WEEK 12 - THE FIELD is WHITE

Hello friends, family, and other affiliated acquaintances. It's me, Elder Weber once more, checking in from the Fossil Creek Ward, Loveland Stake, in the Colorado Fort Collins Mission. And guess what? WINTER IS HERE!!! It took up until the second week in November, but it finally came. Until today, we've had nice, hot weather, and only occasional showers. I was actually starting to think about pulling out my short-sleeve shirts again. Luckily, I didn't. Because today, Elder Proffit and I stepped out of the Houses' house to start our day, and it was about 20 Fahrenheit, windy, and snowing! Finally, it feels like the right time of year!

Well, now that my tirade about the weather is done, let me tell you about how this last week has gone in the mission. Once more, we haven't had much progress with lessons, due to how early it starts to get dark out here (5:00! Can you believe this?!). However, we may have more luck later on this week. Along with meeting the McManus family again, who are just as eager as ever to learn and discuss, we have found several more referrals that sound VERY excited to learn. They love the feelings they get from church, they want to feel it more, and they are willing and able to listen to whatever the missionaries may want to say. Some have even attended church several times already, and one attended a Youth Fireside late last night, something that even some of the youth in our church today are very hesitant to take part in! So, teaching them the correct doctrine and principles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isn't going to be the tough part. What will be tough, however, is that those who gave us the referrals don't want to push very hard. Some, actually, don't want to push at all. They are hesitant to have their friends, children, and boyfriends and girlfriends learn about the church, most likely because they don't want to lose those relationships they have. However, sooner or later, we'll get to teaching them. And that's when things are seriously going to start lighting up in the Ward!



Laying the sod in Bro. & Sis. Smith's yard.

In other news, Elder Proffit and I were able to exceed our required amount of hours of service this week. We needed 10 hours, and we got 13! How did we manage this? Well, on Tuesday, I went with the other Junior Companions from the District Leaders in our Zone, and went over to the community kitchen, whipping up bags of snacks and small lunches for the poor and needy. I'd say we got about 125 done, between the four of us, in just under an hour. Then, on Thursday, Elder Proffit and I went over with the other Fossil Creek Elders to the Smith's, who had recently moved into a brand-new house, and wanted help putting in the landscape. We helped plant four sapling trees, one of which was a large pine sapling that probably weighed 400 pounds! Then, we went over to the Rob's house, and helped rake up all of the leaves in their yard. And let me tell you--there were a lot of leaves to be raked up. By the time we had to move on, we had filled five LARGE bags full of leaves, and still had several fairly large piles left for the Robs' teen-aged daughters to take care of. We then went over to the church building and helped set up tables and chairs for a Young Women's activity that evening. On Friday, the Fossil Creek Elders met up again at the Smith's house, but this time to lay down sod in the backyard. We managed to do that in about 3 hours, and still had two pallets of sod to go! (a pallet of sod usually has about six rows of sod, with eighteen rolls of sod on each row, each roll about five feet long) So, yeah, they had a lot left over. Finally, on Saturday, we helped this less-active member move out of his apartment, and into his parents' house. By the time we were all finished for the week, our arms were completely sore, and we were completely, absolutely done.



Playing Headbandz at the Smith home

However, spiritually, we weren't finished yet. And on Sunday, I had a very spiritual moment happen. Perhaps Elder Proffit can't agree with me on this, but I feel that what I experienced at church yesterday was very profound, and perhaps could trump the spirit I felt while teaching the McManus' on Wednesday of last week. What happened? Brother Cameron Louchs, one of the Ward Missionaries in the Fossil Creek Ward, had been asked to speak on the temple. This was a fairly interesting topic to talk about, as it is with any of us when we speak about it, but the way he spoke about the temple in his talk was a way that surpassed any other talk on the temple I have ever heard or felt. He spoke of how, four years ago, he had been a single parent with a two-year-old son, and struggling with his new job. He put temple service as the least of his concerns, focusing instead on his family and his job. Honestly, in his position, I would have done about the same thing. However, as he went about this, his life only seemed to get worse. When he prayed to Heavenly Father to help him get his life in order, he felt strongly that he needed to attend the temple once more. It required a lot of sacrifice on his part, but Brother Louchs did so, and as he went, not only did his life get better, but through his attendance at the temple, his neighbor asked him about the church, was baptized, and later became his wife. Now, they are waiting to get sealed in the temple--hopefully before their first child together is born. Imagine--had he not made the sacrifices in his life to go to the temple, all the blessings he now has in his family probably wouldn't have come his way, and he wouldn't have affected or influenced as many souls as he had through his temple service.

And that is what I wish to speak on today, my friends. The seeds have been sown, nurtured, and raised long enough already. And now, as the scriptures often tell us, "the fields are white, all ready for harvest." All around us, there are hundreds of people we interact with on an almost daily basis. Don't say that you don't, by the way, because I know that you all do. None of us live in a tiny little bubble, we ALL interact with others almost every second of our lives. And of these many people who surround us day to day, there are many who may be ready and willing to learn about the gospel. Some may not know that they are ready, but their spirits are very eager to take part in the blessings of the gospel, regardless of what the costs may be. Don't let these chances pass you by! Be bold, and brave. Test your friendships out, and extend a loving hand towards those you care about, to bring them closer unto Christ. As we learn in Doctrine and Covenants, the worth of souls is great in the eyes of God, and the joy you feel by bringing one soul unto him is unlike any other in this world, except for the joy of bringing many souls unto him. This joy I speak of is the joy of knowing that when the end comes, and we have all left our mortal lives behind for a greater life, Telestial, Terrestrial, or Celestial, we will know that we will not only have family waiting to live with us once more, but friends, acquaintances, and other such loved ones, who are eager to thank us for the kind hands of fellowship we held out to them in bringing them unto their Lord and Master, yea, even Jesus Christ. Do not let worry or fear clasp your heart! If you extend your love for the gospel to others in a kind and loving manner, being gentle and kind, you won't lose friends, but gain eternal ones, ones that will last for time and all eternity. Dare to be bold, to be brave, to be strong in your beliefs. And if you do so, you and all those around you will be blessed. This I bear solemn testimony of, in the name of our Lord and Master, the Savior of Man-kind, Jesus Christ, Amen.

That's all I have to say for this week! See y'all again next P-Day!

--Elder Z.S.Weber