Hello and good morning! It is another lovely day in Colorado, a perfect day to end the past week and start anew. I'm your charming host, Elder Z.S.Weber, here reporting to all y'all once again from the Prairie Ridge/Taft Canyon Wards. There have been a lot of changes that have come around since the last time I spoke with y'all. The first, and possibly the greatest change is that our dear friends Elder Anderson and Elder Chan are no longer with us. With the new transfer season coming to a close, our friends have moved on to greater and brighter things up in Wyoming, and we pray that their time up there will be well spent.
However, though we hope well for Elder Anderson and Elder Chan, I'm honestly more worried for myself and Elder Christenot, and the change coming to us in our areas. For these past three months, it was always us four amigos, striking it out together in our three areas. Now, our numbers had been cut in half, and new members to replace our lost teammates have come in. How well this transfer goes is very dependent on how well we get along with our new companions, and how much drive the four of us will have in our areas to keep the work rolling onwards. How's that going so far, you might ask? Well, let's start from the beginning of the week, shall we?
After loading all of Elder Anderson's and Elder Chan's stuff into the car and taking the half-hour drive down to the Windsor building for Transfers, we bid a hearty farewell to our friends, Elder Anderson and Elder Chan. Nearly immediately after bidding them farewell, I came across my new companion, Elder Pember. After getting our introductions out of the way, we spoke with our Zone Leaders and decided to head our on our own, leaving Elder Christenot to wait for his new companion with the other elders at the Windsor building. Once Elder Pember's bags were all packed into the car, we headed back home to see what could be done.
Mostly, that day was spent getting Elder Pember moved in and making certain that all of our ducks were in a row for the work ahead of us. However, after we finished our dinner that night and headed out, we had a chance to meet with the Ward Mission Leader in the Taft Canyon Ward, Brother Lickiss. It was a good chance to see how we as missionaries could help out in the Ward, and what things we should try to do more of to help the Ward get more excited or involved in missionary work. He offered a lot of helpful advice that he had seen work well in the area, and his wife, who was one of the Ward Missionaries, offered some helpful hints that she had heard from others.
The next day didn't really give us a good chance to put these plans or advice into action, as much of the day was swallowed up in meetings. First was our District Meeting, which was mostly just a meet-and-greet event. We got the chance to know all of the new Elders in our District, including the new Zone Leaders Elder Fraser and Elder Grossarth and Elder Christenot's new companion, Elder Swann. Then, after we had a chance to know each other better and set some good goals for the rest of the month, Elder Pember and I headed off to our District Leader Council, which gave us a chance to set some new, progressive goals for the entire Zone.
Thursday gave us a chance to get out and try to work our area some. After finding a good place to park our car, Elder Pember and I grabbed our bags and headed out into one of the nearby neighborhoods to start tracting and getting to know our area a little better. We didn't see a lot of success, as most everyone we came in contact with had just about the same response to us—"Not Interested." However, it was a good chance to get out and see the area a bit more, and see how the people in our area reacted to missionaries. It also gave us a chance to meet with our members outside of the Sacrament Meeting and see what we can do to help them in their missionary efforts.
However, though we were able to meet a lot of people, I would be lying if I said that this was a very successful week. We didn't manage to teach a lot of lessons this week, and those we were able to talk with and share messages with weren't actually willing to truly listen to our messages. If I were to single out one thing that made this week really difficult for us to work with was just how poor our planning time was spent. Even when we did write down plans, we wouldn't always keep them, and then would find ourselves a few hours later sitting in the car, staring blankly ahead of us, wondering what we should do.
It was Saturday evening that we managed to spark a change in us. After spending much of the week in a terrible bout of depression, we decided that we couldn't just lazy about all day. We actually had to try and put our nose to the grindstone in order to see any sparks from the work. As we went out and served, I could feel my depression and resentment to the work lift off of my shoulders. I was more willing to get out and open my mouth. By the time the evening was over, and we were heading over to where the Harmony Elders were to close the evening with frozen yogurt treats, the cloud of depression was completely gone, and I felt confident once more.
As I've thought over this experience, I've been reminded of a message I saw on one of the walls of the MTC while I was still training back twenty months ago. The message was this: "One of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work. If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people, and he will be happy… Work, work, work—there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work." (Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson).
How true that statement is! Here I was, worrying about the planning and getting everything perfectly right. I was afraid that if I went out and went to the work that I wouldn't be ready. I realize that it's a silly thought, as I've been on my mission for the last twenty months, but y'know, some old anxieties die hard. Yet it would only be through actually throwing myself out into the work that I would actually be ready for the work. It's an interesting paradox to think about, something that I've been thinking about a lot for these past few days. It's only by turning outward that our spiritual burdens can be lightened and our insecurities washed away.
That is my message for this week. As someone who has experienced this for himself, I can truly state that this is a true principle. If we simply get out there and get to work, whatever work it might be that our Lord wants us to do, our burdens will be lightened and we will feel more joy and peace in our spirits. I pray that we will all seek for that peace and joy in our lives, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
—Elder Z.S.Weber
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