Week 62 – What's good fam!

Okay so a lot of times when I say there isn't much to say, there seems to be a flow of things that come out and then you have a lot to read.. but this time I think it is for real. 

Since the new companion there have been a lot of adjustments.. one that is strange is just being confined to such a small area again! Back when we were covering the entire city we could go anywhere anytime. If we didn't really have anything going on in one area.. we just went 15 minutes over into a completely different part of the city.. now things are well okay we can go over a street and try those people.. strange times. Okay not really, it is kinda nice to not have that stress of the whole city anymore. Our work is definitely starting back from scratch. We used to have in our Filipino work, close to 15 investigators or so, and easily found 1-2 new ones each week.. the work was just picking up like wildfire, but now we are working on getting things back in order here in Bearspaw. In a way, it is much like opening an area again, except this time I already know all the members and know the area.. so that has been good. We spend the majority of our days just trying former investigators, potential investigators, or just talking to people. We have been blessed with some nice weather though, that helps so people aren't so depressed and haven't locked themselves completely inside like they usually do. I don't know how people survive winters up here when it is so cold.. inside life is too boring. So really all we do right now is just talk to people. We have a couple return appointments for this week, so hopefully by this time next week I can return and report some real epic teaching moments. 

Elder Pitts is a good man for sure. He is a bit older, older than my big brother even which kinda blows my mind.. it is like I could be serving alongside Chase.. anywho, he really has great desires and wants to work hard.. so we do. He is different than what I had heard, seems to always be that way. He can tend to be on the more serious side at moments, so I find myself making lots of jokes and having a good time, but I can honestly say by the end of the week we have had the spirit with us all throughout our work. I think that is the most gratifying feeling. To be able to say at the end of the day, even when you may have not had the "success" you were hoping for, you know that you were doing what the Lord needed you to be doing. That is really what defines our success, something that I had to learn for myself since I have been out. I am just filled with gratitude for the moments where I can feel of my Father in Heaven's gratitude, and know at the end of the day that I sought His will. 

Here is an interesting thought for you all to ponder. My dad and I were discussing the topic of perfection and he asked me the following: “ Have you ever pondered the difference between Matthew 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" and 3 Nephi 12:48 "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect"?. Keeping in mind that Christ was without sin, why does He not refer to Himself as perfect until after his resurrection? There is a subtle difference between the scriptures; in Matthew, Christ was in His earthly ministry and states that our Father is perfect, but in 3 Nephi He is a resurrected being and says that both He and the Father are perfect. So why is this important? Too many people get discouraged because they cannot live up to a perceived expectation that they must be perfect. The point is that the way we think of the word "perfect" is not how it was intended. Christ was not telling us to be perfect in this life and never sin, rather he was telling us that if we do all that we can do in this life then our Father in Heaven will make us perfect. It is not an adjective such as "a perfect man", but rather a verb as in "perfect yourself". It took Christ returning to the presence of the Father to have this action completed.  We cannot be so hard on ourselves and we must allow the atonement to have power in our lives. If we mess up, apply the atonement; learn from the experience, and look only forward, not backward.”

Funny my dad should ask this question because we deal with that a lot in the mission field. I did think of the difference between the two scriptures.. just maybe not in the same way. All I could think of was in 3 Nephi that Christ then includes Himself and not in the Matthew scripture.. So I guess I am pretty close! The whole topic of perfection has been an interesting one to me my entire mission. Mostly because it is something we deal with so much. But it isn't something that you can really comprehend. I got thinking about this a lot when I decided to really study my "missionary scripture" and figure out what that really means.. Well that being more of the use of "perfect" or "perfection" in the scriptures.. I think people so often tend to just hyperventilate sometimes over the idea.. in some cases it actually leads people to stop reading scriptures, praying, attending church, etc.. which really means they stop repenting, which is the ONLY way we can achieve perfection. How grateful we are that we know that we have a Father who is merciful, kind, and looking to forgive in all cases. Not many understand this true relationship in which we stand towards our Father, or really understand the role of our Savior, but I guess that is part of my job eh? 

Had ourselves a real nice Ward Conference this last Sunday.. our Stake President, President Hardy(super good man) gave a talk and basically told the members to do more missionary work and make us their friends. Hopefully people will do it. I mean we aren't that hard to get along with, maybe a little awkward sometimes, but we deal with it. I think there is just simply no way that we could be successful without the members. We can try, but we will run into struggles over and over again. Work will happen, just won't be as fruitful as it could be. Hopefully they will realize that the "The Hastening" is more than a catch phrase, but a reality that is unfolding before their eyes. 

Well, I sure do love ya all. Stay righteous and stuff. 

Love, Elder McFall

 

My new companion, Elder Scott Pitts

Zone pictures