Friday, June 20, 2014

Feb. 10, 2014 ~ This week was a pretty crazy week.


Gooood morning Arizona!! It was such a blessing to hear from you all!  Sounds like you're all staying as busy as ever, keeping anxiously engaged in a good cause.  Aust, I haven't gotten the package yet but I'm looking forward to seeing this decal you sent me.  I already know it's going to be the talk of the town as I start showin it off. It's the the one-up to hand carved mahogany.  Sounds like you're having a fun time with school Braden, keep it up!  Dad, you'll be proud.  There's only 2 days of the week where we wake up at 6:30... and that's Sundays and Mondays.  The rest of the days we're up at 5:50 am to either make it down to the stake center to play basketball or to the stadium to run stadiums!  I'm starting to get back into somewhat decent athletic shape.... but just somewhat.... haha. Mom, I laughed at that story you told me of telling that sister to go to the casino who doesn't come to church much.  It's all good, if I had a penny for every time I did that I could go on a spending spree at the dollar store!

This week was a pretty crazy week.  Nearly half the zone is new and got transferred in or out, however you want to look at it.  Elder Vance is a great guy.  We have a good time together.  It was a pretty stressful week, for these last few days I was having to nearly run the zone and the area by myself, since E. Vance doesn't know the area and is learning the ropes of being a zl.  I'm almost convinced he has ADD or something, haha which is great, because he's not content with sitting and stewing.  He's a go and do type of guy.  He's great at talking to people and relating with people as well, which will be a great blessing to our area and the members of our zone!

The majority of our time this week was spent meeting members and investigators, trying to get E. Vance introduced to them.  We had a good amount of people lined up to come to church on Sunday, which we were really really excited for, but no one came... It was disappointing, however it gave us greater motivation to work harder this next week and to find those who want to come and have a desire to accept the gospel in their life!

Andrew was one of those people that we had lined up to come to church.  We went by Tuesday, for E. Burr to say adios.  We stood outside in 20 degree weather with the wind blowing for for an hour.... it was cooolllldddddd... because he's having issues with his wife/girlfriend he's lived with for 15 years on and off and didn't want to be in the house.  Long conversation short, he said "If you show up Sunday morning and have a ride, I'll walk out that door with you, wife and kids with me or not, and go with you to church."  We showed up Sunday morning and he wasn't there.  Pretty disappointing but we're not going to give up!
A short little insight for the week comes from the Missionary Handbook.  We were reading it this morning and this was one of the paragraphs that we read over. "Time is one of the most precious resources Heavenly Father has given you.  The period when you are able to serve the Lord with all your time and all your efforts is extremely short.  Use it fully and wisely.  Such an opportunity is a privilege."  What a powerful statement! The period when we are able to serve the Lord with all of our efforts of course is right now for myself, as a missionary.  It is extremely short.  It has been such a privilege and continues to be.  Within the eternal scheme of things, our life on earth, our probationary state, or "this period when we are able to serve the Lord with all [our] time and all [our] efforts" is extremely short!  How we use our time and what we do with it is such an important decision God has allowed us to exercise our agency over.  It's a resource, like any other, that we are held accountable on how we use it.  That's about the beginning of all my thoughts, but I thought I'd share.  I love you all, and am so grateful for all that you do for me!  Thank you thank you!!  Keep on keepin on, and know that obedience brings blessings, and exact obedience endows us with power.  Love you!

Elder Traasdahl

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