So I don't know if I've said this before, but people here give us so much food. It's to the point where we're constantly full, anywhere we go people offer us food and we can't turn it down of course. An example is Saturday, we just finished eating junk food at someone's house so we weren't even hungry, then we went to our dinner appointment where we ate homemade Chinese food which was interesting, then they of course gave us a huge slice of cake. Then after a conversation about how Elder Fonnesbeck felt like throwing up, we stopped by another members house to check on them, and they were like, "You're just in time for dinner" and they had made their famous macaroni and cheese which I had heard so much about, and so we had to have some.
Things like that happen
every day which is kind of awesome, cause I love eating food.
Unfortunately, although I have been well fed, I haven't been well
nourished.
It has been a great week here in
the fun little town of St. Johns. A lot has happened, but I don't think
that those things fully deserve their own paragraph, and so I'll just
make a little list of some random things from the week:
1. We picked apples from an apple tree (I'll include a picture)
2. A kid came up to me and said "You look like a kid" and walked away.
3. We had our interviews with President and Sister Cox which was fun
4. I met two different girls with the name Kendall
5. We helped build a She Shed
6. We still don't really know what a She Shed is
7. It was Surf N Turf day on Thursday at the Sugar Shack, our favorite restaraunt, and so we had a delicious meal there
We
also went on exchanges with the other Elders one day, and we did some
service for a lady named Grandma Barbara. And she was having us do the
most random things. One of them was that she had these open containers
of dirty water, and then she had a large bin of dirty water that had a
lid on it. She took the lid off, and then directed us to take the
smaller containers and pour them in the big bin without stirring up the
dirt or getting the dirt in the big bin, even though there's already
dirt in the big bin. And if we did it wrong she got after us. Eventually
we had successfully transferred the dirty water into a bigger container
of dirty water and we still don't know why. She was a funny lady
though. I don't remember how it led up to this, but as she was rambling
on she eventually started talking about her childhood. And she was like,
"Did you boys grow up on a farm? Raise pigs?" We said no and she
paused, probably disappointedly, before continuing. "Well when we raised
pigs we didn't waste anything. We used everything on the pig, the skin,
the hooves. The only thing we didn't use was the oink--we couldn't
figure out how to bottle it."
Anyway though,
it was a good week. General Conference was this weekend, which is where
twice a year the leaders of the Church pretty much give sermons like we
hear in Church except it's broadcast all throughout the world in a whole
bunch of different languages so everyone can hear. And it's just really
awesome because we are able to hear from the current apostles and
prophet and other church leaders to be able to gain insights from them,
and be able to have guidance and inspiration from them, that is
ultimately from the Lord. I've talked about it before how Jesus Christ's
Church has been restored, and along with that, the organization that He
established has been brought back as well, that being apostles and
prophets who serve the Lord and help run His Church. And that is
something I have really come to know myself, is that God does speak to
prophets today just like He did in the Bible times. And the messages
which we hear from the modern day apostles and prophets are inspired to
help us strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ and to comfort us and to
help us learn and to help us with whatever we need at the moment. I
personally had a couple questions I had been praying about before the
Conference started, and as people spoke and I was able to feel the
Spirit, I was able to get answers to those questions. And it wasn't
really what they said exactly that directly answered my questions, but
it was things they said that helped give me more insight and triggered
thoughts of other things, and I was able to be personally taught things
that I needed by the Spirit. Because that is the most important thing,
that we learn things on a personal level and grow our faith in Christ on
a personal level. And one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to testify
of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and so that's what I mean when I
say the Spirit can teach us things. He can help us feel the truthfulness of things, and open our minds to understanding things. And its
important for everyone to learn how to receive that kind of personal
revelation, which just so happened to be something that speakers at
General Conference talked about.
I'm grateful for the restored
Church of Jesus Christ with the modern day revelation from God through
modern day apostles and prophets who teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And I'm grateful for that Gospel of Jesus Christ which has been restored
in all of its fullness and clarity so that we can fully experience all
of the blessings of peace and joy that our Savior has made possible for
us to have. And along with that and most importantly, I am grateful for
my Savior and the testimony I have of Him. I know He lives and loves us
and I've come to know that by living His Gospel of having faith in Him,
making changes in my life to follow Him better, and by making covenants
or promises with God and striving to live them all throughout my life.
When we do these things and "press forward with a steadfastness in
Christ" then we "shall have eternal life." And that's the most joyful
part of all of it, that one day, because of Jesus Christ, we can live
with our families forever in the presence of our Heavenly Father and
Jesus Christ.
Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful week. Til next time,
~Elder Oswald
P.S.- Pictures
1. How do ya like them apples?
2. Me looking extra like a 12 year old with Tyler and the other Elders
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