We've been cleared to use Skype! I just found out like 20 minutes via email! So next weekend on Mothers Day I would really prefer to use Skype. I hope everyone can agree. I know that it comes with the added risk of increased technical difficulty but It seems worth it. I'll need to find some ward members that already have the technology... and I don't know if there are any... but if there are then I'd like to shoot for 8 p.m. next Sunday which will me 6 p.m. Reno time. If you can be available I would love that. I imagine there are more details that will need to be worked out and so I may have to get back on the computer later in the week. I've taken to sleeping on top of my bed without any covers and with the fan on so I don't wake up sweating. So far so good! The humidity kind of hugs you just like a warm blanket would.
I got my first tracting dog!
Adorable! It made me miss Ginger from home. She followed me around for a good chunk of the afternoon.
Look at this giant pizza! It's huge! We ate three of them!
"Y" was nearly baptized three months ago with some other missionaries, shortly before her date the missionaries realized she wasn't married to her significant other and she couldn't be married in her standing living conditions. The date fell through and "Y" fell off the map. We picked her back up a few weeks ago, but we'll probably need to give her some more time, because we went by her house yesterday before at request to wake her up and we couldn't get her out of bed. It was so dumb."Carl" is doing pretty solid. He went from 24 beers a day to 12 in a week. Only time will tell how committed he is.
"Darrel" and his Mom "Patsy" were at church again, they really like going to the services, and we've seen that the more simple we can be with them the more they enjoy it. "Darrel" loved! singing in the primary during a combined hour in church. It's great to start with the basics.
The "H" Family is doing really well. We went by 3 times this week and they surprised us with having read all of their commitments plus a little extra. They read 2 Nephi 2 about the plan of salvation, the plan of salvation pamphlet we give people to recap the lesson we teach, and they finished Moroni 10 which has Moroni's promise and a series of indicators that can help someone searching for the truth identify the true church of God. "Jesus" is the guy that was stabbed 13 times a month ago and had a miraculous recovery after a punctured lung. We were lucky to find him at that time, because he was feeling like God had a purpose in preserving him, and because he was formerly working in Carrizo Springs in the Oil Fields. The Oil Fields epitomizes a job that places itself above God. It pays REALLY well, so the men wake up at 3am, drive out to work an hour away and get home about 9pm. They get 4 days on and 2 days off and they describe the zombie mode they go in when they're on. Since it's not a 7 day schedule they can get to church twice every 6 weeks and you can imagine the desire they have to read the scriptures or spend quality time with their family isn't very high during the 2 days off either. Jesus was cleared for work last week and starts today so we'll be over there Friday and will hopefully be able to continue guiding this family toward fully embracing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The idea that God gives us time to spend on the earth for a specific reason is a central unit of my studies this week. I studied dispensations, which is a period of time when god has someone authorized to hold the priesthood on the earth. In nearly every instance that is fulfilled by a prophet who has been called directly by God to be his representative and mouthpiece to the people and teaches them the nature of their relationship to God. Without a prophet their is no unified church nor religion, because it lacks a direct line of communication and authority, it is instead a group being led by bits of personal revelation and the words of the prophets written in the scriptures.
Our time is a probationary time and a preparatory time. This time is a time to prepare to meet God. There is no other functionality of the seconds that pass by us each day. I asked a less active lady of the church this week, "Why do prisons let people out on a state of probation?" She responded, "To see if they're going to be good, to see if they've changed." And thus it is with us. When we live in a dispensation we must be humble enough to be guided by the spirit who walks us through the changing process. If we reject the words of prophets the spirit ceases to strive with men and we resort to a state of carnality under the control of the adversary which I witness is rampant on the earth at this moment. God then withdraws his authority by means of his prophets from the earth (often the prophets are killed) and with it the truth of God's nature and his plan for his children is lost in it's perfect form because there is no one to preserve it. Why would a merciful and loving God take away the fullness of this understanding form the earth when it is essential to our salvation? He does so in his love to protect us from sinning against higher light. With greater understanding comes greater condemnation if that understanding is contradicted by action. Then, as his people suffer the hardship of this world they humble themselves and are prepared to receive the marvelous blessing of a restoration of the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That restoration has happened again in our day. We have the fulness of the gospel for all those that are searching for the truth. If only everyone would read from the Book of Mormon and ask God to receive that divine witness for themselves. It contains that Gospel, and is sufficient evidence that Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet and establish the church in these latter days.
I have done so, and I testify that every word is true.
You don't have to eat a whole cake to know it is delicious, neither with Gospel of Jesus Christ or the Book of Mormon, with sufficient faith one chapter or even one verse may be sufficient.
I love you so much and miss you.
Stay Salty,
Elder Tyler Meidell
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