Last week I mentioned a referral that we were going to eat dinner
with last Tuesday night. We met this man named Scott that night for
dinner at the Wellington Grill, and it was a great first meeting! We
were able to get to know him really well, and talk about his life and
what he knows about the Gospel. His girlfriend is a member, and he has a
lot of questions that he wants to ask us, which is honestly the best
thing we can ask for! We set up a time next week when he would be in
town to meet with him at his house, so we are looking forward to that!
It was awesome to eat dinner with him and have an incredible first
contact with Scott. He seems really promising!
I was
able to conduct two baptismal interviews this past week for Shawna and
Cameron in the YSA Ward in Fort Collins for the Sisters in our
District. It is such an amazing opportunity to interview candidates who
have sincerely repented of their sins, and want to be baptized! Both
interviews went very well, and being able to hear both of them bare
their testimonies was pretty special. I was able to feel the Spirit so
strongly when they testified to me that they knew what they learned is
true! Especially Cameron’s testimony to me about Faith. She has
amazingly great faith, and it was awesome to learn from her. We were
able to attend both of their baptism’s and confirmations as well! How
awesome is that! Cameron actually asked Elder Burke and I to stand in
the circle when she was confirmed a member of the church and received
the Gift of the Holy Ghost! The Spirit was so strong in that Sacrament
Meeting, and I’m so glad Elder Burke and I could be a part of it. I
love hearing the testimonies of those who have just found the church,
they are some of the most powerful! What a blessing it is to have the
Gospel in our lives! I’m grateful for Heavenly Father and for the love
he has shown each of us in providing this wonderful gospel for us! I
know this is Jesus Christ’s Church Restored again through Joseph Smith.
What a blessing it is to be a part of that church!
We
had a few service opportunities that we helped out with this past week.
We helped with the Wellington Food Bank, we helped our Zone Leaders
move someone down in Fort Collins, and we served a Texas Roadhouse lunch
at a Livestock Auction at the Weaver Ranch here in Wellington or I
guess out in the country a bit but close enough! It was awesome being
able to serve others, just like every single day as a missionary! It is
amazing to have our focus on others every single day! Our bishop
invited us this past Sunday
to help out with the Livestock Auction, so we headed out there
yesterday. It was bitterly cold let me tell you! It was 68 degrees on Sunday,
and yesterday we woke up to it in the teens, and this morning it was in
the negatives...... Anyways, we were serving lunch to all the country
folk, and it was fun to meet some new people! The Auction was in a
barn, but it wasn’t sealed too well, so it was cold even with a bunch of
heaters running! Haha, Elder Burke and I got a bit chilly standing
there serving up some nice steaks, potatoes, corn, and beans! Once
everyone went through we were able to get some food, and we went and
warmed up our shoes and feet at one of the heaters. This was my first
Livestock Auction, and it was fun to see a little bit of how it worked!
Man can that Auction guy talk fast! Some of the bulls they were
auctioning off were HUGE! sheesh. It was a really cool experience.
We had a lesson with Paul this past Saturday,
and it went really well! Paul invited his wife to join us for the
lesson, but his wife was busy cleaning up for family coming over.
Hopefully she will join us next lesson. We started with following up
with him about how his reading has been going, and how his study of the
Restoration Pamphlet has gone. He told us that he had read and studied
from the pamphlet! How awesome! We discussed some of his questions,
and talked more about Joseph Smith seeing our Heavenly Father and Jesus
Christ face to face. It was awesome to see him understand more and more
about what we taught! We started teaching him The Plan of Salvation,
and started to have some really good conversation when his father and
mother in law came with a bunch of cousins. When they saw us, they said
“Paul, you buying insurance?” Haha, we laughed, and he said to them
that we were having some gospel discussion. We had to leave, but
invited Paul to read the rest of the Plan of Salvation Pamphlet, and
that we would teach him the rest next Saturday. We invited him to church, and he said he had another thing schedule for Sunday,
but that he said he wants to make it over there to church soon! We are
really excited to continue to work with Paul! He is such an amazing
investigator, and has a drive to learn more. What a blessing it has
been to find him and teach him.
In my studies this
past week, I read 2 Nephi 5:20-21. This is right after Nephi is
commanded to separate his people from his brethren because they were
going to kill him. These verses say,
20
Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me,
saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall
be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off
from his presence.
21 And he had caused the
cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their
iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that
they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and
exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto
my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.
As I read this, it made me think a lot about the cursing. I
always thought the curse of the Lamanites was the “skin of blackness,”
but I read from the institute Book Of Mormon student study manual, and
it said that President Joseph Fielding Smith stated,
“Some
people have mistakenly thought that the dark skin placed upon the
Lamanites was the curse. President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972)
explained that the dark skin was not the curse:
“The dark skin
was placed upon the Lamanites so that they could be distinguished from
the Nephites and to keep the two peoples from mixing. The dark skin was
the sign of the curse [not the curse itself]. The curse was the
withdrawal of the Spirit of the Lord. …
“The dark skin of
those who have come into the Church is no longer to be considered a sign
of the curse. … These converts are delightsome and have the Spirit of
the Lord” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr.,
5 vols. [1957–66], 3:122–23).”
It is amazing to think of the curse being the Spirit of the Lord
withdrawing from the people, how interesting. It reminds me of each
week when we partake of the sacrament that we promise the Lord that we
will keep His Commandments, take His name upon us, and “always remember
Him,” but it also has a promise if we do these things and always
remember Him that we will “have His Spirit to be with them.” I would
invite each of you to think about the covenants you made at baptism,
especially this next Sunday
when you partake of the Sacrament, and truly pay attention to the words
that are said. The Atonement, your baptismal covenants, and the
Sacrament will take on a new meaning as we truly listen to those
covenants we are renewing with Heavenly Father. Truly listening to the
words which are said has helped me focus more on Jesus Christ! I wish I
was better at understanding these things, but I know it has helped me
to learn more! I love you all, and hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Bailey
Pics:
1: walkin in some nice nice ice by our mission office.
2-7: Livestock Auction! Lots of big boy cows!!
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