Elder Jarrett W. Pinster : 2019-02-10

Howdy y'all!!!!

Well, on this past Thursday I hit my one year mark and am now halfway through my mission. Words cannot describe the amount of joy, growth, and love that I have felt this past year. I have never had so many struggles and trials but I have also never been so happy. It really has been the best year of my life and I cannot wait for this next one.

So to start off, this past week I have really been trying to gain more revelation from Heavenly Father. I have been constantly asking him throughout the day where we need to go, who we need to talk to, what they need to hear, and how can I be an instrument in his hands. It has changed my life. I have seen constant miracles. The fear of missionary work has faded. I am able to know and do exactly what he wants me to do. There is power and purpose. I feel changed and at one with my Father. Having an open heart with constant prayer has transformed my way of thinking about revelation. I have had countless miracles and blessing on my mission, but how many of them did I ask for? How many did I let Heavenly Father guide me to purposefully? I have found that when we are doing His work and asking for His guidance, He will provide and show the way.

That being said, here are some miracles from this past week:

We found our friend named Chukwudi. He is from Nigeria and a student at Sam. We went out to go tracting and when we got to our prayed about spot, it just didn't feel right. So we walked up the street and Chuks was walking by. We went and said hi to him and started talking. Fast forward to this next week and now he has a baptismal date for March 2nd. The Lord guides His work. He really does.

Next, we had a friend we are teaching named Carolyn start progressing so well! She has read almost all of 1 Nephi and just loves learning. She is a single mother and even came to church yesterday. She told everyone there how much she loves having us over and teaching her. She is our biggest hype up. We absolutely love our friend Carolyn. She just wants the gospel. We had her read 2 Nephi 31 about the Doctrine of Christ and when we came back she told us she wants to be baptized so we got that arranged for her :) When we teach her, the spirit tells us what to say and we end up meeting her needs every time. God is good. Carolyn is a Saint. The gospel heals the wounded soul. I love being a missionary.

Our family of girls is all set for this weekend. We are so excited! They cannot wait for it. It really makes my heart full to see the family learning and growing so much. The gospel is made for families and families are made for the gospel. My heart is so full.

Miracles are everywhere. I had a conversation on an exchange this past week where out of no where the Elder I was with asked a question that had nothing to do with what we were talking about. As we talked more on the subject we both shared stories and feelings and it left us in tears because the spirit was so strong. It was the first time I ever cried from the spirit. All of that happened because he prayed to know what car conversation we needed to have. Miracle. Revelation.

As John 6:68 says, "... To whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life..." I bear testimony that, that is truth. Christ really does have the words of eternal life. He has all the answers. He knows us individually and can answer any question we have for Him. We just have to listen to the spirit. If we ask, He will give. My mission is changing my life. It is changing my eternity. I love my Savior with my entire heart. This is the Lord's work. I love you all dearly and am praying for you. God bless.

Elder Jarrett Pinster