To
start the week off, Elder Stokes and I got to go on exchanges here in
Waveland. Elder Stokes and I used to serve around each other in
Hattiesburg so it was awesome to join back up and remember all the good
times back in the Burg. He is an awesome guy from New Jersey. With me
now returning home in December, we both go home together, so we will
have a party in the mission home together! One of the biggest highlights
was being able to help a family that was moving. A member in the ward
called asking for us to go help, luckily we had a spare couple of hours,
so we went and helped. The family had recently experienced a death in
the family and the house was all over the place, but they were so happy
when we showed up. The kept calling us "blessings from God." It is
always so great to see peoples face light up when we show up to help
them.
A new family just moved into our ward
recently. The Fife family, and they are awesome! They live way out in
the Kiln, but they still had us over for dinner. The most exciting part
of the whole dinner though, was when their dog almost threw up all over
my shoe.... It had already thrown up twice before I realized what had
happened. So that was pretty gross and exciting. But on a happier note,
Bro Fife did the stop smoking workshop with us and he is so far 4 days
without smoking! So that is awesome! We are praying he can make the
week!
We also met another family up in
Diamondhead, a less active family. It is the T____ family and they are
some of the coolest people I have met. Diamondhead is a little nicer
area, so if you can imagine this big cabin in the middle of tons of
green trees, that's what their house looks like. They both work for the
Navy, Bro T_____ is retired though so he is usually working around the
house most of the time. The first time we knocked, he invited us right
in and fed us dinner. It was so awesome, plus they are hilarious! They
are like this treasure in Diamonhead for us, no wonder the sisters
didn't talk about them much.. they wanted them all to themselves! haha
B_____,
A____ and K____ are all doing awesome. K_____ is finally back from
Florida so she was able to join us this past week. We discussed "The
Family: A Proclamation to the World" one night with them and also had
them teach us the Plan of Salvation. They did so good, it was awesome!
They continue to bring me happiness when we teach them, they are so
prepared. Only 2 weeks left and they'll be members of the church!
One
cool tracting story from this past week.... So Elder Crisp and I
embarked with no clue where to go. I just drove and turned a few times
and then I saw a good place to park and something in my head said "park
there." So I did. Then we started knocking doors and the first door we
came to, we met T____! T____ and her family used to be taught by
missionaries in the past but eventually they got to busy and stopped
meeting. She couldn't remember much of what they taught because she was
younger, so we shared with her a brief lesson and left with her a Book
of Mormon to read a chapter from. We went back the next day and she had
actually read! We are hoping we can teach her and her family again and
maybe help them progress this time. The funny thing was, we walked away
from that home wondering, "was it a coincidence that was the first
house." I believe Heavenly Father guided us there. The second thought
was, "we may have 2 more hours of tracting left and we may find no one,
but finding them makes it all worth it."
My
last thought for this week comes from my studies last week. I was
reading in Alma 29 of the Book of Mormon and came across some things I
really liked. Alma first starts by telling us his desires and then he
begins to share with us how much joy he has. As I reflect upon the last
months of being able to return to the field, I felt as if Alma explains
it perfectly. "I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the
Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be
an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance;
and this is my joy."(v9) "then is my soul filled with joy; then do I
remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard
my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extends
towards me."(v10) Then later he even describes that his joy is so full
that his soul separates from his body, as it were. It truly makes me
happy and I know that God has heard my many prayers. I know that He does
love me.
Well I hope y'all are doing well. My
birthday is only 2 weeks away and missionaries love to receive stuff on
their birthday... just sayin'... haha :) July has been awesome and I am
happy. Are y'all happy? I hope so. Keep on praying and smiling, there is
nothing better than the Gospel.
Just another day in paradise... #Wavelandwarriors
Love,
Elder Mason Rankin :) |
| Waveland Forever! |
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| Us with Jacob |
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| 4th of July glasses.... thanks Mom! |
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