Dressed in White

On Monday, February 13, 2017 12:59 PM, Dustin Thelander <dustin.thelander@myldsmail.net> wrote:

This week was fantastic! On Tuesday, we had our meetings in the morning, and President Taylor joined the meeting I was in. He was a great help to the meeting, and he made some really great comments. What stuck out to me the most was when he talked of Jesus Christ and said that He expects us to be "diligent, and then trust Him." I love the concept- the Lord will do His part, but we must do all that we can. We taught Veronica later in the day about serving in the church, and she is really excited about getting involved in the Lord's kingdom. We had a two dinner day. Number one was with the Brown family. They are cast out of a different mold but are super loving people. They are ready to give us the keys to their house to go and eat whenever we want. Then we headed to the Z's for another dinner. We ate with Elder's Paxton and Sabir there, and it was a comedy show. Those two are insanely funny and lack most filters many people have. I burned off all the calories from dinner due to laughter.

I spent Wednesday in my area with Elder Simmons on exchanges. He is a newer missionary who is leading a district. We had a really good companion study time and some leadership training. For all intents and purposes, I had to teach him from scratch how to be a district leader. He hopefully soaked most of it up. We had a good day together and had the chance to teach the restoration to Laurel at her door. She really took to it, and we will meet with her again this week. I was able to teach it in a simple way that was taught to us by Brother Donaldson when he came- it really works. Elder Simmons was not at that meeting, and while we had taught him what to do, he didn't have a testimony that it works, he just had been doing it the old way. As we walked away from the lesson, he was stunned and wanted to learn it better so he could do it too. Powerful leadership comes from example. After Elder Ludwig and I got back together after exchanges, we taught the Hayes family. Their daughter Ovianna is 10 and is unbaptized but would like to be. She is apparently a highly skilled softball player, so that takes a lot of their time. We hope to help build their faith in time.

Thursday we were up in Rancho Cucamonga the majority of the day for our Mission Leadership Council. We had a fantastic meeting wherein we discussed the last three big events in the mission and how we can teach everyone to teach in the Savior's way. That way is simple; interact to edify. We don't learn simply lecturing to someone, we learn when we interact. The real learning happens when you (or we as the missionary) are not there. We teach people to act. After this great meeting we taught Veronica again, this time on following the prophet. We showed a clip of the current Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and she was in tears at the end. The spirit will teach us all truths. Friday, we weekly planned and taught Veronica her final lesson.

Saturday was a pretty special day. We got to the church early in the morning, around 8:00 am, to get the room ready for the baptism. We filled the font with water. Wow- that is a magical sound. She got to the building pretty anxious. I don't know if I had mentioned, she struggles with anxiety. She was a bit short of breath, but I made her laugh a couple of times, and she was good to go. She got dressed in her baptism white clothes, and the people started rolling in. It was so well attended, and Veronica's mother and her good friend from down the street came. Olivia from the ward gave a wonderful talk on baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and then Elder Ludwig baptized Veronica- his first time in the water. Following that, Veronica shared a poem that she wrote, one of the most amazing things I have ever heard. It really tugged at the emotions. Here is is. She titled it Testimony:

I once walked a long dark road

And For a long time I was lost I always felt I was so alone I'd forgotten the Atonement, and why Christ died upon the Cross Many a seed was given But i just casted them upon rocky ground. I lived on, sinning in repetition I was slowly coming unbound So, I walked that path for 22 years But an eternity, it really felt Then one day two missionaries words reached my ears At last, I turned to God for help They gave me a copy of a small book. "It's 'the Book of Mormon'" they said. They encouraged me to take a look And i know I'll be eternally grateful I did. I sat and read it throughly, each chapter three times, to be exact. I read for nearly 3 hours, when I finally decided to act I spoke words deep from within I cried and prayed as I knelt And As I repented for all of my sins It is His deep Love for me that i felt So speeding up a month from then; My life has changed, exponentially, to be precise And soon The Holy Ghost will be my friend My close companion for all my life Some of you may think I'm crazy But it's only God's opinion of which I care I can honestly tell you it behooves me To share my testimony with people everywhere

She was confirmed at church on Sunday. I had the special chance to do that. I was able to, through the power and authority of the Priesthood, bestow a gift that will never leave them. The Holy Ghost will be there to comfort them at all times and in all things, if they live worthily. It was a very spiritual experience, one I will not soon forget. Missionary work is the best.

Scripture of the week is from Mosiah, chapter 7, verse 33, "But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage."

Love,

Elder Thelander