Sent on December 9, 2013
Its the best time of the year!! Oh by golly have a holly jolly Christmas this year! I love december! I am pretty pumped that it is Christmas time. It is nice and cold here in Washington. I will tell you that I would take below 0 in ID than 18 in WA. The moisture in the air just seems to suck the heat right out of you. I havent had to deal with it too much though since we have a car so I am not in it constantly, just in periods. But I went on an exchange to Green River with Elder Christofferson and spent the day on bike and walking and I still dont know if I can feel my feet. It was a joyous experience. We found two new families before noon! Great day. But ya I will be getting a little more cold gear with that hundred that Aunt Patti gave me before I left. Thanks again Aunt P! :)
I just wish I could describe to you all in words how I feel about the Reservation. This week was a hard one in terms of teaching and church attendance and progressing investigators. Actually I will just be straight up, we have no progressing investigators, no one we actively teach, and no nonmembers that come to church regularly. But at the same time the work is so different here that I dont even care. Because I don't know if there has been a week where I have felt such a great love for the people and desire for them. The Lord just has a different time frame here on the Rez and is requiring different things from us as His servants here. So we keep on! And we expect to see miracles this week, we expect God to bring the people He needs and to lead us to the elect. And we will conotinue to work in patience and love and faith until the day where these people blossom!
Here is a great moment from this week! In Maple Valley this weekend there was a huge even at the Stake Center called "Celebrate the Nativity" They had over 600 nativities there, a live nativity, performances going on, a "Life of Jesus" walk and a cookie room. It was on the news and was on the top 10 things to do in Seattle at Christmas time. Well we invited so many people to come and enjoy this with us. Sunday Morning we talked to Kayli Leonard's dad Sherman and he decided that he wanted to take his kids to it. His kids would be Kayli, Mary, Sanaya, Josias, and a baby girl that I can't remember her name... But Sister Rodarte went and picked them up in a van and brought them and we spent an hour at the nativity celebration. Sherman just got out of treatment and is really doing everything he can to be a better man and a father. It touched my heart to see him take the time and effort to chase his kids around this event just so they could be a part of something they never have before. Not many fathers here on the Rez would do that. I am so grateful that I could be a part of that and my love for Sherman grew. It is also super fun because about two months ago Mary and Sanaya, they are both around 3, started calling me "Uncle". Gotta love it!
So once a week we get to do service at the Tribal Elders Kitchen, where they feed the Elders (55+) lunch. We started just doing cleaning things for them, but now they have us helping prepare the food! I am becoming a true Cook after all!
Big news! Elder Corbridge, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, is coming to our mission today! He will spend three days here and we get to have a conference with him on Wednesday! I am super pumped! We have been preparing all week by studying certain topics all week that he has asked us to prepare for. One of the questions was "What do I want/expect out of my mission and life?" I have been pondering a lot about this question this week and my studies turned me to 3 Nephi 28, which is now tied for 2nd with Enos for my favorite chapters. It is where the Lord asks the 12 apostles what they desire of Him before He returns to the Apostles. I have read this chapter over and over to see what the true desire of the three Nephites was, and I know it now. Their ultimate desire was simple. TO BRING SOULS TO HIM. They desired every opportunity to bring another one of God's children back to Him. I also love in verse 10 where they are promised joy in the presence of the Father. It correlates with D&C 18, "how great will be your joy." So.. after years of thinking about what I wanted out of life, I came to my conclusion this week. I WANT TO BRING SOULS TO HIM. It is that simple. Everything I do now is directed towards that end, and I know that if that is my true desire, then I CAN EXPECT JOY, both here and eventually in the presence of my Father.
I love this work! I love you all! I pray for you always! Have a great week!
Come to my Rez,
Elder Cook
No comments:
Post a Comment