So, this week went well. We got
our mission standard of 25 lessons, 7 of which were MP's. That''s always nice.
We also had 10 come to Sacrament this week! We were happy to see that. We also
were able to take Williams to Br. Paul's place. What was cool was afterward,
Br. Paul followed us back to Williams' place so he could know there. We didn't
ask Br. Paul to do that, but he did anyways. It's nice to see that. The members
are slowly starting to lengthen their stride, to use Pres. Kimball's
terminology.
Main thing for this week was we got Justice and Thomas prepared for baptism! Remember them? They're the 16 and 14 yr olds from the first Sunday we (E. Bies, E. Larsen, and I) were in Kaneshie. They've been coming almost ever since, and we've finally cleared everything so that they can be baptized. It's pretty awesome. It should come on this Saturday, right after Seminary (they do it here Sat. 4-6 pm), so there should be a nice turnout for attendance. Let's hope and pray!
Another note, Jenny and Jasmine (the girls from Switzerland) said this week that they felt God has answered their prayers, as they feel good when they read the Book of Mormon and when they pray! It was cool; remember that these girls didn't know Whom God was before we met them. Neither one had a testimony that God even existed. Now they feel that He does, it seems. We're going to try to give them a date this week; kinda hard as they still don't really know what 'Baptism' means, but we're working on asking them in a way they can understand. They leave the end of August, so we have some time to teach them and maybe even baptize them! That'd be really cool. What's more is this week, Sis. Celina came with a new friend. Her name is Theresa. She flew in from Germany Saturday night, they said, and decided to come with the rest of them to Church. She told us she believes in God, but has never really gone into details about the Gospel or the scriptures or anything. She really enjoyed Church. Who knows? Maybe she can join them! Haha; her English is much better, so she can progress a lot faster. Things are going to be interesting the next coming weeks.
That's about it. I'll end here with the letter from Pres. As he mentioned, we'll be having Zone Interviews this week, along with a temple trip! I'm excited for that; I haven't been through the temple in almost a year now, if not over. I honestly cant remember the last time I went through the temple, but I don't think we've gone since Pres. came in July or so.... Anyways, it'll be nice. We will be going this Friday, so things should be fun.
Welp, here's Pres.'s letter. Enjoy!
"Dear Elders and Sisters:
Most members of the Church are familiar with the words of the Lord when He taught how our weaknesses can become strengths. This was one of the first verses of scripture I memorized when I was a young man and was learning of the powerful doctrines found in the Book of Mormon:
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." (Ether 12:27, see also 2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
Even thought these words and the doctrines they teach are very familiar to me, I continue to learn more about them as the years go on. As a young man, I loved to play baseball and had dreams of becoming a major league baseball player. I worked very hard and had a lot of success until a fateful day when I had a serious injury while playing football. I dislocated and separated my right shoulder. It was while I was in a hospital recovering from surgery on my shoulder that my brother Richard shared Ether 12:27 with me. That was the first time I had ever read the scripture. I immediately loved the verse and embraced it as my favorite. I was convinced that the Lord had given me my injury to humble me and that if I had faith in Him, He would make my shoulder strong again and I could regain my strength and reclaim my dream of being a great athlete. It didn't work. I worked hard and tried to live as best I could, but my shoulder was never the same. I had to accept the fact that I would never achieve the dreams I had had of being a great baseball player.
Did the Lord let me down? Had He failed to keep His promise that He would make "weak things become strong"? While I never lost my faith in the Lord's promise, several years went by until I finally understood the doctrine correctly and why the Lord had not allowed my shoulder to become strong again. The words of the Lord in the first part of the verse read: "If men come unto me I [the Lord] will show unto them their weakness" (emphasis added). The mistake I had made was that I had been the one to decide what my weakness was that I wanted the Lord to transform into a strength. I hadn't followed the Lord's instructions to "come unto [Him]" and ask Him to "show unto [me] [my] weakness." I had made the decision for myself and was telling the Lord what I wanted to happen--- a very "small boy" thing to do.
In the years since, I have learned to "seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand" (Jacob 4:10, see also Isaiah 55:8-9). The weaknesses we have that the Lord promises to turn into strengths are the ones He chooses to bless through His power. The Lord cared about me and my injured shoulder, but making it strong again wasn't His will. My shoulder is still weak today and probably always will be until the resurrection. It was my character the Lord wanted to strengthen--- not my shoulder. The Lord wanted to take a take a proud athlete and turn him into a humble disciple of Jesus Christ. Time will only tell if the Lord has been successful or not.
Coming to understand and to seek to follow the Lord's will for us is so much more important than telling the Lord what we want and expecting Him to give it to us.
