Unless There Is A DESIRE to Know...

Sounds like everyone has had a busy busy busy week! Well, that makes 5 of us! Tyler you best make it 6. Haha nah just messin. Well just so you know, I sent home a memory card today, so it should be coming in the mail sometime this week. If it doesn't, then I think that's the Lord telling me that I need to forget taking pictures and rely on the record that the angels in heaven are taking of my life. This week has been an up and down kind of week.  T. texted us on Saturday, before we were about to go down to Waurika, and said "Don't come by today. Or ever."  She told us too that she wants to go to a church closer to her home and that God loves her unconditionally so that means he wants her to be happy, so it's ok for her to smoke and drink. We replied and said God's love in unconditional, his commandments are not. Clear and simple!  She's going to go to a Church of Christ down there, because her neighbor has been "working with her on the side"...  It also was a check to the gut too because we each spent about 20$ to buy supplies for the Stop Smoking Workshop for her, annnnnnd then she drops us. It's okay though, Elder Lott now has raw unsweetened grapefruit juice, and we've got grapes and carrots to munch on!  Not to mention cinnamon toothpaste, mouthwash, and some other fun stuff.  

We were able to meet with R. twice this though! She's the Messianic Jew I mentioned last week. Man. Those were some intense lessons.  Really awesome.  She's got some great questions.  Our first lesson was at our stake president's home.  We were going to teach the restoration, but it turned into a testimony meeting more or less.  Oh before I forget, the day we had that first lesson, Wednesday, we had 3 meals, one at 12:00, one at 3:00, and then at 6:00.  The lesson was at 6:00.  By that 6 o'clock meal I was about to bust in the seams.  It was a high class problem. 

Anyways, back to R.  We met with her last night and taught the doctrine of Christ, which turned into a discussion on the Priesthood authority.  Just to give you a taste, some of the questions she asked were "what does baptism have to do with the first resurrection?"  "Where does it say the responsibility to baptize falls under the Levitical or Melchezideck Priesthood?"  "Who qualified Joseph Smith to receive the priesthood?"  

We answered most of them, some we've got some studying to do, and some won't have scriptural answers.  I've learned that no matter the amount of knowledge or evidence there is for any principle of fact of the gospel, unless there is a desire to know behind the seeking, then conversion won't happen.  Real intent is so important!  The desires of our heart are so so important.  It's something I've been studying as well this past week.  There's lot's of good stuff about it in the scriptures.  One thought I had this week was "We know we're going to live the law of consecration in heaven. We also know we're not going to have any material goods in heaven. What is it then that we're going to be asked to consecrate?"  Food for thought.

I gotta run though, glad you're doing well!  Keep up the hard work!  Thanks for the example Pops and Aust of being hard workers! Talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Traasdahl