Hello there!
I'm getting transferred! I'm gonna miss this area a lot, and all the wonderful people I've been able to meet. My companion, Elder Charles is staying, though, and I trust him to keep the good work moving! (This will be his 5th transfer here, so he knows the place pretty well π)
I don't know if I mentioned in prior emails, but I've been serving as the DL (district leader) for last transfer. Gonna miss serving with the wonderful missionaries in our district who have been so hard working and so patient with me as I've learned how to be a DL.
Soon I'll be moving to "University Bus" where I will be serving the same calling, and my new companion will be Elder Taniguchi. He is also learning Japanese, so we'll be using that a lot around the apartment.
As far as the work goes, this past week has been great!
We received a media referral from a guy named T.. Started our first lesson with him and we felt prompted to start with the
Plan of Salvation. Everything we taught just blew his mind, like how Christ knows every single one of us, the reason the fall was important. Even gave him a Book of Mormon to read and he accepted it. Super awesome guy looking to draw closer to God.
Also had a nice lesson with R., someone we haven't been able to meet in forever. Since it's been so long, we decided to go over the
Articles of Faith, and it was cool to see going down the list he agreed with pretty much all of them. We have a reoccurring appointment happening now, so fingers crossed we can meet more often with him.π€
Really sad to be leaving people like B, DJ, and the P's, but I know they'll be in good hands and I'll try and keep in touch as much as I can.
During personal Study one day this past week, I was pondering
Hebrews 11:1, what it might mean by "substance"
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Then I read the footnotes where both the GR and JST change the word "substance" to "assurance", which I felt to mean assurance or confirmation by the spirit. Reading on from that point in the context of that word, it was cool to see each verse fit in how we understand the spirit speaks.
The spirit testifies when we hear truth that the world really was framed by Jesus Christ under the Father's direction. The Spirit assures us when our sacrifices and actions are acceptable before the Lord, as it did to Abel as well as Enoch. Anyone who comes before God must believe that he is and that he gives the assurances of his spirit to those who diligently seek him, or the action is vain.
Faith is a gift from God to all those who diligently seek it and believe they shall receive. It is given by the manifestations of his spirit as we try the experiment of the word and we tell by the spirit that "this is a good seed." (
Alma 32:28-29) "Now behold, would not this increase your faith?"
Keep growing your faith and have a great week!
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Sincerely,
Elder Brown the elder