ASSIGNMENT
During these next few weeks it will be my privilege to meet with each of you during our zone interviews. One of the things I would like you to report to me during our interview is the weakness you believe the Lord desires to make a strength in your life. Prayerfully consider this question and report to me your findings when we meet.
One of the ways we can identify our weaknesses as missionaries and as a mission is to study the counsel the Lord has already given us pertaining to missionary work. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that "we never inquire at the hand of God for special revelation only in case of there being no previous revelation to suit the case" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 22). In other words, the Lord may not be specific to you about a weakness He wants to help you make a strength because He has already told you in the Missionary Handbook what He would have you do (and not do). In addition to seeking Father in Heaven's counsel through prayer, I am asking each of you to carefully read the Missionary Handbook from beginning to end, and underline the things you are not doing that you should be doing and the things you are doing that you should not. Underline these "deficiencies" or "weaknesses" in your Missionary Handbook and be prepared to talk about how I can help you make these weaknesses strengths.
For example, you might underline such things as "On preparation day, wear regular missionary clothes in public" (MH, p. 19). Or, for elders, "Do not wear . . . any kind of bracelets" (MH, p. 11). Other weaknesses could be scheduling items such as "9:00 Companion Study" or "10:00 Begin proselyting" (MH, p. 14). To some these may seem like simple things, but I promise you that there are blessings for obedience and I am convinced that as we seek the Lord's guidance and grace as individuals, as companionships, and as a mission, our weaknesses will become strengths and we will become stronger. We need to continue to become much more serious about our obedience as a mission. We have made good progress, but we have a ways to go before the Lord will fully trust us and bless us in the ways we need to be blessed. With the Lord's help we can make the Ghana Accra Mission one of the Lord's most beautiful jewels.
Thank you for your willingness to take part in this assignment.
I love you and pray for your continued success.
With love and affection,
President Judd" (Weaknesses and Strengths, 11 June, 2012).
I know that these things are true. I would invite everyone to site down this week and take an honest look at what you could improve on. Search out your weaknesses and deficiencies and then prayerfully set goals to improve on them. Doing so will surely bring you the promised blessings, for as the Lord said, "What manner of men [and women] ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am" (3 Ne. 27:27). I know these things are true, and I love them so much!
OH! Last note, June is the last month to be sending letters. Once July hits, you probably wont want to send anything. I dont know when it'll get here, but often it can take some time. You might be able to risk a week or two into July, but that's pushing it. So, thanks to everyone who's been writing, even though I've been terrible at getting mine out! Sorry, but that's just how mail works in Ghana...
I love you all! Read the Book of Mormon every day! Come unto Christ, and be healed (3 Ne. 17:7-8). Have a great week!
--Elder Collings
Main thing for this week was we got Justice and Thomas prepared for baptism! Remember them? They're the 16 and 14 yr olds from the first Sunday we (E. Bies, E. Larsen, and I) were in Kaneshie. They've been coming almost ever since, and we've finally cleared everything so that they can be baptized. It's pretty awesome. It should come on this Saturday, right after Seminary (they do it here Sat. 4-6 pm), so there should be a nice turnout for attendance. Let's hope and pray!
Another note, Jenny and Jasmine (the girls from Switzerland) said this week that they felt God has answered their prayers, as they feel good when they read the Book of Mormon and when they pray! It was cool; remember that these girls didn't know Whom God was before we met them. Neither one had a testimony that God even existed. Now they feel that He does, it seems. We're going to try to give them a date this week; kinda hard as they still don't really know what 'Baptism' means, but we're working on asking them in a way they can understand. They leave the end of August, so we have some time to teach them and maybe even baptize them! That'd be really cool. What's more is this week, Sis. Celina came with a new friend. Her name is Theresa. She flew in from Germany Saturday night, they said, and decided to come with the rest of them to Church. She told us she believes in God, but has never really gone into details about the Gospel or the scriptures or anything. She really enjoyed Church. Who knows? Maybe she can join them! Haha; her English is much better, so she can progress a lot faster. Things are going to be interesting the next coming weeks.
That's about it. I'll end here with the letter from Pres. As he mentioned, we'll be having Zone Interviews this week, along with a temple trip! I'm excited for that; I haven't been through the temple in almost a year now, if not over. I honestly cant remember the last time I went through the temple, but I don't think we've gone since Pres. came in July or so.... Anyways, it'll be nice. We will be going this Friday, so things should be fun.
Welp, here's Pres.'s letter. Enjoy!
