Elder Jarrett W. Pinster : Week #5 - GROWTH THROUGH FAITH

This week has been a fun but crazy week. Every day I learn more and more about my Savior and how we can draw closer to Him.

On Tuesday I got the opportunity to go on exchanges with an Elder from Forest Grove, Oregon named Elder Hitchcock! Crazy right? He and I did service at a Baptist church that runs through the Houston Food Bank. We got to load cars with groceries for the week and it was super fun being around such thankful people. One of the ladies that is in charge of the food distribution even knows my brother-in-law Tristin from when he served in College Station as a missionary two years ago. It was a really cool experience.

After doing service I got the opportunity to go on the Texas A&M campus with Elder Hitchcock from FG. We have this big sign that says "If you could ask God a question, what would it be?" and then we just stop students and ask them to write their question on a piece of paper. We then pin the question to the board and get to talk to them a little bit more. At a Southern mostly-Christian school, we get a lot of people who stop to help answer the question and only a few people who try and Bible bash. It's really cool to see people who have such strong faith in Christ, and then we try to help them know more.

College Station, Texas has four family wards. My companion and I cover two of them (1st and 3rd). The First Ward is a southern adventure but great people. The Third Ward is the most stable and supportive ward I've ever seen. I love the people of both wards and getting to see them help us with any work we have.

This week we met with a less active named Shonda. She is a 50-year-old African American lady with a huge heart. She told us how God has saved her and that with faith she trusts in the Lord's plan. She recently had a stroke and that's why she hasn't been at church. We read the Book of Mormon with her and then asked what we could do for her. She said that she wants to go to the Temple and be sealed. She's saving up so she can go to the Salt Lake one. She has a huge heart and then said she can see Christ in us when we visited. It made my week especially because we decided to stop by there because the spirit told me she needed to see us, but really I needed to see her.

My companion and I also went tracking in a super nice neighborhood this past week. While knocking someone answered and said that they already knew God and were going to Heaven. We then read 2 Corinthians 12:2 which talks about a third Heaven (aka the Celestial Kingdom) and asked them if that was the Heaven they wanted to go to. They shrugged and told us to have a good night. It is crazy to me how by studying the Bible more we can understand more that this is Christ's true church and that we fall directly in line with him and it makes me thankful for the Plan of Salvation.

Sometimes the days get long and it feels hard to see the full purpose here, but then I realize why I'm here. Every day Heavenly Father gives me some kind of miracle or something in my day that makes me understand why I'm here. Whether it is meeting someone like Shonda or having someone smile while they close the door on you, God helps us see mini miracles if we try to find them. I'm so lucky to have Heavenly Father looking out for me daily. I also found that having the spirit is the best way to feel happiness but in order to have it, we have to act in a way to get it. Whether that be by repentance or by simply going out of our way to say Hi to someone, we can be blessed by having His spirit with us. I know God loves us and wants us to be as happy as possible!!

My scripture for y'all for this week is Ether 12 where it talks about faith. It really helped me understand what it means to trust in the Lord!

Love you all and God bless.