Hey! Guess what?...
I'll tell you anyways, I got my transfer call on Saturday... and I am not going anywhere! Ha-ha. I'm staying in Gravely Lake, and I'm going to be serving as the new Zone Leader. I'm a little nervous about that, but President said the Lord wants me to do it, which means the Lord wants to teach me somethings; and if I stay in tune with His Spirit, He will be able to guide me to help others. For that, I'm excited. My old District isn't getting changed too much either. The new District Leader is Elder Bishop from Kansas City, Missouri, and Elder Bowser will be his companion. Ha-ha, he isn't moving very far. I'm going to miss being a District Leader. It was a very one-on-one experience with everyone, and the District was pretty tight nit. My new companion is Elder Simmons. He is currently the Zone Leader with Elder Dayhuff who is going home on Wednesday. I will do my best to be a good companion. When it comes to missionary work, I like to be obedient, and do things the way the Lord set them up to be done. After all, it's His work He's allowed me to participate. I hear Elder Simmons has baptized a lot of people. I'm excited to have a motivated companion. We're gonna get good work done. President Weaver told me to keep an eye on him in regards to "insta-tisms." (Elder Simmons likes to baptize homeless people on his first contact with them...) I'm excited for this new assignment and transfer. Each one is a gift from Heavenly Father.
On Sunday Adam and Stacy came to Church! I was so excited. I've been working with them for about nine weeks. Seeing people make positive progress brings me a lot of joy. Service as a missionary is not a sacrifice, it's a gift. Yesterday, Elder Bowser was giving a spiritual thought to some members, and Holy Ghost taught me an important principle about missionary work.
In the Book of Ether, the Brother of Jared was commanded to make barges so that his family and friends could cross the ocean and come to the promised land. The Lord gave him specific instructions on how to build the ships, and in answer to the Brother of Jared's prayer, gave him specific instruction in regards to how to have air to breath during their voyage. Then, the Brother of Jared prayed and asked the Lord what they should do for light. This time, the Lord said this: "What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire. For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth our of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth. And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and winds which have gone forth, and floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?" The Holy Ghost brought these scriptures to my memory, and as I thought about them, I recognized an important principle: The Lord told the Brother of Jared the things he couldn't do. He gave him limitations, that would stretch his resourcefulness, and Faith. The Brother of Jared was given a task that he couldn't accomplish by himself, he needed the Master's hand. The Brother of Jared brought forth his best effort, rocks, and with the touch of the Lord a miracle was created. This is true in missionary work. We have limitations, we have rules, we have weaknesses, but the Lord has given us an assignment. Provide light for those around you. He has given us talents, and we have Faith that Christ will help us out. But, in the end, what we need is the touch of the Master's hand. We need to do things the way the Lord has outlined, and then we need to ask him to bless our efforts. I know that this principle is true. There is always a way to accomplish the things the Lord commands us to do. He will stretch us, and he will bless us.
I hope that makes sense. I love you guys, and I hope you have a good week. Oh yeah, I'm trying to read the Book of Mormon one more time before I hit my year mark in three months. I'm in 2 Nephi. To do it, I'm reading six pages a day. Not to bad. This will be my fourth time reading it as a missionary. Bye, love you guys.
Love,
Elder Thornton
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