Highest highs and lowest lows

Elder T. in Duncan, OK.

So so so good to hear from everyone this week! Probably won't have time to reply back to y'alls emails, but I LOVED reading them!! That's such a cool story about those people in Norway that Grandpa Traasdahl baptized!!  Warms my heart to hear that!

Well let's get started, what a busy week I've had... let me tell you what.  Had two exchanges this week, one with the AP's, and the other with one of our district leaders.  Ha and had you asked me a few months ago if I'd ever be going on an exchange with the AP's I'd have laughed in your face.  But yeah it was a really sweet exchange.  I went with elder C. up to Moore.  Oh he's my grandpa btw, he trained Elder Woodland.  So we're kin.  Haha but some crazy stuff happened on the exchange.

We were out finding, praying with folk, and we knocked into a preacher. Long story short, we asked if we could pray with him, he said no, but he'd like to pray for us.  So we said of course, we love prayers!  So he step out of his door and then started asking us questions like "Who is Jesus Christ?", "Who is God?", "Who is Joseph Smith?", "So you don't worship Jospeh Smith?", "Why are you teaching people that?".  I wish you coulda been there.  This guy was just going off trying to "catch" us in our "lies".  And we just stood there and answered his questions and set him straight in his falsehoods and testified!!  And then of course he started throwing out all the anti he knew at us  and then Elder C. and I, respectfully, start asking this guys the questions about doctrine, and he fumbled for answers... Fulfillment of scripture.  I need to be a better scriptorian but in the D&C it says that if you open you mouth it shall be filled with the spirit and you shall not be confounded before men.   So we left him with our testimonies of Christ, thanked him for his faith in Christ, and wished him well in life.

While on exchanges with one of our district leaders in Ada, I also got to teach a Muslim man. The whole time he was smoking but long story short  there too we testified of Christ as well and man, theres nothing like getting that feeling in your chest of the spirit when you leave your witness of the Savior of the world.  Especially to someone who believes that He was merely a holy man, who taught good principles.  So those were some highlights of the week.

Pops you said we'd experience our highest highs and lowest lows.  Amen to that.  I had both of those this week.  Just told you of my highs this week.  A low just happen last night.  We met with a man who wanted his name removed from the records. He still has a testimony, he told us that much.  He wasn't converted anymore.  He got a job that he had to work on sundays and stopped coming to church.  Now he went to another church on Saturdays that he's off and that's his new home now.  CPR saves lives.  It can also save our spiritual lives. Church, Prayer, and Reading scriptures.  So basic but soooo VITAL!!! Like I've said before, if Satan can get us to stop communicating with Heavenly Father, he's won the battle.  He does that by getting us to not go to church, or by not keeping the sabbath day holy, by not saying our prayers, and not reading our scriptures.  I left that man's house with such a sadness in my heart.  Nothing we said or did could change his mind.   And like Tyler said, 2 Nephi 2:28 applies so well here. He had lost his eternal perspective.  We too can lose that perspective by forgetting to do these basic fundamentals of the gospel.

On a better note though I want to say thanks to Aunt Jody and Uncle Chris for their package they sent me! That was a bright spot in my day! Already used their pancake mix they sent. Anyways I love y'all.  You mean the world to me!!!  Let me know if I can do anything for you guys.  LOVE YOU!!!

Elder Traasdahl

P.S. Happy happy happy birthday Austin and Dad!!! (since i won't get to say it on the 4th and 5th... and I dont want to be late about it!)