Transfer 4 Week 4

Dear Everyone,

    This week has been an interesting week; thankfully my companion felt a lot better this week and we were able to get out and do some work. We biked about 40 miles this week, taught 3 new investigators and had them come to church. I also had some wonderful dinners, improved my Spanish and had some other great experiences including a competition to see if my companion and I could write down all 150 original Pokemon from memory, which I did XD.

    This week I have been studying virtue and have started a scripture mastery program wherein I memorize a new scripture each day. I started on the 21th and so far I have D&C 64:33, D&C 121:40-44, D&C 121:45-46 and Ephesians 4: 11-14. In my study of virtue I was reading in Mosiah chapter where Abinadi is admonishing the wicked priests of Noah and he admonishes the wicked priests of King Noah for not having the commandments of God written upon their hearts. This to me seems more than just an admonishment against their wicked teachings, but also an admonishment of their core character and desires as well. Through this I found that to have virtue garnish your thoughts unceasingly, you must have a purified heart. This ties back to what I wrote a few weeks ago about having a mighty change of heart, a heart changed by the reception of the Holy Ghost and by using the Atonement in our lives. As our hearts are purified and as we are receptive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost we will be instructed and the shine of the world will lose its luster, for we will know what things are of lasting value. When we allow our hearts to be purified through the Atonement of Christ and have a mind and heart open to the promptings and reception of the Holy Ghost, virtue will then garnish our thoughts unceasingly and our confidence wax strong in the presence of God and our hands will be clean of the blood and sins of this world.

I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, I know that be reading, studying and pondering upon the teachings therein we can gain a closer relationship with our Father in Heaven and with His Son Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called by God to restore the true Church of Jesus Christ, the same church that was organized when Christ was on the Earth, a church with prophets and apostles at its foundation and with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God and that we have a Prophet on the Earth today, even Thomas S. Monson. These things I know by the power of the Holy Ghost, He has witnessed the truthfulness of these things unto my spirit. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; He is our Savior, our Lord and redeemer; He Lives... I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father. He knows us and loves us as individuals and as a whole. These things I know and I invite you to know too. Ask God and He will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost, but ask in faith, nothing wavering... I know that as you come to a knowledge of and live by these truths, you will find a greater measure of peace and happiness in your lives. I know this because it has had that effect in my life and in the lives of many who I have met. I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

With Love,

Elder Roberts

P.S. Have a wonderful week!

Transfer 4 Week 3

Dear Everyone,

    I was transferred to Kinston this last week and I have had quite a time here. One of the first thing I did when I got here was go shopping for food. While shopping I warned my companion not to buy Doritos. Well, he did anyways and ended up sick for 4 days. He was feeling better and suggested that we get Mc Griddles in the morning. I made a statement about the unhealthiness thereof and he got one anyways. He relapsed into ill health. Finally, I jokingly warned him about eating french toast.. Well he ate that too and yep, he felt sick again. Through this trial I have learned to heed the advice of my companion, Mc Griddles are downright unhealthy and french toast is not the best food to eat in recovery.

    Now for the good part of the week. A sister missionary returned home from her mission this past week and her family put together an amazing homecoming. It was a pretty well thought out program with all sort of acts. The idea for the homecoming was to showcase the different things that the returned missionary had missed out on, ranging from her sister playing her first major role in a play to two of her friends receiving their mission calls and the Steelers winning the Super Bowl again. We had a pretty amazing time attending that and even got to play a pretty sweet role in one of the acts. For those of you who have seen Saturday's Warrior you may remember the song "In Our Humble Way" wherein Greene and Kessler are preparing to descend to earth from the preexistence. Kessler is fired up and ready to go and breaks out in this memorable number. I played the part of Kessler and my companion was Greene. We forced parts in our hair with gel and wore our ties both too long and too short respectively and I definitely played the part XD. The audience and more importantly, since it was her homecoming, the returned missionary loved it.

    I did not like that we were not able to do much work this week, but I loved the extra sleep. I continued my study of Mosiah and also in memorizing scriptures this week. In Mosiah I am on chapter five wherein the people of King Benjamin have listened to his discourse and have felt the truthfulness of his words as testified by the Holy Ghost. There has been within them wrought a mighty change of heart and they no longer have any desire to do evil but to do good continually. This ties back into the earlier chapter wherein they were preparing to be taught by King Benjamin. They had hearts open to the reception of the Holy Ghost and because of their open hearts the Holy Ghost was able to influence and change their desires. Because they listened to him their lives where never the same.
  
   The heart is such a key point in the process of conversion. You can try to change your environment all you want, but until you change your core desires you can never be truly converted. We must remember that conversion is a process and not an event though. This is because the person must be open and willing to change and even after a mighty change has been wrought they must continue in faith, repentance, hope and charity, being sure and steadfast always abounding in good works to retain that mighty change. This is done through daily prayer and scripture study, attending church meetings, partaking of the sacrament worthily, frequent temple attendance, faithfully paying tithes, serving faithfully in callings, adhering to the counsel of church leaders and putting these as top priorities in life. By praying daily and reading our scriptures we retain a remembrance of the promises and blessings of the gospel and also an eternal perspective. By praying we recognize our relationship to our Heavenly Father and as His Children our worth. Through scripture study we come to know Him and His Son and how we can best emulate and please them. By partaking of the sacrament worthily we renew not only our covenant but our resolve to follow Christ more perfectly and by serving faithfully in callings we show this desire. By faithfully paying tithing we show our willingness to sacrifice for the building up of His kingdom on the earth and in doing so we are able to distinguish between wants and needs better. In faithfully attending the temple we are reminded our our divine potential and the sacred nature of the family and how crucial it is to remain faithful all our days. By attending church meetings regularly we show our willingness to learn, to grow and to progress in learning and living the gospel. Following the counsel of our leaders augments this process of progression.

