7.14.14 - I Ripped my Pants

It did involve a bike this week, but I really don't feel like it was my fault this time. The Lord cannot take away our agency, but he can get pretty dang close. On Saturday we had a busy day planned with lots of lessons and lots of bike riding ahead of us. The first two houses were a bust and upon leaving house number two at 1 in the afternoon I raise me right leg to perform my epic bike mount and hear a big POP. Elder Olsen sais, "Did you just fart?" No, Elder Olsen! Why would that be your first assumption from the other side of the yard? I go to sit down on bike seat and then pop back up in surprise when the bike seat goes all the way up and through my pant seam. I ripped the seem from the front all the way back to the middle of my butt. I really liked those pants ...

I showed Elder Olsen the damage and he just died laughing. While attempting to make the emergency relief phone call he realized that he'd left the phone in the truck. The truck?! Did I just say truck?! Oh, yes I did. I drove down to Uvalde and picked it up this week.

​Boom Baby.

So we walked a little walk of shame to a members house a few blocks away. They were not home. We walked a little farther with a little more shame to another members house, to see if we could use their phone. And thus it is that the Lord leads his missionaries. This member had recently committed a serious sin and was in dire need of repentance. He told us he had been seriously contemplating leaving the church. We talked to him, asked him to meet with the branch president, prayed with him, did everything we could think of and who knows if it helped him or not. He'll ultimately have to decide whether he wants the blessings back in his life that he recognizes are missing.

Well, that process put us an hour and half behind schedule. We couldn't tell our investigators we were late because I didn't have their numbers, so we played a big game of catch up, that resulted in a moderate amount of success. Directly following the inspired lesson the first member we attempted to go by was home, and told us they had been expecting to see missionaries that day. They fed us a little and I wore Brother Nielson's Khakis for the rest of the day which made me really want to buy some tan pants.

The rest of the week was pretty standard. The one big doctrine that was really opened up to me was the Doctrine of the Scattering and the Gathering of Israel. A lot of people look in their patriarchal blessing for what makes them different and unique, but of the greatest value to them is their lineage that ties them back to the promises made to Abraham. In this dispensation of the fullness of times the first (Judah) is being gathered last and the last (Joseph = Ephraim and Manassah) is being gathered first. The blood of Israel has been scattered all across the earth to the point that their is nearly no blood that doesn't contain literal ancestry from the Holy Land and the Lord's chosen people. Israel has the innate ability to recognize, believe and accept truth. We as members of the tribe of Ephraim are fulfilling prophesy by doing our job. I feel such a sense of belonging and purpose now that I realize why I've been saved for these late days. We have been called to gather the lost tribes of Israel and that we do with a sound of rejoicing!

Jesus Christ lives. He loves us and he wants to guide us; first, to become better disciples and second to gather his lost sheep. I know he is aware of our every triumph and trial. Never hesitate to kneel before him and express the honest feelings of your heart. He listens with arms of mercy perpetually extended toward you.

I love our Savior and I love you.

Stay Salty,

Elder Tyler Meidell