Hey ya'll!! It was so good to see you on Skype for a few minutes! And I am happy that you are all having a great Christmas break! I love Gran's house, I am happy you are all there! Tell everyone thank you for the Christmas gifts! I took a picture with all of them so I will try and send those in another email. But holy smokes Christmas was great!! We had an incredible proselyting day. Because of the dinner we had with Bro Peterson and skyping, our proselyting was shortened to five hours that day :/ but we made the most of it! We took our portable DVD player around and we would start playing a rendition of Angels We Have Heard On High. It would catch their attention, and then we would read Luke 2 and the part about Jesus Christ in the Bible Dictionary. Then we testified of the Savior and His role in our lives. The Spirit was strong every time and we taught 8 lessons on the Rez in 5 hours and got into 3 homes that I have never been into before! It was miraculous. Best Christmas ever :)
This week really was a great one! We had four investigators on the Rez commit to be baptized this week! And then none of them came to church... haha. But that is all right! We have more people to teach and more things to do right now than ever! Bro Peterson made a great analogy about serving on the Reservation. Imagine a boulder, a big one that will not move. God asks a bunch of men to go and push on the Boulder.. All of the men anxiously go and try out their strength. But after about a day, one of them realizes the boulder just isn't going to move without some other form of help so he quits. Others follow, realizing the same thing, and they stop pushing on the boulder. After a few days, all of the men that were pushing have given up, expect one. The man is still pushing on the boulder. Pushing with everything that he still has. God comes back to the men. They all tell him that they know that He can move it if He will just help them. God says "Of course I can. But I didn't ask you to move it, I just asked you to push." God then takes the one man that was obedient, that went the distance and says to him, "You can help me now." And together they roll the boulder. I know that you can use that analogy for many things, but it is so true here. We are asked to push, to serve, with everything we have. "There are many called, but few are chosen." I want to be chosen, not because I knew that God could work any miracle that He needs to, but because I did ALL that He asked me to do, the best I could.
I have one more week here on the Rez, and let me tell you I am going to push as hard as I can. I just want the Lord to be pleased with my effort. I want to touch someone's heart this week, even if it is just one person. It has been really challenging finding out the best ways to teach the Natives, after seeing so many different angles not seem to work, but I have learned that with them it just takes time. They truly do need an example of the Savior in their midst. Someone that is constantly going to give them an opportunity to feel the Spirit. Someone that is always found out doing good. Someone that helps them feel loved. I love more than anything getting to try and be that person. These people are special. And while they may be very confused as to God's plan and the truth, I have HOPE for them! I am just sad that I won't always get to be in the middle of the Lord's work amongst them. I am so grateful I have been given the opportunity.
GREAT NEWS!!!! The Spanish Branch in Auburn has been officially organized!! It will be called the Pioneer Spanish Branch and it starts next week. They announced it in Sacrament Meeting yesterday and I just about started to cry. I saw Hermano Valle yesterday afterwards and he was super excited. This is an answer to so many prayers and I am grateful that the Spanish people in Auburn have a special place in my heart!
3 Nephi 27:30
Heavenly Father's and the Savior's joy is so great with each soul that is brought to them! We can share in that joy as we share the gospel and bring souls to Him! Men are that they might have joy! So let us go and spread the gospel, and have joy!
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Have a great New Year. Set goals to become more Christlike and I will do the same!
Elder Cook
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