A great week teaching

Hey family,

With Conference at the end of last week, it seemed like the days leading up to it lasted forever. This week was the complete opposite; it just about flew by. It's amazing fast time moves - this whole week feels like a blur in some ways. Looking back at my mission thus far, some transfers seem to do the same. Some drag on for what seems like two years, while others are there and gone before you know it. Those are the ones that scare me. 

We had some great lessons this week, one of which being with a lady Elder Torgersen and I tracted into months and months ago. We've been trying and trying to set up a time to meet with her and she finally relented and set up an appointment. The lesson was pretty amazing; this woman knew the bible pretty well and with every point we'd share, her eyes would widen, she'd grab her bible, and flip open to a verse or passage of scripture that supported our doctrine. Usually it was a verse she had just studied that week. By the end of the lesson she was in tears, telling us that everything we've said resonates with her. She asked a final question about the gifts of the Spirit, asking if we believe that the miracles found in the scriptures can still happen today. Instead of just answering her question, we turned to the Book of Mormon, in Mormon 9:7-11:

 

 7 And again I speak unto you who ^adeny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the ^binterpretation of tongues;

 8 Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the ^agospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not ^bunderstand them.

 9 For do we not read that God is the ^asame ^byesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no ^cvariableness neither shadow of changing?

 10 And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.

 11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of ^amiracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same ^bGod who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.

She was amazed and became even more emotional. It was another reminder to me of the absolute truth of the Gospel - our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He has not changed and will not change, and it makes so much sense that we would have the same organization that the early church had - 12 apostles and a prophet. It makes so much sense that we'd have the power and authority to perform real saving ordinances. It all just makes sense. I love what I'm doing out here, what I've been allowed to be a part of. Keep on keepin' on!

Jesse

 

Elder Herlin and Elder Dowdle with their new hats!