The Weigh-in: Part 3

This week didn't end up so well as far as numbers are concerned. We had two people that were sure they were going to come to church, and both cancelled on us while we were waiting for the ward mission leader to come for us to go for them. Dang it. We had a new monthly zone training meeting, which was good, as well as interviews, which were also good. President said the thing that we need to work on most in our companionship is just being open with each other. I've been trying and succeeding, but we still aren't seeing much difference. We don't have any real problems in the companionship, but we're certainly not doing as well as we need to be. I've never had a really good interview with President, and in every one that I've had he always gets at least one long phone call. This time was no exception. It was still good, though. Sunday meetings were probably the best part of the week. The patriarch (an 80 something year old man from Idaho) spoke about adversity, and then two sisters in the ward spoke about the Spirit, and it was really powerful. I received a lot of promptings and inspiration during that meeting.

We weighed ourselves again this week, and I've improved myself somehow. I've lost a little bit of weight (149 down to 144.5), lowered my BMI, body fat %, body age, and visceral fat, and raised back up my skeletal muscle %. Basically my body is a miracle, because we don't eat super healthy with what the members give us (usually really fatty foods or a lot of meat), and I really only do the 30 minutes of exercise in the morning. Aside from that, it's just the normal day's walking and what not. Anyway, that was a fun discovery to find out that I can be super healthy with very little real effort (but I guess I always knew that). It feels good to know that a machine thinks I'm 19 years old when I'm really 20. I sure fooled it, didn't I?

I'm glad to hear that things went well with Lys's baby. We did kind of all just jump to the worst conclusion, but the Lord's hand is in this, of that there is no doubt. Lately, the weather has been a little back and forth between cloudy and windy and super sunny. Supposedly we're still in the rainy season, but there really hasn't been very much rain. It's interesting how the Lord just knows exactly what we need and when we need it. My testimony of that has grown a lot this week. That's kind of weird that Ryan is already home. Is Trevor home as well? That's great that he made so much progress and learned so much. That's also great that Brian is making so much progress. Any one of us really can change in the instant that we decide to. The Atonement makes that possible for us. I did share my revelation with the ward, and this week we had four or five people come up and ask us for materials to share with people. We also are putting the ward mission plan in action with the ward council, and I'm hoping to revolutionize the member work in this area. There is so much potential in working with them, and I want to help them reach that. While watching the District videos one night, I was watching a video about finding, and it really stuck out when I saw that it quotes PMG saying that the Lord is preparing people for you to teach. I don't feel like I've ever found anyone just for me, but there are people that will need my specific help to accept the gospel. That doesn't just apply to missionaries, either. The Lord is preparing people that each one of us will be the only person who can make the difference in their lives. What a blessing and a responsibility.

I finished Preach My Gospel in Spanish this week and started again in English this morning. Studying chapter 13 really helped a lot in knowing how the work really happens with the members. In the introduction (to the book), when I read the very last paragraph, I had the impression that although Preach My Gospel is for the missionaries, any member who studies it will increase their personal testimony of this work, and will be more capable of doing it. I don't know if you're still studying it at home, but you should be. It is a tool from the Lord to allow us to bring to pass His great and eternal purposes. I've also continued in the Book of Mormon in English and Spanish, and I'm actually in Ether 12 in both of them right now (Spanish finally caught up), so when I finish them both, I'll have read the Book of Mormon 10 times in English and 2 in Spanish. In the New Testament, I finished Titus today. It's amazing to see the remnants of the true Gospel that have been changed or lost and what remains of that. Having a knowledge of the truth and having the Book of Mormon helps us to understand the true Gospel of Christ that the apostles wrote about originally. Everything is there, but not everyone knows it.

I know that this is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that living it and applying it to ourselves is the only way that we can obtain true happiness in this life and eternal life in the next. I know that God the Father prepared the plan of salvation for us, and that we can live up to His divine expectations and achieve our divine potential as we live the Gospel. Heavenly Father knows us each perfectly. His aid is available anytime that we seek, knock, and ask. I know that He sends His Holy Spirit to comfort us in our times of trials, and that all things will work together for our good. I know that exercising faith unto repentance and being obedient is the pathway to peace in our lives. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can overcome any obstacle that is in our way. As we apply the gospel and become worthy of the Spirit, we can put off the natural man and become saints through the Atonement. God restored this church through the prophet, Joseph Smith, fulfilling all the prophecies of the ancient prophets. We live in the dispensation of the fulness of times with the fulness of the everlasting Gospel available to obtain a fulness of blessings from our loving Father in Heaven. I know that this church is the only true church upon the face of the earth, and only in this church can we access this fulness of blessings.

Elder Facer