What do you call an alligator in a vest?

June 20, 2017

This was a pretty fun week. Not a huge number of things happened, but we did have zone conference! It pretty much obliterated companionship study, and then put it back together in a big ol' ball of [Insert Noun Here]. It was pretty fun, though. Afterwards, we had pictures and we got the whole Canadian MTC district back together! And also Elder L. was taking the pictures.

On the subject of investigators... well... we weren't actually able to meet with anyone. We almost got D. to church, but we can't actually seem to get into contact with him anymore. And then A. and J. are still pretty flaky, so they keep rescheduling appointments. But, we do have a ward BBQ coming up this Saturday and we invited a billion people to come to it. So, we are excited for this Saturday. 😊 Also, we went on exchanges with the Greenfield elders last Wednesday. Me and Elder T. had some fun in Leduc tearing up some flooring in a house that a member was renting out. It's been a solid week of tracting and service.

Happy birthday to my sister!

I've been thinking a lot about how to study more effectively as well, and I learned this: Earlier in my mission, I heard a story about a guy who was off work for a few days and had nothing to do. He had already read everything he owned, so he went to a friend's house and asked if they had any good books he could borrow. His friend was an awesome person and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon. He took it home and tried to read it, but he really couldn't get into it. It was a drag to read. So he went back to his friend and tried to give the book back saying that it was too boring. His friend replied saying: Well, did you pray about it? As it turned out, he didn't. So he went home and "popped open a beer" and got on his knees. He asked God to let him know of it was true, then he sat back up and started reading again. He said that as he read the book from that point, he couldn't put it down! He was suddenly engulfed in the story. He cared about Nephi and his tests of faith, he felt bad for King Benjamin having to tell the people about their sins in front of the pure in heart. He could see the battles of Captain Moroni and the courage that they showed, and he saw Mormon's son writing in the record for the last time as his people were being slaughtered.

He read the whole book in three days, only taking breaks for the bathroom and meals. Once he finished, he got on his knees again and thanked God for letting him know that it was true. He got baptized three weeks later.

I heard that story and wanted to have the same experience with reading it. So, I asked God to help me read it as that man did. It didn't come all at once like it did for him, but I am at that point now. The only reason I was able to meet that goal was because I had help from our Father in Heaven.