    I know that as we follow these and many other fundamental principles and applications of the gospel, we will grow closer to our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. We will experience the mighty change of heart and retain it. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the church of Jesus Christ. It is His Church. He leads it, guides it and directs it through a modern day Prophet even Thomas S. Monson. These things I know to be true. Just as the people of King Benjamin's time, I have felt the whisperings of the Holy Ghost bear witness to the truthfulness thereof and I know that if you pray with a sincere heart, with real intent having faith in Christ, even with only a desire to believe and act upon it, you will receive a testimony as I have. You will know that it is true. These things I bear witness of, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

With love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 4 Week 2

Dear Everyone,

    First off, I'm being transferred. I am heading out to Kinston to do work in the Spanish area. It was quite unexpected, but these things usually are. I'll be there for the rest of the transfer (4 weeks)  and look forward to meeting and serving new people.

    Secondly, this week has been a pretty amazing week. Our investigators in both wards are progressing towards baptism and we even found another "elect" investigator this past week. ^^ On a lighter note, we had a pretty sweet time at this other family's house on Monday. We walked in that night and ended up in the middle of a nerf war... XD After the treaty was established, which was broken several times during dinner, we had an absolutely wonderful meal, as always, and a great lesson to wrap it up. Sadly, this same family is moving away on the 20th of this month... We taught a lot of different lessons this week and I was happy to help people learn how to pray.

    Prayer is such a blessing to have in this life. Knowing that at anytime, anywhere, vocally or not, one can address their Father in Heaven and express gratitude, petition for blessings or just talk. What a comfort to have in such a confusing world. We teach the value of prayer many times in a week and it always surprises me how many people do not pray on a regular basis. In Elder Bednar's talk, "Pray Always," he brings up the point that "As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part" (Bible Dictionary, "Prayer," 752).  Once people realize who God is and who we are to Him, there will not be a struggle to pray. I have found that when God's true nature and of our relationship to Him is distorted it greatly decreases the prayer instinct, while gaining greater knowledge of God and His attributes increases the desire to talk with Him. God is a perfect parent, not a distant manager. God is love, pure and undefiled by the ways of the world. God is patient, long suffering and always trying to see our good and help us to progress. God is just... As we come to a greater testimony of these simple truths prayer and indeed worship acquire an entirely new level. Brother Dunn made an excellent point this week when he asserted that worship in the truest sense means emulation. As we come to understand the true nature of God, talk with Him and worship Him, we should be seeking to be more like Him, more caring, more patient, loving and kind, more honest in our dealings with our fellow men, more chaste in thought, word and deed, more serving and seeking to do good to all. I know that as I have come to a greater knowledge of God and have truly worshiped Him, I have seen changes wrought in my life that I would have told you were impossible, but with God all things are possible. I leave you this testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

With love,

Elder Roberts

Transfer 4 Week 1

Dear Everyone,

    I cannot believe a whole transfer has gone by it feels like both an eternity and no time at all. Many of the Elders that I had met the past few transfers have completed their missions and have gone home. A farewell to the departing and a welcome those who are just beginning. I have had the honor of getting to know three of the new missionaries and meeting most of them during training meeting this past week. This week has been an incredible one. We've set baptismal dates in both Cary 2nd and 3rd wards, met "elect" investigators or "truth seekers" and are now teaching them. We were also able to take one of our investigators to a baptism and also on a walk around the Temple grounds. :)

    One of the "elect" that we found was while I was with the Spanish missionaries tracting (knocking doors). She invited us in an almost immediately we were able to teach the First lesson. Elder Chase and I taught most of the lesson since she spoke better English than Spanish, which was a nice change. I was glad to dust off my teaching skills and polish them up a bit. I ended up saying too much though and Elder Chupin got onto me. Thankfully when we taught her the 2nd lesson later that week I did a lot better in simplifying and using scriptures to back what I was teaching ^^

    Another really awesome investigator is getting married on the 16th to one of our recent converts! :D I am so happy for them! The rest of our investigators continue to progress and I am always glad to see them at church each Sunday. They seem happy to see me too, even if my Spanish is a bit off... OK a lot off. XD

    I am so glad that I am able to see the differences that are being made in the lives around me. The Gospel of Jesus Christ truly is a Gospel of happiness and change. It salvages that which seems irreplaceable, binds up broken hearts, casts out the devils that plague us, changes the sinners to saints through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and polishes the good to better and best. I have a testimony of the first principles and ordinances of the gospel: Faith in Jesus Christ: the Son of God, Our redeemer, advocate with the Father, the rock of salvation and foundation of our testimony, Repentance: the change of heart that purifies our hearts and minds through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and allows us to begin anew, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins: the cleansing ordinance in which we make covenants with Our Heavenly Father to always remember His Son and strive to be like Him, The Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands: the promise of the constant guidance and companionship of the Holy Ghost as we strive to keep ourselves worthy and finally Enduring to the End: doing our best to keep the covenants we have made and making the best use of the Atonement in our progression through trials, tribulations and other obstacles. I know that in doing these things there is power, there is strength to overcome that which seems impossible to overcome. This is my testimony, that as we do our best to have faith in Christ, repent of our wrong doings, be baptized by immersion for the remission of sins by the proper priesthood authority for those who are not members or partake of the sacrament and renew that covenant for those who are, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost daily in our lives as we strive to keep those covenants and Endure to the end, there will a peace and happiness that attend you through the sorest of trials for you will have an unshakable foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall, even the foundation of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. In His name I testify of these things, even Jesus Christ. Amen


With Love,

Elder Roberts

P.S. Happy Late New Year
P.P.S. Have a wonderful week!