Monday, October 28, 2013

demons, ambien and haircuts


This week was the craziest week of my mission. So much went down. Fastest week ever. We had two sketchy incidents, Zone Conference, exchanges, and FINALLY for the first time in 3 years....i got an actual haircut...not from myself. :)
 
Zone Conference was thursday and President threw down on obedience. He loves the Doctrine and Covenants which is really cool to me because I am not as familiar with the Doctrine and Covenants as I am the Book of Mormon or New Testament. He gave us a great perspective to remind us the importance of obedience, something that I struggled with before my mission and hated. I have come to love obedience, I have realized that is the only thing that we can control, our obedience or disobedience to God. Me and Elder Reese gave a training about teaching and finiding. Our foundation was this "You can lead a horse to water by teaching correct principles and correct doctrine but the Spirit is the element that gives the horse the desire to drink from the water and internalize the Gospel of Jesus Christ". My companion is a thug at art...he drew a legit picture up for the training. I love being in this companionship because now we can put words to illustration and it makes everything so much cooler. I will attach a picture of what we came up with.
 
So we came home from a long night after Zone Conference and checked our mail and found a letter in our mailbox from "someone special" to Elder Cutler and Elder Reese...on the back it said p.s you guys are the hottest mormons I have ever seen p.p.s don't let it get to your head...we opened the letter and read it...#lol... thought it was from the other elders pranking us. Well we found out it wasnt...Things that happen on your mission, I'm tellin ya. So hopefully it doesn't happen again otherwise we will probably get transferred out earlier. Classic.
 
Then on friday we got out at 10 am and had two teaching appointments in a row before we went and did exchanges and met up with the Guavins. Well the 11am one feel through so we went back to weekly plan because we hadn't had a chance to do that because of so many appointments. We got a text from the director of the institute giving us a name and a number to call. We called and this guy told us that he was baptized a long time ago, fell away, got ahold of a Book of Mormon and wanted to be taught again and come back to church. We were pumped. He told us to meet him at the intsitute in 10 minutes. Got in our truck and drove over there and met him. When we went inside and he started talking my stomach dropped. Weirdest feeling ever...just very dark. Then he starts going off and is not making any sense. He started talking about how he wanted to be the next prophet and how the spirits in the institute were all around him and just a bunch of other things. This guy was trippin. Anyways, the institute director told us to bring him in another room and keep him busy while he called a Bishop in Yukon to ask about this guy. As we were talking with him alone I have never felt more uncomfortable in my life. I asked how many drugs he had done that day and it was more than enough...he started talking about how Jesus was standing right next to us and how yesterday he had talked to the Prophet Joseph Smith in spirit. We stood up and asked if he would like a blessing. We gave him one and during the blessing we felt something. It was like a twitch of our whole bodies and then it left and it was peaceful. He stood up and gave us a hug. Unfortunately this guy had skitcefrenia so we had to ask him to leave because of his past, but it was a very weird experience, one I will never forget. The power of the Priesthood was seen that day for sure. He has called us three times every single day since that and we are not allowed to answer our phone.
 
We also got to see the Gauvin family that day. Man i love that family. We all went to Chilis for lunch and it was just so good to see them again. Can't wait to come back and hang out with all of them when I am a normal person ;)
 
Don't have enough time for any other stories but something I have been thinking about is love/charity. I call it love when I mean charity, but thats because I don't like the word charity for some rebellious reason... ;) haha Moroni gives a great description of love and what it means when we have a portion of it. I have been thinking about how charity and repentance are intertwined. They feed off of each other. The greatest commandment is to love God with all of our strength...well as we are filled with more love and use the Atonement to change our natures to become more Christlike, our capacity to love God and others with all of our strength is enlarged aka repentance. Its cool to learnd about how the Atonement is all that matters. All else is an appendage. Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and Endurance is all we need to focus on. It will solve all of our problems. We don't need cool programs or cool apps to change us. We need the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The hardest thing is just remembering that sobering truth.
 
Well hope all is going well. I am loving life with Elder Reese. He's a great missionary and he's from California so its chill ;)
 
love yall
 
elder dallin cutler




Monday, October 21, 2013

"A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief"



I have been reading Isaiah a lot the last couple of weeks. I love that description of the Savior. It has taught me a lot about His atonement and my relationship with Him. How do we come to know a "man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" without expecting to feel sorrow, pain and grief ourselves. That is the beauty about life. The gospel of Jesus Christ is becoming like Christ. Through challenges and trials we are molded and changed as we truly rely on Him. That happens only when we come to know who He is. There is so much power in "knowing" (conocer) Christ.
So that's what Heavenly Father has been teaching me lately. It has been a common theme. He always points my weaknesses out, but does it in an inspiring and ennobling way that lifts me and encourages me to do better and to become. The people I have met in Stillwater have taught me so much and I will never forget the experiences I have had here.
We had the opportunity to go to the temple with a woman that me and Elder Byrd taught in edmond awhile back. She was trying to get back into gear with church and she went to the temple for the first time this week. It was a blessing to see her in the temple.
We have had a million of experiences out here that are so miraculous. I wish I could put them on my blog and spend alot of time telling you about them, but I don't have the time and I prefer to not have alot of them publicly on the internet. There is one that was pretty cool though that I can tell :) We have been teaching a lady named Stephanie for a really long time. We found her a week after I had go to Stillwater. Ever since then we have been teaching her about the Book of Mormon. At the beginning she was really confused with religion...no joke. Well over time she always had a lot o questions for us about anti-mormon material that people were always giving her. Finally this week she showed up to a lesson with an anti-mormon book that she checked out from the library and decided to read. We told her that she could read it if she wanted but that it would only bring her down. Well the next day we saw her in the library and she told us she had put all the books back. We asked why...She said "I was praying last night about Joseph Smith being a prophet and a really really warm feeling came across me, then a voice came into my head telling me to put all the books back and to read the Book of Mormon and I would know it was true. The voice told me that I was over complicating things and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple." It was amazing to see God take control of something we cannot control and inspire her. She is making huge steps and you can see physical and spiritual changes in her. She wants to be baptized but we are waiting.
Anyways, lots of things have happened. Its getting cold here. I cant believe its almost the end of October. Ridiculous. Talk to you in a month :)
love you guys!!
Elder Cutler