"Dear Elders and Sisters:
Most members of the Church are familiar with the words of the Lord when He taught how our weaknesses can become strengths. This was one of the first verses of scripture I memorized when I was a young man and was learning of the powerful doctrines found in the Book of Mormon:
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." (Ether 12:27, see also 2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
Even thought these words and the doctrines they teach are very familiar to me, I continue to learn more about them as the years go on. As a young man, I loved to play baseball and had dreams of becoming a major league baseball player. I worked very hard and had a lot of success until a fateful day when I had a serious injury while playing football. I dislocated and separated my right shoulder. It was while I was in a hospital recovering from surgery on my shoulder that my brother Richard shared Ether 12:27 with me. That was the first time I had ever read the scripture. I immediately loved the verse and embraced it as my favorite. I was convinced that the Lord had given me my injury to humble me and that if I had faith in Him, He would make my shoulder strong again and I could regain my strength and reclaim my dream of being a great athlete. It didn't work. I worked hard and tried to live as best I could, but my shoulder was never the same. I had to accept the fact that I would never achieve the dreams I had had of being a great baseball player.
Did the Lord let me down? Had He failed to keep His promise that He would make "weak things become strong"? While I never lost my faith in the Lord's promise, several years went by until I finally understood the doctrine correctly and why the Lord had not allowed my shoulder to become strong again. The words of the Lord in the first part of the verse read: "If men come unto me I [the Lord] will show unto them their weakness" (emphasis added). The mistake I had made was that I had been the one to decide what my weakness was that I wanted the Lord to transform into a strength. I hadn't followed the Lord's instructions to "come unto [Him]" and ask Him to "show unto [me] [my] weakness." I had made the decision for myself and was telling the Lord what I wanted to happen--- a very "small boy" thing to do.
In the years since, I have learned to "seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand" (Jacob 4:10, see also Isaiah 55:8-9). The weaknesses we have that the Lord promises to turn into strengths are the ones He chooses to bless through His power. The Lord cared about me and my injured shoulder, but making it strong again wasn't His will. My shoulder is still weak today and probably always will be until the resurrection. It was my character the Lord wanted to strengthen--- not my shoulder. The Lord wanted to take a take a proud athlete and turn him into a humble disciple of Jesus Christ. Time will only tell if the Lord has been successful or not.
Coming to understand and to seek to follow the Lord's will for us is so much more important than telling the Lord what we want and expecting Him to give it to us.
ASSIGNMENT
During these next few weeks it will be my privilege to meet with each of you during our zone interviews. One of the things I would like you to report to me during our interview is the weakness you believe the Lord desires to make a strength in your life. Prayerfully consider this question and report to me your findings when we meet.
One of the ways we can identify our weaknesses as missionaries and as a mission is to study the counsel the Lord has already given us pertaining to missionary work. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that "we never inquire at the hand of God for special revelation only in case of there being no previous revelation to suit the case" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 22). In other words, the Lord may not be specific to you about a weakness He wants to help you make a strength because He has already told you in the Missionary Handbook what He would have you do (and not do). In addition to seeking Father in Heaven's counsel through prayer, I am asking each of you to carefully read the Missionary Handbook from beginning to end, and underline the things you are not doing that you should be doing and the things you are doing that you should not. Underline these "deficiencies" or "weaknesses" in your Missionary Handbook and be prepared to talk about how I can help you make these weaknesses strengths.
For example, you might underline such things as "On preparation day, wear regular missionary clothes in public" (MH, p. 19). Or, for elders, "Do not wear . . . any kind of bracelets" (MH, p. 11). Other weaknesses could be scheduling items such as "9:00 Companion Study" or "10:00 Begin proselyting" (MH, p. 14). To some these may seem like simple things, but I promise you that there are blessings for obedience and I am convinced that as we seek the Lord's guidance and grace as individuals, as companionships, and as a mission, our weaknesses will become strengths and we will become stronger. We need to continue to become much more serious about our obedience as a mission. We have made good progress, but we have a ways to go before the Lord will fully trust us and bless us in the ways we need to be blessed. With the Lord's help we can make the Ghana Accra Mission one of the Lord's most beautiful jewels.
Thank you for your willingness to take part in this assignment.
I love you and pray for your continued success.
With love and affection,
President Judd" (Weaknesses and Strengths, 11 June, 2012).
I know that these things are true. I would invite everyone to site down this week and take an honest look at what you could improve on. Search out your weaknesses and deficiencies and then prayerfully set goals to improve on them. Doing so will surely bring you the promised blessings, for as the Lord said, "What manner of men [and women] ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am" (3 Ne. 27:27). I know these things are true, and I love them so much!
OH! Last note, June is the last month to be sending letters. Once July hits, you probably wont want to send anything. I dont know when it'll get here, but often it can take some time. You might be able to risk a week or two into July, but that's pushing it. So, thanks to everyone who's been writing, even though I've been terrible at getting mine out! Sorry, but that's just how mail works in Ghana...
I love you all! Read the Book of Mormon every day! Come unto Christ, and be healed (3 Ne. 17:7-8). Have a great week!
--Elder Collings
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