January 2, 2012

Happy New Years everyone,

   Things are going great. We got transfer calls last night and we're both stying in richfield. Our zone got all mixed up with a new district being added and new areas and elders training.. It's gonna be a fun very productive transfer. Hopefully we can do alot of good. Our zone achieved and exceeded its goal for baptism with a total of 23 this month. That's great considering we were coming back off a 10 baptism month. We'll be able to achieve even more this coming month. Ssoo I'm officialy an old man in the mission. Sigh almost all of the elders and sisters who were before my generation are home, and get this. There were alot of new zone leaders called this transfer, and i've been a zone leader longer than over half of the current zls have been on their mission... How crazy is that? I don't know where this past year went.. I'm excited for the future though. A perfect time to better ourselves.

  We had the opportunity to speak in two different wards, plus teach a sunday school yesterday and the topic of my talks was being better in the coming year. Cleansing our inner vessel and stepping out of our comfot zones. I talked about the story in matthew 19 where the young man asks Christ what he should do to obtain eternal life and Christ names off some of the ten commandments and this young man says he's done those things since his youth. Christ follows by telling him to sell all he has, and come follow me, and as we know the young man couldn't do it. It's interesting because this man kept the commandments. He kept them his whole life, but apparently that wasn't good enough. Our Father in Heaven requires something more of his children then just their actions. He requires their heart. "Come, follow me." 

 Take the scribes and pharisees for example. The very men who were largely responsible for killing Christ, were known as keeping the law exactly. Following the commandments to a T. What does Christ say to these "righteous" men?   

25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
He requires more of us. He wants everything. And i know that as we give it to him, we'll feel the presence of the spirit in our lives like never before, and we'll feel the atonement in our lives like never before.


Then i talked about alma 13:23 and how people are being prepared for the gospel and how we need to open our mouths and trust in the Lord and be friends to our neighbors and so on. Heavenly father can't help us if we aren't willing to act.


Anyways, it was a really fun talk to give. Elder Lessie did a great job as well.
We gotta go get hair cuts but i love you all very much. Thank you for your emails mom and dad. Sorry i don't have more time to respond to them but i loved them and am excited for the goals you've set. Have a good week!
-Elder Spurlin