i dont have pics... my camera broke along time ago and I was using elder whites and now hes gone sorry. :)

Monday, October 14, 2013

The Heavenly Virtue


I want patience and I want it now. Classic. If there is one thing I have learned this week it is to patiently wait upon the Lord in humility. I feel like the Lord is patiently teaching me how to be patiently humble. It's hard and will be a lifelong lesson, but it feels so good for some reason still.
This week was fast. We had a "BROad" trip on tuesday down to the Doctors office in Midwest City and stopped by Paula Schickes home before to have some breakfast. It was so great to see her again. I can't believe it has been a year since I first met them in edmond. Crazy to think about that. That was so fun to see her again, I really love that family. Then on wednesday we had a mission leadership council...longest meeting in the world. Rough. We left the apartment at 6:30am and left the meeting at 4pm, got back at 6pm for 3 appointments later that evening and walked in the door for the first time at 9:20pm. Talk about sitting in a car and fattening up. I'm becoming a little cheeseball. Then we traveled all the way up to Ponca City and Blackwell and did exchanges with the Elders up there. I went to Blackwell with Elder Roundy and Chavez. I kissed a llama on the side of the road, so don't be surprised if I get sent home if President finds out about it.... We spent all day friday, and half of saturday there and then drove back to find that 6 appointments we had scheduled out on saturday, all cancelled. Classic. It has been a busy week full of driving. Conference talks galore.
We had so many miracles in between. We never get anytime in our own area, and it's amazing how the Lord always makes up for the difference. He always provides. I am beginning to love the feeling "I have no idea where it's gonna come from, but it will", after awhile you get used to it. It reminded me of a quote I heard this week. 
"HOPE IS THE ABILITY TO LISTEN TO THE MUSIC OF THE FUTURE, AND FAITH IS THE COURAGE TO DANCE TO IT TODAY"
Probably  one of the greatest quotes i have heard about faith and hope. Think about it.
Well I don't have much time because we have to get ready for the whole zone coming down today and prepare a training for tonight. I can't tell ya how happy i am. I feel so blessed in every aspect of my life. I love yall.

Elder Cutler


#HardenedCriminal
me and elder reese didn't know what to do. not within sight and sound.




#hittinThe'BRO'AD

Monday, October 7, 2013

"Please get out of the car and come sit in mine..."


Got pulled over for the first time on the mission. Pretty scary, not gonna lie. It was my first day with Elder Reese and after transfers we had to travel all the way up to Enid to get some missionaries situated and meet with and train a new District Leader. We had been driving all day and I was sick of it, I wasn't even going that fast. All of a sudden a cop car was behind me and I pulled over. He told me to get out of the car and I had a little flashback. We literally thought I was going to get arrested, and we had no idea what for haha. He told me to go sit in his car so I did. He started talking to me about my mission and stuff and was super chill. Only gave me a warning...phew. Moral of the story, pay your tithing. BUT, not one swear word or bad thought entered my mind when i saw those lights...slowly but surely, my nature is changing. Hallelujah.
Great week. Elder Reese is a balla. He is from San Clemente and basically knows everyone I know...it's pretty weird. He was actually Alexis Carrion's home teacher while we were at BYU...small world I know. We are getting along great, I have been blessed with some amazing comps. We have found 3 new families that we began teaching. Seeing a bunch of miracles. Our Zone gets younger and younger each transfer. I feel like I have been here forever, I absolutely love it. Gail is set to be baptized this Thursday, hopefully 5th time is the charm :) Love that woman.
We had a cool experience last night with a family that we had just found. We were teaching the Restoration and spent quite a bit of time teaching about the Holy Ghost and how we can recognize it. Well anyways, the lesson went on and AS SOON as I began the first vision, it went quiet and one of the 18 year olds we were teaching said "man, do you feel that, I just got mad chills"...It is one of the coolest things to watch and feel the Spirit fill a room and watch others fill it too. It was just another testament to the role the Spirit plays on all of us. We may not see it but it will be there to back us up if we have faith.
General Conference was amazing. I would have to say that President Uchtdorf gave one of the best talks I have ever heard. My favorite quote from his talk is "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith". What an amazing principle. In this day and age many people are losing faith because of doubts. I have been thinking about what it means to be a "child". A child has a "believing heart", they are humble and innocent and will believe their parents. Why are we so quick to disbelieve/harden our hearts, that the "Spirit of the Lord can have no place in our hearts"? I have found pure joy in having a believing heart out here. I don't know the answers to everything, but I believe. I hope.... All God requires is for us to simply believe. As Elder Holland puts it, "belief is such a precious word".
I hope yall are having a good ol time. I know that God lives and that He loves us. I know that life goes on after this life because of Christ. For that purpose, I choose to be happy...I hope you will too. 

love yall.

Elder Dallin Cutler