiritual Awesomeness,
Hello, everyone! This week has been awesome! As usual....I don't think I will ever say that a week has been bad throughout my entire mission...but, then again, you chose to make each week a good week or not. "Attitude is everything...pick a good one." -That One Plaque in My Room.....
This week, I got to eat some Japanese curry at some ward member's house when we joined them for family home evening. Not a big curry fan. I know, I know, sue me... But we did have some incredible scout popcorn with them...that stuff redeemed the curry. They're a super nice family. Crazy with three little boys (no idea how my mom does it), but we were still able to have a great time with them and watch the most spectacular video this Christmas season called "He is the Gift". That video literally has a guaranteed spirit associated with it. As we share it on our social media outlets, we will be able to literally share Christ's love with everyone who comes in contact with it. We're using it as an incredible proselyting tool here.
We made some homemade tacos (perks of being in a tri) and got to have an amazing lesson on faith with Judith! I absolutely love helping people understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is super rewarding. The highlight of my week was Wednesday. We headed up to Nanaimo first thing in the morning and attended a zone conference there. We'd heard a lot of rumors about this zone meeting, and how it was going to be very Christmas-themed. We weren't sure what to expect. The night before, my zone leaders called and told me I was giving a training on an article we received about Christmas by Elder Holland. So...that was a little nerve-wracking! We showed up and as a zone watched "He is the Gift" two times. What an incredible spirit we all felt! What a miracle it is for us as missionaries and as members to share this gospel. We also watched a short movie called "Christmas Mission" with the guy from the Saratov Approach! it was a really good movie all about the importance of the individuals we meet in our ministries here. I gave my training on the article, and it was super cool. Because of my crazy preparation, the Spirit was able to take over and testify to my companions in the zone.
I related the story of my favorite Christmas. Me and my brothers were saving up all year for a Nintendo Wii. In a penny jar, we had amassed perhaps maybe $50 between the three of us (I guess Kyler only counted as a half, as he wasn't exactly pulling in major income at this time in our lives...), and that was far from the amount of money it would cost to buy a Wii. Let alone all of the controllers and the games needed to play it. But, we kept saving up with the hopes that would get there. Then, Christmas came. We had a ton of fun opening our stockings, etc. But then my parents pulled out a special gift for us. We opened it, and to our utter surprise, it was a Nintendo Wii! Controllers and games and all! this moment in our lives was captured with a photo. Our faces were the embodiment of pure joy. I'll never forget that incredible act of kindness.
(Christmas 2007 with the Wii!)
To relate this back to the gospel, what we want more than anything is to return to live with our Heavenly Father, to enjoy all of the blessings that He enjoys, and to feel of His love for us. To have eternal life. We try everyday to make the choices we need to make to return back to Him. We have faith, we repent, we keep our covenants, and we endure to the end, but in the long run, we're going to come short. We'll be lucky if we even get one fifth of the way there! But our Heavenly Father gave us a gift. Jesus Christ. He is the gift. And through Him, we can return to live with our Father. We can become what He knows we can be, and it doesn't matter how many mistakes we make, because as long as we embrace the gift of Jesus Christ in our lives, we will rise above those mistakes, those shortcomings. Our Heavenly Father has provided us with the way, and all He asks us to do is to follow that example, to follow that gift. And He has promised us that if we do this, we will receive eternal life.
Right after that, we had an amazing Christmas dinner for lunch. Santa even showed up to the Nanaimo zone meeting!
Elder Hansen got, like, nine packages! Elder Jacobs and I got one. Lol! Shout out to my Uncle Jason, his wife Jennifer, and their kids Savannah, Autumn, and Cannon, and Brynn! Your package was awesome! Those almond roccas are divine! Thank you so much for sending it, and I hope you all have a blast at my homeland this Christmas! It'll be nice and warm... ;)
Anyways, it's been a wonderful week up here in Canada! I love this gospel, and I love the joy it brings into our lives. It truly is the greatest gift that we can give to our brothers and sisters out there. I am excited for this next week and for Christmas being the week afterwards! It's perfect time to get out there and teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I know that this church is true, and that that Book of Mormon is the word of God. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and He is real, and loves us, and lifts us up each day. We are so blessed.
I know that this church is true, and that that Book of Mormon is the word of God. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and He is real, and loves us, and lifts us up each day. We are so blessed.
#ShareTheGift
-Elder Stock
-Elder Stock
Santa and Elder Stock!
My mission brother, Elder Lee
(Elder Orr trained both of us)
Their Zone and Santa
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