Putting the Shoulder to the Wheel

I'd like to take a moment and appreciate all of those loving comments about how great the weather is in Utah. Thanks. 😄 Although, the "winter wonderland" theme is kind of growing on me. In fact, it hasn't actually been that cold, especially today. It was about 4 degrees Celsius this morning! Also, I haven't bought a coat because I haven't needed one yet. As odd as that sounds, it's actually been pretty nice up here. There's a ton of snow, sure, but it's the wind you've got to deal with, I've found.

I did actually meet one of our investigators that I hadn't met before, and he's awesome. He's also a huge Nintendo fan, so we got along pretty great. But the coolest part of it was when we set up a baptism date for him! April 8th! Now all we need to do is help him feel the Spirit in his life, even when we aren't there, so he'll be able to keep that commitment.

Also, a funny story about that one lady we taught while tracting. Right when we were done with the lesson and were walking back to the car, we remembered that we didn't actually get her name! We did get her phone number, though, and later got her name. We haven't met with her again yet, but she seems super open to learning more. One thing she said during the lesson that surprised me was her story about when she asked the pastor/priest of the church that she goes to, why doesn't she know a lot about Jesus? His response was that the reason why she doesn't know was because she goes to that particular church... Does that sound like a red flag to anyone else? Yeah, me too.

One cool thing that happened recently was that we had exchanges! Exchanges are fun, and I got to do two this last week! Pretty much what happens is we drive out to some McDonald's out in the middle of our areas, and either I or Elder J. will switch cars and go with one of them for the day, and the companion that stays gets the other companion. The first time (Wednesday), I stayed in Leduc where I was with Elder A. He was really fun. We got to teach a bit more about the restoration, and he also made me a pancake surprise in the morning! It was a very spicy surprise. Don't put hot sauce in pancakes. Just don't...

The second exchange was with Elder N. He is pretty much the "Sherlock Holmes" of figuring out people. I swear, he knows more about me now than I do.

Every single moment out here seems like a spiritual one, unless you count us going to McDonald's that one time. I guess one thing that stood out was when we were asked by some returned missionaries to go to lunch with them and a recent convert. So we did! They ended up taking us to a small burger joint named Ryan's, which was apparently their favorite place to eat while in Leduc.

But it wasn't the food that was the coolest part (Licorice shake excluded.) Rather, it was listening to the stories of people that had already been here and gone back home again. We learned a ton from them. But, the coolest thing that I saw was how strong their testimonies still were, even though both of them had already been home from a few months to a year.

So, testimonies that we grow can be eternal. I keep hearing about how this is the most spiritual time of my life, and so far that has been right. But, I don't want this to be the peak. I heard a quote from Gordon B. Hinckley. I don't remember exactly how it went, but he talked about how the stronger his testimony grows, the quieter the Holy Ghost gets. So, even the president of the Church at the time had to be continually striving to listen to the prompting of the Spirit.

No matter what happens here, I know that I can always have these spiritual moments in my life. I know that the Book of Mormon is the most true book on the Earth, and that if we continue to read it and invite the Holy Ghost into our lives, then we can all have these spiritual moments throughout our entire lives.