Elder Dallin Cutler: In case yall were wondering....

In case anyone cared....it is absolutely freezing!! This week has been an absolutely roller coaster of a week. The weather has thrown off everyones schedule and when there is snow or ice on the ground Oklahoma shuts down because they don't have very good resources for clearing the roads out here. Monday we were not in our area because we did a Zone p.day and Specialized Training afterwards which took up our whole night. Tuesday we had Mission Leadership Council in the city all day and then I had an interview with President Walkenhorst. That took from 7am to 6pm. Then we went and worked in an outlaying town in our area the rest of the night called Mcloud Oklahoma. We were looking for places to stay for future missionaries because it will probably end up getting opened up. Wednesday early morning we left for Cushing, Oklahoma for exchanges with some elders up there and didn't get back until thursday afternoon. Had our weekly planning session and then the mission got shut down because of weather but me and elder Moore decided to just go walk around at least til 9pm which leads us to our miracles.

It was snowing and sleeting and 15 degrees when we walked outside at 6pm. We skipped dinner just because we were eager to get outside and be in our area for the first time. We had to walk because cars were grounded. The first door we knocked a man had talked to missionaries in Alaska and asked us to come back. The second door we knocked, the people invited us right in, fed us dinner let us teach them a lesson and told us they had previously read the Book of Mormon. (They were native american which was even cooler) We have a return appointment. The third door we knocked the people invited us in again and asked where we had been for 10 years. They told us that they use to have missionaries over for dinner each week and that the missionaries would leave lessons. They invited us over for dinner this wednesday at 5pm and to teach them. Then the 5th and 6th doors let us share a prayer on the doorstep and told us to come back. Me and Elder Moore were SHOCKED. Literally the craziest night of knocking doors of my whole mission. It was freezing and wet, but the Lord provided and we were able to do all that in the space of 3 hours. We ran home at 9pm because it was cold and got a good 3 mile jog in. (hahha u\you should of seen the look on some peoples faces in their cars when they saw two mormon missionaries runnin through the streets in 15 degree weather in the snow) It was such a legit night!! So FUN!!

Well on Friday we had to do a baptismal interview with a man in Seminole so we went down there. After the interview we drove home in the ice and it took us forever to get home. We got home and realized that one of the Elders left his phone in the truck. Elder Moore was looking through it and found some things that were not supposed to be happening. So the next morning we went back to Seminole and had interviews with the District Leader and his companion. We did an exchange with some elders in teh District to try and help. I was so troubled on this exchange. But I learned so much. The next day in Sacrament meeting I got my answers and the Lord taught me my lesson for the week. :)

I realized how amazing Gods plan is. I realized that God trusts us with everything. He gave us the ability to choose. How we use our agency affects our eternal progression, but central to His plan is the Atonement. God is able to give us agency and entrust us with so much because of the Atonement. He recognized and stil recognizes that choosing and thus making mistakes is part of the learning process. The same should go for us. We give others the ability to choose and do their own thing knowing and trusting in Gods plan for that person. People need to feel trusted by us. If we can't trust someone else, how can we truly let God trust us? I finally recognized that if we have a hard time trusting others and letting them making their own decisions, we don't truly understand the role of the Atonement. We may love someone so much that we want to take away their ability to choose and correct every wrong choice they are making but that is not what God does with us. The fact of the matter is, we don't need to correct every little thing. We don't need live others lives for them or make decisions for them, we need to trust in the Atonement and recognize that faith unto repentance is the most key part in progression. God teaches correct principles and then He trusts us and asks us to have faith. He lets us make decisions and lets us mess up so that we can learn more about Jesus Christ and who He is and how IMPORTANT He is to us through repentance and feeling the power of the Atonement in our lives.

There are so many missionaries out here that don't know why they are here yet. Looking back, i recognize that I was in their shoes too, how can I judge that? God let me make my own decisions and through making mistakes I grew to become who I am now and so it will be the rest of my life. There is no need to stress, just sit back, let God do His thing and let others feel our love for them. The Atonement allows us to trust.

I hope you have a good week! I love you all!! I am so excited for this Christmas season, but in the wise words of the Primary Presidents words last night....what will happen next with us. Christ has come....how will we let that change our lives?

Elder Dallin Cutler

p.s my favorite scripture of the month. How do we come to KNOW the Master?