Monday, August 24, 2015

Letter 8/24/2015

Today, if you didn't already know, is my 11 month mark! Woohoo! Crazy to see how far I've come. I was looking back on some goals I set for myself at the beginning of the mission and I almost met them all. Now I gotta make some new ones for my last 13 months. I am excited to see how much more I can grow!

This week had a couple rough hours but we made it through alright. The first highlight of the week was teaching Cory. He still doesn't want to get baptized because he thinks he has to take the B.o.M. to his church and teach it to them. So I pondered how I may help him this last Sunday and what to teach him next. He had some questions about the Kingdoms of Glory so I used that the best I could. We went through each level of Glory and discussed it's nature. We talked about how we desired to entire the highest Celestial glory and also wanted him to join us there. As I testified about the Kingdoms of Glory, the spirit overcame me and I got a little emotional with him. He could feel the spirit as well and knew what I was sharing was true. He committed to pray again about baptism and the Kingdoms of Glory, because the gate to eternal life is baptism by the proper authority. I also gave him the talk "What is the Blueprint of Christ's Church?" by Tad R Callister to read before we came back. We are meeting with him this Tuesday so I pray everything went good with the praying and the reading. I hope that he received the answer that he needed! :)

Another one of my favorite discussions was with a lady named Nikki. She has had 3 loved ones pass away in the last month and a half. She was planning one the funeral arrangements when we showed up at her home. We shared with her a short message about the Plan of Salvation, helping her know where her loved ones were at. She said "thanks y'all so much for coming by, I really needed that." The spirit was there and I know it gave her peace. Hopefully after the funeral we can continue to teach her and help her learn about the full Plan and the restored Gospel.

Last highlight was going out to visit people with a guy in our ward named Bro Martin. He is super funny! He is a retired race car driver and used to race against some of the current nascar drivers. He is super good! His house if full of collector model cars and trophies and awards that he received. Plus his stories are way awesome from living in Greenville his whole life. From multiple car crashes to even shooting someone that tried robbing his house. It was hilarious and a good time. He also was a great help at the lessons because of his testimony. He is a convert to the church of about 5 years and he could relate to a lot of our investigators. Bro Martin is the best! :)

Well this week definitely has been cooler than the last. We had light rain for a couple of days and it was good for us because we were on the bikes all week. People are saying it may stay cool the rest of the summer, but it may get hot again for another week. You never know! Last thing before I go! Between the Sisters and us, we had 5 investigators in church! It was so awesome! All the ward members were really nice and took them in well. The sister's investigator, Aaron, really liked me. He have me a hug after church and said "thanks brother Rankin, you really made me feel welcome. I'll be sure comin' back again." It is really awesome to be here and to help these people come closer to Christ. My testimony continues to grow each week. Like it says in 2 Nephi 31, it's not me talking it is my "tongue of angels." In other words, it is the spirit that makes it all so good. I pray that we each take our Gift of the Holy Ghost and use it to help other feel the love of God. Keep being amazing and keep on smiling :) I miss and love y'all!

Love,
Elder Mason Rankin

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