Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Hallelujah!



Dear world,

It has been a great week! In the interest of full disclosure, nothing particularly noteworthy or exciting happened. Just a solid week of doing the Lord's work and lifting where we stand.

I had an incredibly effective exchange with Elder Wainwright this week, one principle of effective planning that I drew from it was this- always leave enough time between appointments to contact everyone! In the past, I've had a tendency to try have all appointments in immediate succession. This is an example of "better" as opposed to "best." It also can create punctuality issues. By better using my daily planner (and my brain) I've found that the days fill up much quicker and time is used far more wisely. It all goes back to effective planning!

Another thing that Elder Wainwright and I discussed at some length was accounting, what we account for, and how we account for it. We'd both found that many missionaries, ourselves included, had a tendency to try and create something new. Some idea that will promote greater effectiveness in some part of missionary work (especially in working with members.) Some new key indicator to focus on. Sometimes this is incredibly effective... until the whole zone moves. What then happens is that missionaries take this idea and apply it in there new areas and districts and zones... until eventually everyone is accounting for far too many things far too often. The secret is to stick to Preach My Gospel! All we need to do to see success in EVERY part of missionary is simply follow the counsel given to us in Preach My Gospel, the White Handbook, and the Scriptures. If we do that, we won't need anything else! The Spirit will direct us and the work of salvation will move forward in unity throughout the mission. I know I just went on something of a rant, but it was a wonderful discussion that I gained a lot from.

Our investigator will be baptised this Saturday. Prayers have been said and fingers have been crossed. She passed the interview last week. The Lord will provide the rest!

I feel that I am in a period of intense spiritual growth. Over the past several weeks, the adversary has been working on some of my deepest weaknesses and fears. It's been difficult, but I am learning so much. I have been so blessed.

We started teaching a South African family this week and it was delightful. They are willing to listen and try new things so that is a very positive sign! There's also like 10 people in the house so it's fun to teach so many people of so many ages at the same time! Also we asked one of them to say the closing prayer. There were many "mmmms" "YES" and "HALLELUJAH"s throughout.

I know the work that I do is the work of God. I love it! I love all of you as well :) you're in my prayers nightly. All you fellow missionaries- I love reading your emails each week! They are so uplifting. What a blessing it is to serve shoulder to shoulder with such dear friends.

Something else that I learned this week- Church can be an amazing experience every week. First, make the Sacrament the focus. That's why you're in church in the first place- to renew your covenants. If you anticipate and prepare for the Sacrament, church will always be worth it. Second, participate! Study the lesson before! Give your insights and share your experiences. Don't just chill and let your mind wander. Be an active participant. Third, if a teacher issues a challenge... take it! Set goals and make plans to apply what you learn. If you don't do this, you may as well just skip out on the second and third hours. Apply what you learn and then share the results with your teacher. If you do these three things, church will always be an uplifting, testimony building experience. 

Zone conference on Thursday in Crawley. Crawley, Wandsworth, and Maidstone Zones will be in attendance. Should be excellent. It'll be great to hear counsel from mission leaders, receive revelation for ourselves and those we have stewardship over, and see some great friends.

I hope all of you have the best week of your lives! :)

With love,
Elder Frederickson

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