This past week we had a missionary-wide broadcast training for the first time in over a decade I believe. It was really cool! One of the biggest things I took from the training was that I need to have Christ's name always on my lips. With our members we have been focusing lessons on increasing our faith and obedience and repentance. However, Elder Anderson said that we need to always have His (Christ's) name on our lips. I realized that in my recent testimonies that I have shared I hadn't said a word about Christ. My testimony focused on the blessings of faith and how I've seen it help me through difficult times, on how obedience brings blessings, and on the importance of daily scripture study and prayer. But I forgot the center point of our message and our gospel - Christ.
After the training, I changed. In all the lessons I bore testimony not only about what we had just learned from the Holy Ghost, but also bore testimony of the Merciful Atonement of Jesus Christ and how He is our Savior and Redeemer. Although they were short testimonies and I struggled with my French grammar, I felt the Spirit so strongly as a confirmation that no matter who we are teaching and no matter what we are teaching, it is always necessary to testify of our Savior Jesus Christ.
This week we helped the Dupont's repaint their kitchen and after we finished we went on a snowshoeing hike with them on their property which encompasses many many acres. We had a bonfire and hot chocolate. It was so nice to make a bonfire again!
Church this week was really good. We a member from the Stake come and speak along with his wife. They gave amazing talks on forgiveness and letting go of grudges and loving everyone as much as we can. During the lesson a member went out in the hall and came back and said we were needed in the entryway of the local (our branch). We went out there and met what I can best describe as a nomadic hippie. Haha
He was a really nice guy who just needed a drink, a place to rest for a bit and get warm. We talked to him a bit and he told us his story about how he travels and he loves being free to do what he wants and how he was trying to get to Gaspé which is the tip of the Gaspésie Peninsula 5 hours from us. He told us that he would've made it there but he met a woman and got together with her and spent all the money he had trying to help her. She was a bit mentally unstable so he left because it wasn't safe for him with her. It was funny though because he was talking to us and he said something like, "I know I gotta think about me sometimes and take care of myself, but I'm a man and I'm weak in the flesh. When I see a beautiful woman it's just uhhh (grunting noise) you know?" He was hilarious. He went on his way and during Branch Council the member of the Stake told us we would be losing our local (branch) in a few months because we don't have enough priesthood holders and tithe payers to qualify for the building we currently use. That was sad for us to hear, but it'll only make us work harder.
We had an amazing Zone conference on Tuesday. We did a lot of role playing which was great for me because I am still struggling with talking to people in French. We worked on extending commitments, discerning needs of the people, and teaching repentance. After Zone Conference I went on a split with Elder Noorda who's serving in Ste. Foy and we were the walking team which was great because it's been a while since I've walked since we have a car. The downside was it was a freezing rain outside so although I was plenty warm my head was drenched haha.
When we got back I looked like I had just showered. Oh, I FINALLY GOT MAIL!!! Letters/packages I've been waiting anxiously for since Christmas!!! "It's like I don't even care what happens the rest of the day!"
Love you all!! Stay safe, stay faithful! Have a great week!!
Love,
Elder DiReda
No comments:
Post a Comment