December 2, 2013

Pine is pretty good so far. most of the work up here is working with members who are less active and as of now we don't have any investigators that we are working with so I hope that can change and we can find more people to teach. a lot the problem is that everyone here is old and so there stuck in there ways, they have an opinion from something that happened 20 years ago and that's why they don't like church and so we are trying to work with a lot of those people. And they haven't lived the gospel in so many years it’s easy to stay how they are and not change. a little about the people we are working with. We are working with a guy named Steve who wants to receive the melchezidik priesthood and we are helping him get his life back in order. and we are working with another guy named Steve who's different and his wife passed away and they weren't married in the temple but just found out he could still get sealed to her and he wants to get sealed so he is reactivating! yesterday we found out there's a family that's LA and they have a 9 year old daughter and she hasn't been baptized so we went and saw the dad And  I guess he's a RM and has a testimony and stuff so it would be really neat if he came back to church and then he could baptize his daughter. there’s another guy named Rick that his family is members and he wants to join and has been taught all the lessons and become a member but he’s having a hard time giving up his word of wisdom addictions (happens tons up here from all the hicks who chew, drink, etc.) so it would be a miracle to be able to get him to quit. There’s a ward Christmas party this weekend and his daughter is in it so hopefully if he feels the spirit that might be a motivator.

For kind of anti-social and stuff and after dinner usually he will go back out side to his trailer/camper (he lives Thanksgiving, we had 2 dinners but at the second one it was with a good active family but one of the guys that lives there is less active across the street) but instead he stayed and played games with us and chatted and it was really cool and the family told us that after!

Fast and testimony meeting was really good yesterday since it was my first Sunday here I was asked to bear my testimony in front of the ward, guess I should be used to that by now as a missionary Haha, but it was good I talked about the sacrament and the covenants we make each week as we partake of it cause I was one of the ones who blessed it since there's a small number of youth in the ward and I really pondered it during the sacrament and that's what was on my mind when I got called up.  I didn't share this with the ward but while I was breaking the bread I really realized what I was doing and what it signified, that that was Christ body and all those pieces individually represent a part of him and usually I'm up there breaking the bread as fast as I can to have it done by the end of the song but as I was breaking it I realized it was like Christ's body being torn apart for me and thought a lot about the garden of gethsemane as well as the crucifixion and resurrection. It meant a lot more to me. (I don't know if that's false doctrine by saying that? but I do know it meant more to me this time then previous times.)