Elder Jarrett W. Pinster : Week #10

This week was probably one of the busiest rollercoaster week I've had on my mission. I have never had to rely so strong on Heavenly Father's will before and just trust Him with all I do. The good news is that when we do that He will provide.

Early this week I found that I was just not in the right mindset or focused that much. It really started to kinda bug me. I was reading in the Book of Mormon and it made me think of Alma 32:15 where it says "Yea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed." I then realized that all I was thinking about was myself. I took a step back and went to say a prayer. I knelt down and started to pray to Heavenly Father that He would help me think of others more and that I could feel more happiness. I immediately felt happy. I don't know how it really happened but as soon as I let Heavenly Father take over He fixed me. That is a blessing. I really understand what it means to "let go and let God lead." It just gave me faith to try and fix any situation with the help of God.

We have an investigator named Morgan who had a baptismal date for her and her son. She unfortunately didn't feel like she was ready to do it this past Saturday. We went over to talk to her and it was sad to see one of our most solid investigators start to question all we had taught. It felt like we were losing her while we were teaching. We asked if we could re-set a baptismal date and she told us wasn't ready. That was hard. We then had a prompting to share our testimony about the Book of Mormon. Elder Troy and I sat and bore our hearts out that this Gospel is true. The spirit was so strong and we could feel God's hand in what we were saying. When we finished she said "I'm not ready yet but tonight y'all reminded me why I wanted this in the first place." Although we took a step back, I think we are on the right path but that is all because of the spirit speaking to her and her family. We love them so much and just want what is best for them which now helps me understand how Heavenly Father must always feel with us.

At 9:45 on Saturday night we had a miracle! One of our investigators named Rudy, who we hadn't heard from in nearly two weeks, randomly texted us and said that he was depressed and needed our prayers. We then invited him to church and he accepted. We had an amazing day. The entire ward said hi to him (I literally mean everyone that saw him said hi) and he loved the openness of the church. In Priesthood Elders Quorum, the spirit was so strong. I have a for sure testimony of the new changes made to the quorums. The older men and younger men sharing their thoughts made the spirit strong and the lesson went so good.

We talked about Priesthood blessings in Gospel Principles and Rudy then asked for one so we offered to give him one after church. When I started the blessing the first thing I said was to bless him with peace. It was one of the strongest spiritual moments in my life. Elder Troy, the Ward member with us and myself were all very teary eyed after it. Rudy told us that when he left the house that morning he asked for a way to have peace. I know that the spirit and Heavenly Father promoted me to bless him with peace and it was not my own thoughts. Rudy told us that he knew there was something different. I know Heavenly Father is guiding his path.

We gained like 4 new investigators this week and I am confident that when you show people love and light on the doorstep they can see there is something different we have. DeAndre from last week unfortunately never got back to us but we are still determined to share the gospel with him.

My scripture this week is D&C 11:21, "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men." I have found that the more I study and become in tune with the spirit the better of a missionary and person I am. I love that if you put in the work your tongue will be loosed, that is so true. It can apply to everyone!

I love being in Texas. College Station is an amazing town with amazing people. Everyday we choose to leave and have a great day. Every day we get better and better. I'm so thankful for the light and happiness of the gospel.

Love y'all and God Bless.

Elder Jarrett Pinster

-District Meetings

-Exchanges with Elder Haugen (MTC Comp)

-Hammock time on P-day