January 16, 2012

My Testimony of the Book of Mormon: I would say that the foundation of
my Testimony of the truthfullness of the Church comes mainly from the
Book of Mormon. I don't know what it is, but for myself, all other
principles of the Gospel or any other teachings have not compared when
it comes to strengthening my Faith and Testimony of God and his plan
for us than The Book of Mormon and the Prophet Joseph Smith. Many
people ask how they can know what we share as a church is true. Or
they may even be bold enough to say "Prove it." Well the best way to
prove it is to experiment and put it to the test yourself as Moroni
challenges us to do in 10: 4-5 says. He tells us the path to
recieveing an answer of proof is to Read it, Ponder it, and then pray
to ask God about it. I love the Book of Mormon and the knowledge of
Gods plan that it brings into our lives in answering the questions of
the Soul. I know the Book of Mormon is true and through it our faith
in Jesus Christ WILL increase and give us a greater desire to do good.
In the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Here are just some of the great miracles that are going on in the
Zone. We are very pleased with the work that the different
companionships of
the Zone are putting in to help the work of God move forward in the
Liverpool Stake. Because of the great effort and faith on their part,
this weekend the 21st of January we will be having 5 baptisms! Here are the
names of those being baptized:

Liverpool Ward- Dean Browne: Sisters Chuo & Longmore- Dean is a very
smart and talented man who has been able to see the effect of the
Gospel in his life. He loves church, contributes often, and looks for
ways to serve. Elder Eggers and I had a chance to play basketball with
him, not only did he love it, but he is pretty good. We are planning
on playing with him again before his Baptism. He is very excited for
this step in his life. I must say that my Basketball skills are a
little rusty, but still intact. When I come home, we can have some one
on one games. Dallin how are your Basketball skills coming. I will
challenge you and your recently gained height. ;)

Liverpool Ward- Shelam Mohammed: Elders Diaz & Perego- Shelam is a
woman with a child from the Middle East who has been attending church
meetings for the past few months and loves the way it makes her feel.
She does not have complete understanding of the Language of English,
but the spirit has been more than enough to help here see and feel the
difference.

Liverpool Ward- Ryan Zhou: Elders Eggers & Fawcett- Ryan is a Chinese
student from Shang Dong who has been at church and attending many
other activities over the past few months. He knows that God is there
and that he recieves help from him in his life, and because of that he
wants to make this covenant with him. Despite the stress and business
that comes with University life, he makes time to meet with us and
wants to do his best to keep all the commandments that we have been
given. He has a great relationship with many members of the ward which
help him to stay strong through opposition.

Southport Ward- Billy Roantree: Elders Delaibatiki & Youles- Billy is
a very kind older man who although has schizophrenia has a very strong
desire to do what is right and make this promise/covenant with God. He
has a very strong commitment level and has been meeting with the
missionaries almost every day since they first met him. Although the
ward had some concerns at first all has been cleared up and prepared
for his progress in the Gospel.

Crosby Ward- Louis Griffin: Elders Helzer & Camargo- Louis is a media
referal from the MTC. He refered himself and ever since has had a very
smooth teaching process. Along the path he has been able to make good
relationships with the members of the ward and is not only excited but
very ready for Baptism. Once again, consistancy and meeting with the
Elders has helped him be prepared. All a sign of his commitment to
follow the saviour Jesus Christ.

On a side note, from our meeting with the Stake President yesterday,
we talked about the a Chinese Class that we will be teaching to all
those who want to start learning Chinese starting on Febuary 1st.
Today we
were able to go and get 500 Chinese envelopes to put the advertisements for.
Also, Sister Chuo a sister from Taiwan feels that the Fliers need to
be modified a little bit more in order to accomodate for the audience
of the classes,
namely English people. Fortunately she is an amazing designer (She has
a Masters from BYU in Engineering) and will do 10 xs better than we
could ever do.

Now onto the week itself: This week something that has really been on
my mind and a big part of my studies yet again is the idea of Agency
and Accountability in all aspects of life. Yesterday I had the
opportunity to give a talk and share my testimony with the Liverpool
Ward. I felt that if there was one thing I wanted them to know, it was
that God is our Heavenly Father, and because of that he has a plan for
us, not only that, it is a perfect plan meant to help us become
perfect as he is. From this plan we recieve many gifts and blessings,
not the least of which being out Agency. From the very beginning we
had to choose what we wanted to do, no one was going to force us to be
a part of this plan or to go through what we are going through now.
This brings me tremendous comfort and support in times of trial or
stress, because ultimately, I know I chose to be here, going through
what I am going through to help me progress towards my goal that I
made before the world began. All of the plan stems from one simple, or
maybe not so simple principle, Agency. We will go where we choose to
go, we will go where everyone else like us goes. It is our choice and
ours only.

Another great principle I learned to a greater extent this week was
the principle of Effective finding and using our greatest finding
tool. Our smile! Elder Eggers and I went out last night and knew we
only had an hour to find. So we set a goal and went about doing our
best to Achieve it. By the end we accounted and saw that we had not
only achieved, but surpassed our goal and in doing so had great fun.
We spoke to 15 people in total, had 13 Quality Gospel Conversations
and set up 12 Appointments. We set up appointments with people from
Vietnam, India, England, and of course China. The pathway to this
success? One was setting a goal, two was having fun while doing all we
can to achieve this goal, and three was putting the biggest smile on
our faces we could despite the coldest weather of the year, and making
others laugh and truly WANT to meet with us because of not only what
we share but who we are. Every appointment we set was Quality. We have
been extremely blessed here in Liverpool and now all we have to do is
Follow-up with these blessings to convert them into even great
blessings that the Lord has in store for us. Once again, it is up to
us to obtain or lose these blessings. Agency

This past week I went on an Exchange with one of my great friends in
the Mission Elder Delaibatiki. This exchange was a great chance for us
to strengthen our relationship and boost each other up mentally and
spiritually. Elder Delaibatiki is an amazing missionary who has all
the right intentions. He is what you would call completely pure in
heart in his actions. He has a great love for the people he is serving
and always respects his leaders. He truly gets to know those he meets
and wants the best for them. Not only has he made the area better than
it was, but he has made his companion and himself better along the
way. He is always striving to become better than he was yesterday. The
one commitment I gave him was to teach to peoples needs through
simpler teaching. We taught 4 Chinese students while we were together
which made it an even tougher task, but from it I realized once again
the importance of teaching to understanding. If they dont understand
how are they supposed to apply it in their lives. He was very happy
and willing to accept this idea and is diligently working on it as we
speak. Life is Good because the Gospel is True. I could not be more
happy than I am now at this time involved in the Lords work. Have a
great week!!