This week was one of the busiest weeks of my mission. We had a lot going on that had to do with administering to the mission. So last Monday night, I was able to go back to Edmond because I had to pick up another inhaler from Dr. Orgill because I am literally dying from allergies out here. Its pretty chill. So on the way we stopped by the Gauvins and man it was so good to seem them!! Then when we got to the Orgills, Sister Orgill had whipped up some "crack pancakes" which by the way are the greatest pancakes i have ever had. She is the reason I gained so much weight in Edmond. She'll have her reward....;) haha
But after that was the start of a very busy week. Being a Zone Leader has a lot of downsides just because it seems like you are always in a car, or meetings. You don't get to spend as much time in your own area as you like. Tuesday we had a historical Mission Leadership Conference which now replaces Zone Leader Conferences because apparently sister missionaries now play a leadership role in ministering to the sisters in the mission. So they came to the meeting and that lasted basically all of Tuesday day. Wednesday we did a specialized Zone Training for our Zone and it was so cool. We got special permission to take them to the temple and then we had a short training on "the role of revelation in our lives in understanding who we can become as children of a God". Basically we asked everyone to spiritually prepare and come to the temple pondering these two things.
1. What kind of person/missionary does the Savior expect me to become?
2. We don't truly know who we are until we know whose we are. Then we will act accordingly.
They took those things to the temple and miracles happened. The spirit was so strong and we all learned something about ourselves and our roles as children of a God. The Temple really made me think deeply about all the problems in the world and within our own personal lives. I believe very strongly that everything that we do that turns us from God is a result of not knowing who we really are and the potential we have. If we could truly know that, the trials that we face in this life would seem so trivial compared to the glory and happiness that awaits us in the next life. And that's just it, we need to overcome our "natural man" tendencies to view our lives in the mortal perspective and instead view what we go through in the eternal perspective. That comes as we exercise faith in Christ and as we continually re-commit to living a more Christ centered life each day aka....repent. That is how we gain access to the Atonement which then motivates and lifts us to higher levels of living the Gospel of Christ. But then again, some people have a "knowledge" of what awaits them in the next life, some people truly grasp that. The difference is having a knowledge of something, and actually believing it. As we do things that will help us feel the Spirit, the Spirit can then witness that we are the Children of God and we have divine potential to become like Him, and that witness is more powerful than any physical evidence that we could ever receive.
Thursday we had a baptismal interview for a woman named Heather Brink who is getting baptized this weekend. In short, Heather is an inspiration to anyone in the world. She has gone through more than anyone I have ever met and I have learned so much from her example. We are excited for her.
Friday we left early in the morning to do an exchange with the missionaries in Clinton, OK and Elk City, OK which is about 2 hours from where we live #roadtrips #IMissJBiebs. It reminded me of the roadtrips we always went on back home. #yolo. When we got there, I spent the day with Elder Beus who is the District Leader down in Clinton. He is such a good missionary. I loved learning everything that he had to teach me. He is spiritual and has a way of loving everyone he meets. We saw so many miracles that night and set a new baptismal date with a new investigator and found 4 more new investigators. Saturday was my birthday and I completely forgot it was until Elder Hanes texted me in the morning. Love that kid. Birthday's on the mission are pretty quick!! Thank you all for the letters and cards I received. It really made my day a whole lot happier!! I love you guys.
Well i am getting sick of typing. So i am going to stop because you get the point that my week was busy. The last story i will tell you is something that happened last night. It was a really cool experience that taught me that importance of first observing, then serving. Does that sounds familiar? :)
Last night we were on the way to an appointment. We were driving down the road when something caught my eye and I got a really warm feeling. I don't know why I had that feeling this time because we had passed by this apartment over and over again. I thought about it for 5 seconds and told Elder Salmon to pull over because he was driving. If there is one thing I have learned on my mission, it is to never second guess a prompting. Just do it if you feel it and it entices to do good. So I told him to turn around and we went back to this apartment complex. It was #12 that stuck out to me. It was the sketchiest apartment complex i have ever been in...meth everywhere. Anyways, we walk up the stairs and knock and right away he answers and yells at us to get lost. Sucker punch to the gonads. I knew we were there for a reason, so we went to another door. A girl of about 12 years answered it very politely and said we could say a prayer with her family but she needed to ask her dad. She went to ask him and we heard in the background some very colorful language and the door was slammed on us. Strike 2. I thought to myself that maybe God was just testing me to see if I would obey the prompting. I was okay with that so we started to walk down the steps to the truck and then a guy out of nowhere who had just gotten off his bike asked us who we were. He got off his bike and we started talking to him. He told us that he was at the worst point of his life thus far and that he had had an experience recently that led him to believe there was a God and that we was searching for answers. He was homeless and he fully admitted he was addicted to meth. He said he wanted to change. We said a prayer with him and said he would give us a call. Even if he doesn't I know we were where God needed us to be. This instance taught me that not only does God love ALL of his children very personally but He also knows physically where we are and can put people in our paths that are answers to prayers. How awesome is that. He is very aware. We have no idea sometimes. :)
I love you all! Thank you for the birthday wishes!! I can't believe my teen years are over....doesn't really mean anything, cause I am still the immature brat I always was ;) #sorrynotsorry
Remember to be Spirtually Minded Is Life Eternal...so do me a favor and SMILE :)
love ya.
Elder Dallin Cutler
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