From 0 to Miracles! (Samut Prakaan Week 5)
Hey hey there Dad!
First and foremost... Happy Father's Day! ððððððððððð
Thank you for being a great Father, someone I can rely on
and someone who is always diligent and worthy of emulating. Thank you for always
helping me with those late night school projects that I procrastinated on and
for all the advice and counsel that you have given me over the years. Working
out problems, supporting the family, being a worthy priesthood holder and
blessing the family, all apart of the attributes of a great father. Not once
have I ever felt that you have corrected us with anger. You have corrected us,
possibly will continue to correct us, sometimes sharply but always letting us
know that it was for our good and because you loved us. So thank you! I hope
you enjoy the small section of the video that I was apart of in the video on
Facebook. It's on the Mission Website in case you haven't seen it!
So, sounds like the school year is wrapping up. Buck is
leaving, Kai is done with school, or just about, and Kaleb is done with finals,
or almost. Next week is Mexico! I hope that is fun. Remember to pray before you
go out though. From what it sounds like in Kaleb's experience, it can
potentially be a little sketchy. I love telling everyone that Mom cried when I
went on my mission, because she was happy, but when Kaleb went on his mission,
she also cried for a different reason... hahaha. I also love telling everyone
how my older brother was robbed at machete point. That sounds like an
adventurous mission. Just think though, that only happened, what only a couple
months ago? Probably about 21 or 20 months ago or so? I still have a long time
in my mission so we'll be able to talk about that later again sometime...
hahaha.
As for us, the transfer is wrapping up. Next week: You
will receive emails on your Tuesday. I will send them on my Wednesday. At that
time, I will still be in my area with my old companion. On your Wednesday, I
will have moved to my area and received my new companion. President Johnson
will still be Mission President on your Tuesday, then President Hammond will
then be the Mission President as he comes in when transfers happen. So
in short, don't ask about my new companion or my new area when I haven't moved
there yet! Because I won't know... that is all! ð Ask
me on the Sunday after, and I can tell you all about it. Who knows if I'll even
move though? Or even get a new companion? I don't expect much to happen.
They've already called a new mission president and he's coming soon so I can't
be ambitious in being the next mission president... hahahaha. ð
But this last week, we had interviews with President
Johnson! It was really great to be able to interview with him. He helped to
counsel me a lot on focus, and about where success truly is as a missionary. With
President Johnson, you always feel great coming out of the interview with him.
But it really hit me, as we were interviewing that this would be my last
interview with him. It's not the last time I will see him, but it will be the
last interview with him. That fact made me feel very close to understanding how
I might be finishing at some point in the far distant future, and that was a
little scary, I will be honest. Let's just say I might have shed just one tear
in the realization of both of these facts as well. But I still feel ready to
serve with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. I know that the Lord
will strengthen me, and we will see miracles in following our mission
president.
This week we had a baptism! Well actually it wasn't ours
because he wasn't in our area... but we contacted him and taught him first! His
name is Brother āļĒāļāļĢ์āļ
(Yosh) and he's the most prepared person that I have ever met. He had no
problems, no questions about the commandments, nothing. He just wanted to be
baptized. He knew it was true. He kept the commandments and the commitments we
gave him. We had to give him over the Elders in Bang Naa because he lives over
there but we got to see his baptism, so I was way happy! He's so cool. It makes
me have more faith that people out there are really out there, and that we
actually can have success from contacting!
Otherwise, this past week we have seen tons of miracles. We
went from having no people with a baptismal date, to a ton of people willing to
accept a baptismal date! One of them, Sister āļāļē
(Daa) kicked out her boyfriend and now is solving some other issues... but
she's getting really close to being baptized! She's almost there... just a
little bit more! She just needs to keep the Sabbath Day a little better, and
she'll be ready! Please pray for her! It was really funny at first because from
what I understood, I thought that she kicked out her boyfriend... from his own
house. But really it is her boyfriend's older brother's ex-wife. So it's all
good!
We also extended a baptismal date for a family that we are
teaching, but they have trouble reading or having the motivation to read, so I
hope that they will start to feel the Spirit from the Book of Mormon! We'll
definitely need to read with them, so it should be good! We also received a
dater by way of referral so that was cool as well.
We also found a ton of new investigators this last week! It
was so miracle filled, finding every one of those people! I pray that they all
will progress as well!
We're also working with an L.A. member right now, a lot.
This person is really close to coming back to church and taking the necessary
steps to do so! This person's situation is really difficult, but they are on
their way! I'll be really happy when they make it to church and solve
everything!
Two days ago, we needed to quickly buy food in preparation
for Sunday, so we did, but it was a little late at night (we had extra time on
our dinner hour to do so). We ended up leaving the store at about 8:50. We literally
ran with our groceries out the parking lot, hopped in a van, and got close to
our house at about 8:57. So we both sprinted as fast as we could across traffic
and this street, literally as fast as I could carrying Spaghetti materials, in
order to make it home on time. Suffice to say, we made it, but not after I
killed my Quads and realizing that I should probably lose some weight now. A
member also committed me to lose weight as well... so there's that as well. We
made it at 8:58, so we still got home on time. I just hope no one thought that
we were thieves running away with someone else's groceries.
Anyways, that's it from me! Time flies by. It never stops,
not for anyone! Time is a precious resource. As was once said in General
Conference, and in a Church movie:
“Yours is the freedom to choose. But these are no bargains, for in them you find no lasting satisfaction.
“Every day, every hour, every minute of your span of mortal years must sometime be accounted for. And it is in this life that you walk by faith and prove yourself able to choose good over evil, right over wrong, enduring happiness over mere amusement. And your eternal reward will be according to your choosing.
“A prophet of God has said: ‘Men are that they might have joy’—a joy that includes a fullness of life, a life dedicated to service, to love and harmony in the home, and the fruits of honest toil—an acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—of its requirements and commandments.
“Only in these will you find true happiness, the happiness which doesn’t fade with the lights and the music and the crowds.”
("Reflections on a Consecrated Life" Elder D. Todd Christofferson
October 2010)
We are stewards of our time. Are our decisions bringing us
closer to Christ, or further away? There is no such thing as a net zero
decision. Faith does not stagnate. It either grows or shrinks. This time has
been given unto us by our Loving Heavenly Father. In Alma 34, it reads as thus:
31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.
32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until
the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of
darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
Do not procrastinate! Choose this day to serve God and
consecrate yourself to him. I have learned that this is the only way to be
truly happy. More than games, more than leisure or good movies, or even a good
book. Service in the Lord's Kingdom will bring us great joy as we do it whole
heartedly, even so with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. If we have
some progress to make, so does everyone! But do not procrastinate the day of
repentance, and change as quickly as you can muster. We will then be one step
closer to eternal happiness.
Love you Dad! Take care, have a Happy Father's Day, and I'll
talk to you soon!
- Elder Collin Decker
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