Dear everyone,

     As I was praying this week and asking Heavenly Father to help me be humble, I realized I was literally asking him to give me more trials..... Because from my experience, that is how He humbles us. True to his word, He answered that prayer.. all week. It felt like everyday this week I was doing something wrong. It seemed like I had to be corrected on missionary rules and standards everyday even though I thought I was keeping them. I never did find some of the rules I was told I was breaking, but I trust that the leaders in the mission know what they are talking about. The right way to take correction is to be humble and take the correction and then change whatever you are doing, so The Lord gave me plenty of opportunities to practice being humble. I'm still working on it though.

     In other news I have been making a conscious effort to learn all the members’ names that are at church each week (and some that don't attend too) and then to greet them by their names whenever I speak to them. This has been going quite well, one sister remarked, "You know my name! You actually know my name!" She was so joyful that the Missionaries remembered her name, it made her feel much more loved, and important. I have been learning that the more the members trust you, the more they are willing to help you. One member even invited one of our investigators to watch the Christmas devotional at their house Sunday evening.

     On Saturday it was the ward Christmas party and the food was phenomenal country ham (like you would not believe!), but better than the ham, was the look of happiness on the face of an inactive member who hasn't been in  the church building in easily 7 or 8 years, and his brother, (who we are teaching). Ward members greeted them with open arms and were so happy to see him back in the church again. I could tell that he clearly realized how much he has missed. That was the happiest I have seen both of them since we started teaching them.

     The hard part about being a missionary is on Sundays when Sacrament Meeting starts and your Investigators that committed to come to church, don't come to church. The best part about being a missionary on Sundays (besides taking the Sacrament) is when your investigators do show up, because you then get to share the joy of being at church with them, and you know that the Spirit is present always on the Sabbath in the Franklin Ward by the way it feels when you walk in the front doors of the church building before church even starts! If we can learn to have daily scripture study--everyday without fail, and pray everyday more than we already have been praying, and finally attend Sacrament meeting and all our other church meetings every Sunday, we will be happier. That is not even debatable, it’s true! I see it in my life and the lives of every other missionary and many, many of the ward members. If we do all of the above we can make the Sabbath and our lives a delight (Isaiah 58:13-14).

Have a blessed day y'all!   

-Elder White