Hi Everyone,
Well, It’s been a
wonderful week. First off, we went to
the pier and saw some of the surfers.
Not a big swell, but it was my first time seeing any surfing in one year
and three months.
Ha ha, I know I’m always
sending these sorts of photos but,…about the crocodiles. Last Monday we went to PheZulu Safari Park in
Hillcrest to visit their crocs. We had a
fun time walking around enclosures until, we found out that for the price of a
meal and a little more you could go eat with the crocs! I jumped at that offer, and in we went. Eating egg and bacon sandwiches, we prayed
more that the crocs were in a good mood than wanting for food.
Ok Ma, I’m going to send
you photos of my journal entry, because it’s what I wanted to share with
you. It will also save me time. I hope it wont be a problem for you to type,
since you have unlimited computer time and I am limited to 30 minutes for all
of my weekly correspondences. :p
Journal Entries:
April 18th-20th,
2013
Oren Remington (name change for annanimity) is why I came on my
mission. He is a miracle. I never cease to be amazed at the power of
the gospel. OK, so Oren is the perfect
example of the scripture Ether 12:6 (my most meaningful passage in the
scriptures). It states: "dispute not
because ye see not; for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your
faith." I have learned a little bit about what it means to walk by
faith. We have to have a hope of things, that Heavenly Father will fulfill his
promises to us, but then we have to act.
I compare it to walking in the darkness, trusting that you’re walking
the right path, and then after you prove your faith the light is shown before you.
Thus illuminating the way just enough for you to take a few more steps. Tie verse 6 in with verse 12 and you have
Elder Gold’s favorite most meaningful scriptures in the Book of Mormon. It reads: "For if there be no faith amoung the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith."
So, Oren truly
emulates what it is to ‘Walk by Faith.’
He has received small witnesses of truth since we began teaching him,
but has many questions still unanswered.
Yet, he holds to the truth he has received and pushes past doubt and
fear.
Within the first week of meeting him
(we saw him twice), he attended church.
Upon our second week he has already dug into the Book of Mormon and also
read all of the previous October 2012 General Conference messages in the
Liahona (this is a church magazine). He
has asked our help to give up smoking and will be stopping tomorrow. He is super excited to come and watch the 182nd
Annual General Conference with us tomorrow (we will be watching a pre-recording
of it at our chapel).
He said something today that struck
me. He stated that as we have taught
him, and as he has prayed and studied, he has come to see the need for the
restoration … WOW! I can best describe
Oren’s miraculous progress by quoting 2 Nephi 28:30 “…blessed are they who hearken unto my
precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for
unto him that receiveth I will give more…”
Landon continues
with an entry two days later expressing his experience in watching the four
sessions of the 182 Annual General Conference with Oren. He goes onto explain how sweet it was to have
the spirit accompany them as they listened to powerful and inspired messages
from a Prophet of God and many wonderful leaders. That Saturday evening they took Oren back to
his home and, “Upon entering we saw at
his study a foldout picture of the Prophet, 12 Apostles, and General
Authorities of the church pasted on the wall.
As we spoke to him he expressed words of deep gratitude to Heavenly
Father for the church leaders and their messages. But words could do no justice to what this
man felt. The heavens truly had opened
to him, and poured him out blessings that there was not room enough to
receive. He told us, “If only I had
found this ‘Pearl of Great Price’ 20-years-ago.” Well, all that matters is that he has found it
now.”
Landon continues
his entry by talking about this gentleman’s steps to follow a health code, of
sorts, which we refer to as the Word of Wisdom, with his desire to take past
addictions and to no longer be bound by them.
Knowing how difficult this task can be and witnessing a driven desire
for change Landon continues his observations by stating that, “He is such an inspiration to me. He is a light. He is one of Heavenly Father’s elect, for he
hears and knows the voice of the Good Shepherd, and he follows. May I be like Oren in faith, heart and
action…. I pray.
Humorous Endnote:
After transcribing the intended journal entries from several photos Landon had sent I went back to the first photo and noticed a couple paragraphs at the end of a previous entry. Even though the first part was missing I curiously read the little bit that was there. All I can say is, "Landon, my Dear, you never cease to amaze me, and/or surprise me." Read on if you dare. :-)
"We were doing service at a guys home and he has a worm farm....Yup, he farms worms. They are in huge bathtubs with soil and waste food. What happens is: the worms break down all the organic material and create this 'Juice' that drains out the bottom. It is filthy and smells like death. He sells the juice to people for them to put in their gardens to help things grow.
After we were done there, a lady next door came running over asking for help. A snake was in her house. It was a green snake. We weren't sure if it was a tree snake or a green maumba, so we stunned it and took it out. It ended up dying so, we skinned it and ate it."
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