Jan.
13, 2013
Hello again,
So it’s a brand
new year with a new companion. The reason I did not email last week is
because nothing really new happened. Right after my last email, we got a
message from our Mission President telling us all to return home and prepare
for a huge storm that was coming. This ended up throwing off the schedule
for all the missionaries to get their new companions.
As a result, I got
to spend some more time with my beloved companion, Elder Graff, as we
were trapped in the house for the next three days. We started the fun by
cleaning out the bathtub so that we had some fresh water in case all the pipes
froze in the storm. Although I think we did an awesome job cleaning it, I
am glad that we never had to use that water. It is weird having that much
time to do nothing. It did not take very long before
Elder Graff and I got bored out of our minds.
When you go from
doing so much all the time with not enough sleep to doing nothing all the time
with too much sleep it really throws you for a loop. We were glad to get
back to work after it ended and gained a new appreciation for doing the work of
the Lord. I have learned that it is not the number of hours you sleep
that gives you energy to do the work, but it is God that gives you the energy
to do His work.
I am happy to say
though that I do have my new companion now and he is great. His name is
Elder Calvert and he used to play for BYU's basketball team. He
has been out for under a year and is learning the area pretty quickly which is
kind of scary because if he learns it too quickly there might not be any more
use for me here and I might get transferred out.
We are both glad
that the holidays are finally over because now we can meet with all our people
again. As missionaries, we find that during the holiday season no one
wants to meet with the missionaries because everyone is either out of town or
spending time with their families. Most people just tell us to come back
in January. Now that it is January though hopefully we will be able to
have a ton of new opportunities to share the gospel.
So I do happen to
have one story from this week about a member we went to visit that has had some
struggles coming back to church after her long absence. She told us that
she did not feel worthy coming to church because she was breaking the Word of
Wisdom. She said that she knows now that she needs to be following them
but that she does not feel right going to church while she is still
sinning.
These are the
things that we said to her: We told her that church is not for the
perfect, that just as Christ came into this world to save the sinners
from their sins, so, too, is church a place for the imperfect to come to purify
themselves. We told her that if only perfect people went to church you
would find all our church buildings empty. We then explained to her that
church is for those that realize they are not perfect but are doing what it
takes to make themselves better. The reason that I share this story is
because not always do the people we teach humble themselves to the words we
say. But this member did and because she did she received the words which
we spoke into her heart and it changed her. Even to the point where her
fears of coming to church vanished and they were replaced with faith.
I am sorry to say
this but I don't have any more cool stories from this week. I am not sure
if it is because nothing out of the ordinary happened this week, or if it is
just because I am so used to all the crazy things now that it has all of a sudden
become normal. But I thank you all for the examples you set and the name
which you bear. And I hope that you do not forget the name you bear but
that you wear it proudly and righteously.
Elder Erb
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