Elder Mason Rankin: Frozen Toes

Oh boy... this was a fast week.

Transfers finished and we hit this first week hard. On Thursday we got to go to MLC in Jackson. It was an awesome meeting, we talked about how we can help the mission improve their teaching, culture, finding, etc.. The spirit was definitely there. The best part/hardest part was probably getting called on to bear my testimony at the end. I am the only one going home from the council so it felt weird to look around and realize how young most of these missionaries are. 2 years of feelings just hit me, needless to say, there were a few tears. I recited 1 Cor 15:10 for part of my testimony, I can truly say I am who I am today because of Jesus Christ.

Update on M____.. she is doing awesome. She didn't come to church yesterday which kind of stunk but we met up with her and we read some from the Book of Mormon with her. She is still progressing, I know that as she continues to apply the things we teach, she will get baptized in the near future.

E____ is also doing awesome, we met with him yesterday and taught the Plan of Salvation. Being at the J____ house, it was crazy at moments with all the kids. But it ended up being good, it really is simple. Simple enough that a child can understand the Plan of Happiness.

One cool finding experience we had was this lady named C______. I feel like we get in some of the most awkward situations, it's kind of funny for me. We were heading to the car after trying someones apartment, when a lady came out of her apartment. I was trying to find a good way to approach her, when I noticed that her car had been hit. So I went up and asked her how it happened and then told about how one time I ran into a tree with my car. She thought it was pretty funny and said we could come back this week and meet up with her. Little blessings from the Lord..

The caption of this week is frozen toes, because this last Saturday night we had everything fall through. Like everything. We called members, potentials and literally got nothing. So we went out and knocked on doors for the evening. My initial thoughts were like, "you could stay inside, get some extra planning in, maybe drive around and waste time till the end of the night." But instead we extended our faith in hope of finding someone. A crazy guy, a few high people and a couple closed doors later... all we had were some frozen toes. It was almost the end of the night and it was way dark but we decided to try this one referral. We went by her house and what'd ya know? She was home with her family, she let us right in and we taught her. She now has a Book of Mormon and we are coming back this week to teach her more. Another little miracle with some frozen toes.

My thought for the week comes from a quote by Dallin H. Oaks.. "In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the Gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something." I think he sums it up perfectly. By extending our faith each and everyday, we are become someone better and stronger. I know this because I have seen it within my life.

Well I see y'all later, thanks for the prayers and emails. We continue to just "finish strong"...

With love,

Elder Mason Rankin :)